Writing Group retreat & a milestone & a big sale

Happy Monday, friends. I hope you all got some time off last week to do whatever you needed and wanted.

While I was away eating pie and trying not to be on the internet, Mad Woman hit 10k subscribers! And we have more than double the people following the newsletter! This year, the horrors sure did persist, but so did we. And I’m so grateful for all of you and for this community.

As a show of gratitude, I’m running a big end-of-year sale on paid subscriptions.

Right now, annual subscriptions are 25% off.

Paid subscribers get weekly roundups, writing prompts, access to personal essays and craft essays, lecture notes, book lists, commenting and community privileges, discounts on writing classes and the full season of my limited-run podcast Reading the Comments 👀, live author salons, other little treats, and full access to the archive. As this community grows, I’m able to do more of all this, and more regularly, so I’m very excited to see what we do together next year.

Writing Group subscriptions are also 50% off (!), to celebrate the one-year birthday of our supportive, feminist writing community.

For one week only, it’s just $99 to join. As a member of the Writing Group, you can attend any of next week’s virtual retreat events (details below!).

You’ll also get access to our fall retreat, other virtual events like essay swaps and creative circles, office hours, weekly accountability and resource sharing chats with other writers, bigger discounts, and more. Our Writing Group is composed of writers of all genders and genres at all stages. Everyone is awesome and brilliant and very nice and welcoming!

Photo by Madeleine Kohler on Unsplash

Next week: a resistance-themed end-of-year retreat

I know that many of you that you feel burned out, tapped out, and creatively depleted. So next week, let’s carve out a little time and space to check in with our creative work, and talk through how we might view our writing practice as a form of resistance and ungovernability in the coming year(s).

Our emphasis for this retreat will not be on productivity. You do not need to do or be anything specific to attend the events below. Instead, think of this as a week of grounding, recovery, and connection with community.

We’ll have a live creative circle on Monday to discuss how everyone is feeling about their work and to set some intentions. Then, over the rest of the week, we’ll have two generative writing sessions, a virtual AMA, a live office hour, and a final sharing of work, where you can connect with other writers. Attend as few or as many events as you’d like.

On Wednesday, we’ll also have a special event with guest author Soraya Chemaly on “Writing as Feminist Refusal.” This event will be open to all paid subscribers, but all other events are for Writing Group-ers only.

Writing Group Retreat events (all times PT)*

• Monday Dec. 9, 1pm-2pm, Writing as Refusal- come share how this year went for you and what you’re looking forward to or struggling with as the year comes to a close; we’ll discuss how to view writing as an act of refusal in the coming years, and how to incorporate this belief into your writing practice.

• Tuesday Dec. 10, 10am-11am, Guided Generative Writing- show up and write; I’ll provide a few prompts; we’ll say hello at the top of the hour, then cameras can be turned off so you can settle in.

• Wednesday Dec. 11, 10am, Feminist Refusal for Writers with Guest Author Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger and The Resilience Myth: New Thinking on Grit, Strength, and Growth After Trauma

  • I’ll also host a virtual AMA chat on Wednesday afternoon

• Thursday Dec. 12, 4-5pm, Guided Generative Writing- show up and write; I’ll provide a few prompts; we’ll say hello at the top of the hour, then cameras can be turned off so you can settle in.

• Friday Dec. 13, 12:30-2pm, Live Office Hour & Sharing of Work- show up at 12:30 to ask questions about publishing, recovery, finding time to write, your own projects, whatever you want, or just to chat; at 1:30pm, all writers are invited to share their work and connect with each other.

Excited to see you all next week!

Let us know in the comments what you are working on or have been working on this year—and how you’re feeling about the year ahead. For those who have been in the group all year, look back on the intentions you set in January and revisited in the spring.

*Links to live events will be sent out by next Monday morning.