For many of us, the last few years have been strange, difficult, unpredictable, isolating, and sometimes just plain boring. Your muse has been stuck in the house along with you. At this point, you may not be on speaking terms. You might have a project that’s creaked to a dead stop. This course is a chance to take a vacation together, you and your muse. Let’s call it a week at summer camp. There will be fun! Challenges! Canoeing and swimming (metaphorically)! And opportunities to hang out with other writers and their muses, experiencing together the pure joy of creativity.

Each day will consist of a fun, low-pressure mix of wide-ranging prompts, mini-lectures, and exercises, all aimed at stimulating your most creative self. Topics will include writer’s block, starting new work, and how to keep that work going. We will take several outings for prompts in stimulating places just a short 5- to 10-minute walk from the classroom. (Which ones? It’s a surprise!)

You will be invited to share some of your new work (optional). You will go home with a notebook full of strategies, as well as many new stories and essays. You will also have a renewed spirit of possibility, confidence, and a playful happy muse who trusts you again. This class is appropriate for beginners as well as advanced writers.

In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; offer feedback/first impressions on writing you produce in our week.