You’ve got the “shitty first draft” (to quote Anne Lamott) down. You know it isn’t where you want it to be, but now what?

I know in my own writing life, I have seen my essays go from three pages to twenty-five, or twenty-five to three—each essay is a different ballgame and there isn’t a one-size fits all. I’ve worked on essays that took only a month to write, while others have taken over a year. Learning the revision techniques I’ll share in this class has changed the game for me and made me a more productive and confident writer and revised. 

In First Draft To Final, we will use a revision strategy each week including decoupe, the read-aloud, the print-out, with more announced in class. Structured through Susan Bell’s book The Artful Edit, you will be introduced to challenging and enlightening methods of revision. Each week, you’ll share your experience with Chloe and the class. We will begin with your first draft, and each week look at the progression of your second draft, third draft, fourth, and finally, fifth. 

6-Week Online Nonfiction Intensive: First Draft to Final

Let's face it, distractions and our waning attention spans are one of the biggest struggles we can face as writers. 

In this two-part course, Dr. Zebib K. Abraham, psychiatrist and writer, will break down how our brain processes distractions while providing tools to create a resiliency we can use to fuel and persist in our creative work.  

Day One will cover how to prioritize and organize your writing approach and plan while also dismantling self-criticism, a key factor in procrastinating your writing. This seminar will also cover working with ADHD and understanding the growth mindset of a writer.

For the second day of this seminar, we will address “existential overwhelm,” the idea that we are aware of the time in our lives slipping by and feel an intense need to fill it with “stuff, now!” will be discussed along with toxic productivity, time management and our perception of time. Then we will dive into distractibility, how our brain processes distractions, how to identify what is distracting you, and how to use technology in a productive way.

Can I Have Your Attention, Please?: A Writing Seminar on Overcoming Distractibility in the Writing Life 

Curious about what the deal is with chapbooks? In this 4 week workshop with Adrie Rose, you will explore the history of poetry chapbooks, their possibilities, and how to pull yours together and submit it. 

Chapbooks were for a long time the sad forgotten younger sibling of "real" "big" books of poems. But chapbooks have a rich history of subversion and accessibility, and they are currently experiencing a resurgence, with even established poets choosing to create chapbooks in addition to new full-length collections.
We'll talk about the history of the chapbook, why you might want to create one (or why you might not), the possibilities the chapbook container offers, read some juicy examples, and then get into the nitty gritty of how to pull your collection together and where to send it when it's ready to put on its big (little) pants and go out into the world. 

Small but Mighty: Creating and Submitting a Poetry Chapbook

In Defense of Not Writing

 Flying Home

 Deer Hunting

 Giving Interviews

 Planning Dinner

 Listening to Country Music

 Returning to Ballet

 Finding A New Pace

 Visiting Grandparents

 Getting Drinks

 Going to Renaissance Festival

 Sitting at the Dealership

 Swimming

 Mastering Trivia

 Losing Control

 Making Brisket

 Querying

 Vacationing in Florida

 Dog Sitting

 Building Community

 Being Patient

 Eating Fruit Before it Molds

 Revising

 Getting Bangs

 Comparison

 Baking Bread

 Practicing Rest

 Dealing with Rejection

 Teaching

 Traveling

 Getting COVID

 Reading

 Graduating

 Doing the Dishes

 Cooking

 Revisiting Photographs

 Guilt

 Walking

 Binge-Watching

Just My Type

 Improve Your Writing Process Based On Your Sign’s Ruling Element

 Writing Podcasts to Listen to Based on Your Enneagram Type

 Creating a Writing Practice Based on Your Human Design Type

 Writing Poetry Based on Your Enneagram Type

 Defining Success Based on your Sun Sign

 Take an Artist Date Based on your Sun Sign

 Writing Books to Read Based on Your Enneagram Type

 Create A Writing Routine Based on Your Moon Sign

 Set Goals Based on Your Human Design

 Writing Podcasts to Listen to Based on Your MBTI Type

 Writing Prompts For Your Enneagram Type

 Writing Books to Read Based on Your Sun Sign

 Find Inspiration Based on Your Human Design

 Customize Your Writing Process Based On Your MBTI Type

 Find Your Voice Using Your Mercury Sign

 Upgrade Your Writing Practice Based on Your Enneagram Type

Words on the Street

 Turn It Up

 Did You Check the Lost and Found?

 Any Questions?

 I Don’t Know

 Practice Makes Imperfect

 Help!

 Is That for Here or to Go?

 What Time Is It?

 No Worries

 Eat Your Vegetables

 Make a List

 “Soak your feet!” (And maybe your words, too)

 It’s Complicated

 Wanna Grab a Coffee?

 Same

 I’ll Have a Slice (and other ways pizza makes me think of writing)

 Write a Letter — Part Two

 Write a Letter — Part One

 I Remember

 Welcome Back. Welcome Home.

 Cover Me/I’ll Cover You

 Go Outside!

 “Piano, Piano” and Other Italian Charms

 I’ll Be Honest With You…

 How Was Your Summer?

 Did you eat? You hungry? What can I make you?

 My Bad

 Listen Up

 Take Care

 Do the Math

 Holding Hands

 Did You Ever Wonder?

 Stop and Smell the Flowers

 Why Didn’t I Think of That? and/or Wait, That Was My Idea First!

 Wait, What?

 Give Me Some Space

 Go Big or Go Home (Not)

WriterTok Roundup

WriterTok Roundup — August

WriterTok Roundup — July

WriterTok Roundup — June

WriterTok Roundup — May

WriterTok Roundup — April

WriterTok Roundup — March

WriterTok Roundup — February

WriterTok Roundup — January

Writing Spaces

 The Celebration Of The Common

 Mothers and Daughters

 Displacement

 These Jeans Are Made For Walking

 The Ocean at the End of This Column

 This Town Is Big Enough For The Both Of Us

 Character As Setting

 Science/Fiction

 Three Act Mountain Structure

 Ticket to Write

 Have A Seat, Have A Disaster (As A Treat)

 The Places You Go

Eat & Read

The Sad Girl vs. The Mad Girl  Poets: The Sad Girl’s Savior Complex and the Legacy of the “Suicide Girl Poet”

Foil and Unfolding: Writing Poetry With A Sword

Big Enough to Hold All of the World’s Tears: On Losing a Literature Teacher

Writing: A Checkpoint

20 Pulse-Pounding, Thought-Provoking Social Thrillers From the Past Five Years

17 Books We Can’t Wait to Read: December 2023

Fiction Spotlight: Interview with Nicholas Claro

2023 Small Press Literary Gift Guide

17 Books We Can’t Wait to Read: November 2023

The Current

Kristine Langley Mahler: On Incorporating Divination Into Writing, the Appeal of Small Books, Toggling Between Parenting & Writing, and Her Essay Collection ‘A Calendar Is a Snakeskin

Gabrielle Korn: On First Pages, Queer Stories Becoming Less Niche, Literary Agents, and Her Debut Novel ‘Yours for the Taking’

Lauren Nossett: On the Throes of Plot Twists, the Genre Debate, Dolly Parton as Inspiration, and Her New Novel ‘The Professor’

The Current

Latest

Kristine Langley Mahler

Writing spaces

Eat & Read

Gabrielle Korn

Interviews

Kristine Langley Mahler

Gabrielle Korn

Lauren Nossett

Latest Essays

Eat & Read

The Sad Girl vs. The Mad Girl Poets: The Sad Girl’s Savior Complex and the Legacy of the “Suicide Girl Poet”

Foil and Unfolding: Writing Poetry With A Sword

Big Enough to Hold All of the World’s Tears: On Losing a Literature Teacher

Writing: A Checkpoint

Columns

In Defense of Not Writing

Just My Type

Words on the Street

WriterTok Roundup

Writing Spaces

Jessica L. Pavia

Megan Moody

Kathy Curto

Erin Karbuczky

Mackenzie Sanders

Features

20 Pulse-Pounding, Thought-Provoking Social Thrillers From the Past Five Years

17 Books We Can’t Wait to Read: December 2023

Fiction Spotlight: Interview with Nicholas Claro

2023 Small Press Literary Gift Guide

17 Books We Can’t Wait to Read: November 2023