Since the last stack, we’ve placed attention to clearing overgrowth, welcoming baby owlets, reveling in our new pool(cauldron), and tending to a steady collective of artists, healers, and creatures seeking space and time to both catch—and release—their breaths.
And with consistent attention from my beloved Rachel Jepsen, I’ve continued to grow (and reinforce) my personal creative practices so that I might also better serve the clients & guests for whom I continue to steer land & guidance on and off campus at Jackie. If it sounds like I’ve experienced many swirls within a vortex of care—why yes—and thank you: it’s true.
Starting in August, Rachel and I are offering some co-creations for which you too can tend to your practices, your projects, and our high vibe collective. You need not have any outcomes (nor gatekeepers) in mind to dip in with us, and if you hesitate—and also sense—that the waters might feel like the right kind of healing (and warm), you are also the ones who are most welcome and supported.
Rachel describes the next set of workshops best:
Saturday, August 9, 2-6 EST
Poetry for Nonfiction Writers
I sometimes say that nonfiction writers can learn pretty much everything from reading poetry—if only they would! Join us for a half-day workshop to learn how to read poetry not for ‘comprehension’ but for resonance, image, idea, and transport—elements that will deepen your nonfiction craft and relationship with writing. This workshop will also allow you to experience how the embodied nature of poetry can enrich your own writing practice in any genre or for any purpose. We’ll see how this reading and writing style can inspire new work of your own ✨
I know how many of you used to read poetry and stopped, or wish you could but are afraid, or think, ‘it’s not for me.’ You tell me all about it! So I made this for you. This workshop is designed for those with some interest and blocks around reading poetry, and those curious how poetry can help their nonfiction craft and their writing practice.
If you are not new to poetry but have been trained to read poetry in the traditional workshop style or are interested in a new way of reading, you are very, very welcome to join! Open to ALL writers who are curious!
Price: sliding scale $150-$350
Sundays, August 3, 10, 17, 24, 12-2 EST
Writing a Nonfiction Book, Phase 1
If you’re in the early stages of writing your nonfiction book, you might feel a little green about the gills. It can be an overwhelming stage, and it’s a harmful misunderstanding that writers work alone and must be in pain through it all.
In this small group, month-long workshop we’ll come together around all of your worries and excitement, discussing our blocks, questions, and specific projects, to set you up for much smoother sailing for the rest of your book journey. I’ve designed this workshop so you can work throughout the month to make progress on your book foundations, or take away what we learn to go at your own pace. This works for you on your schedule, in your stage, and in your creative process.
For the first three weeks, we’ll cover the foundational book work that I’ve done with all of the writers I’ve worked with who have completed their books: finding the force, arc, and driving question of your book; understanding your reader and their role in your process; establishing your position as the author and where this book is coming from; learning all the options around outlines and how they can actually help and not stress us out; and more about our reasoning, motivations, and hopeful connections.
In our final week, we’ll talk about the future of your book, articulating your book for agents and others, and what comes next: drafting. Once you’ve gotten into this foundational work, you’ll see that you are already writing your book, and the rest is how to continue ; )
For each two-hour session we’ll engage in fun and open discussion, sharing, and exercises, and I will provide you with detailed work each week to complete your book foundations on your own timeline!
Price: sliding scale $600-$1,000
++ this Friday, 7/25, Rachel’s monthly (and free!) writing club will spend some sacred time with Gwendolyn Brooks:
“This month, we’re going to read “Boy Breaking Glass,” a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks from her 1968 book, In the Mecca. This is one of my favorite poems, and it’s packed full of images and ideas for us to explore—through our practice of resonant reading, not ‘analysis,’ though some very important context will also be shared.
I wanted to share the poem in advance, because I want to hear what it’s like to sit with it on your own before we read it together and discuss. You don’t have to read it in advance, but you have the option and opportunity! We’ll spend our hour talking about what we hear in this poem, and where it moves us. We might ask, what of today? What happens when someone is denied the opportunity to make something? What of our own relationships with creating, our own ability, our own allowance and intolerance? What have we done and not done when we could not create?
Of course, we always go where the wind takes us! See you there!”
I hope you’ll consider gifting yourself time with Rachel, and keep eyes for our rising Wave Writers tides, too.
RJ left me the most miraculous voice note this morning as I boarded a particularly profound flight—offering a singular, perfect edit—and also: the reminder that traditional schooling and gatekeeping tends to weed folks out, and we’re tripling down on planting and watering, just so.
yours
j
I love the writing offerings! Very curious about the nonfiction course!
Welcoming baby owlets!! <3