Class Description
Google “Writer’s Block” and you’ll find headlines steering you toward “Writing Bootcamps” where writers learn to “combat” the blank page, “whip it into shape,” and “conquer” it. It is no surprise that capitalism teaches writers to frame “writer’s block” around the language of violence to maximize output—often at the expense of art quality and artist health. This workshop is for writers, both emerging and experienced, who are ready to critique our culture’s pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps approach to writer’s block. Through guided writing exercises and group discussion, we will examine how writer’s block ebbs and flows in our lives and refigure writer’s block as a “drought” that we best replenish by “filling the well,” as artist Julia Cameron puts it. Writers will leave this workshop with practical self-knowledge, ideas for creative play, literary community-building resources, and self-compassionate writing goals.
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.