ONLINE VIA ZOOM
We meet at a different time & on a different day each month but with the same intention–to open an inlet into our work and write in shared solitude.
UPCOMING SESSIONS:
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APRIL SESSION: MONDAY THE 15TH, 12-1:30PM CENTRAL TIME.
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JUNE SESSION: MONDAY THE 3RD, 11AM-12:30PM CENTRAL TIME.
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JULY SESSION: WEDNESDAY THE 10TH, 12-1:30PM CENTRAL TIME.
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. (Get an optional prompt each session, too.) You may be surprised how much distance you cover.
THE INLET WRITE-ALONG PROCESS
The session starts with a screenshare of an optional prompt. A couple minutes after the hour, I’ll take down the prompt and invite participants to settle in and share inlets into their work in the chat. You can try the prompt, or BYOWP (Bring Your Own Writing Project).
Every writing session has a new inlet.
That inlet may be an intention: Finish a draft of a poem. Start a new chapter. Freewrite a brain-download without picking up your pen.
An inlet can be a task: Revise a page of dialogue in 60 minutes. Reorder your poem’s stanzas. Try your hand at the Inlet Prompt.
An inlet can be a long entryway into later work: Researching the town your novel’s set in. Studying how to write jacket copy. Revising an outline.
The inlet you take may quickly open into self-reflection: Reading a feedback tip may send you on a journey unpacking a plot point. Trying a prompt from Writers’ Inlet may inspire you to ponder the productivity of a recent writing practice–or delight in creative twists you took in your last draft.
An inlet can also be an attitude: To write without indulging the inner critic. Write with kindness and compassion–towards yourself, and the others you’re writing about.
Sometimes an inlet is a creative stance: Be bold. Stay curious. Try a free-for-all revision with no plan in mind. Hunker down and turn a scene on its head.
After you arrive at the Inlet Write-Along, take a moment to acknowledge your inlet. You may bring it with you, discover it when you arrive–or find it after you settle in. Then begin.
At the end of the session, writers are encouraged to share an update on their outflow in the chat. Angela may invite a couple writers to talk about their progress. (You can always pass.)
Inlet tip: Before you leave, make note of your outlet–where you end up in your writing session (the page you end on, the concept, the idea, image, etc). Then jot down a potential inlet you’d like to enter when you begin again.
