Inlet Offerings

UPCOMING OFFERINGS

Inlet Write-Alongs 

APRIL SESSION: MONDAY THE 15TH, 12-1:30PM CENTRAL TIME.
JUNE SESSION: monday THE 3rd, 11AM-12:30PM CENTRAL TIME.
JULY SESSION: wednesday THE 10th, 12-1:30PM CENTRAL TIME.

Inlet Write-Alongs meet at a different time & on a different day just about every month but with the same intention–to open an inlet into our work and write in shared solitude.

Fee: Free

Connection with the creative process can feel tenuous even on our best days. As we navigate our craft, it’s natural to gaze upon the horizon and feel everything from hope to confidence to monumental overwhelm. Some days we reach “x” marks the spot; other days, drift off course. Workshopping can help; so can studying technique. But the most important skill we can cultivate is the habit of return. Approximately once a month, write alongside me and other Inlet writers in shared solitude. Bring your writing project, find an inlet into your work, and carry your craft forward. You may be surprised how much distance you cover.


The Writers’ Inlet Summer Retreat

Meets Friday July 12 & Saturday July 13

The Writers’ Inlet Summer Retreat’s theme this year is Maintaining Momentum When You’re Wading Through a Low, Riding a High, and Anywhere In Between.

Fee: Early Bird fee of $89 before April 15th, $99 thereafter.

Turn one Friday in July into a day-long writing fest. Then on Saturday, relax on the virtual shores of the Inlet and discuss the challenges of maintaining momentum when the ebb and flow of your writing practice takes you to extremes and in between. Are the crests easier to ford, the troughs? We’ll discuss next-step momentum in revision and writing practice, and consider how routine, mindset, and rest help us manage it all. Come for inspiration, revitalization, and get-it-done camaraderie. All genres welcome.


Writers’ Inlet Salon: Metaphor in the Making Seasons

Image & Imagination Season: Sept 12-Dec 10 2024
Transformational Arc Season: Jan 23-April 15, 2025

Signing up for the Inlet Salon is like enrolling in a navigation course for your craft, an accountability program to keep you moving forward, and a beta readers club to gut-check your work when you need it—all in one offering. All genres welcome.

Fee: Starts at $475

Experience the deep satisfaction of a well-maintained writing practice that carries your craft forward from one project to the next.

At the Inlet, there’s always a way back into your work. That “in” may be applying a craft tip from Large Salon or trying one some writing practice advice from a course video. It may be hitting a beta read deadline, showing up to a group writing challenge, or attending a breakout session to troubleshoot with your peers. Or it may simply be the attitude you take into your work–kindness towards the editor within. Determination. The care and focus you imagine a writer you admire takes to see their work clearly and wisely. 

Come study high-level craft techniques with a trusted writing coach–the upcoming season’s theme is Metaphor in the Making. The salon will help you transform new craft and writing practice tips into familiar tools you’ll use with confidence and skill. Week after week you’ll clarify your vison and deepen trust in your day to day drafting and revising. Together we’ll balance the solitude of writing with the uplift of community, and share the ebb and flow of the process with likeminded writers doing the same.

The Inlet Salon’s craft focus is on metaphor’s ripple effect on our writing, from the words we use to the themes they deliver.

UPCOMING INLET SALON CRAFT THEME: METAPHOR IN THE MAKING 

All creators have the same quandary: to make work universal enough to appeal to our audience deeply and meaningfully, yet original enough to embody our unique style. One technique allows us to do both simultaneously: metaphor. When we see one thing in terms of another, we unite disparate thoughts and images, deepening theme, focusing character motivations, even strengthening voice. We’ll come together in the Inlet’s virtual salon community for light accountability along with craft discussions that explore metaphor’s clarity and mystery, and work to strike the right balance in our work. 


Support your novel’s development & your development as a novelist.

Inlet Novel Salon Program

september 2024 – april 2025

Enrolling in the Inlet’s Novel Salon is like enrolling in an orienteering course for novelists. You’ll learn how to create our own map rooted in place & big ideas (plot your theme), calibrate your compass (attuned to your characters’ inner needs), and find your novel’s true north. 

Fee: Starts at $1900

I’ve worked with over 1,000 writers, taught creative writing for twenty years, and though I often get questions like “How do I plot” and “How do I create a character readers care about?” the most important question novelists need to ask is this: “What is my story REALLY about?” You’ll spend each month testing out answers to this question, and others designed to help you probe your plot and prose, find your main character’s inner and outer arcs, and your novel’s true north.

The Novel Salon provides continuity, monthly tips, group camaraderie, community–and more. The kind of connections you can get from a curated group of likeminded peers who share pages and gain a deep understanding of each other’s work over time. Plus, you get long-term access to a knowledgeable professional–yup, that’s me–handing out maps she knows well. You’ll get monthly feedback and craft concepts all novelists need, so you can get tips but also calibrate your own compass, do your own navigation, and reach out for help when it’s needed.


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