All The Details

There’s a reason you feel called be a writer—even though it would be easier to spend all of your free time phone-rotting. The Midwives of Invention will help you honor this call and tap into what is fun and life-affirming about your writing practice, so you can keep going even when your job threatens to take over.

For six Saturdays in a row, you’ll log on to our group class on Zoom to learn specific tools to scaffold your practice, connect with fellow writers is search of creative respite, and spend time actually writing, spurred by our carefully chosen prompts.  

You’ll also schedule one additional day per week – we suggest right before or right after your work day – to write on your own, forming a habit you’ll take with you after the workshop ends.

You’ll conclude the journey with a one-on-one session (50 min) with Ann or Jade in the final week of the workshop. We will troubleshoot any lingering creative roadblocks and help you make a concrete plan for your next several months. 

Along the way, you’ll get considered prompts, expert guidance, and personalized accountability from the Midwives. We have a conscious framework for assessing how you work best and where your potential pitfalls are. You will exchange honest feedback with other writers, give each other space to be more ambitious, and cheer each other on.

By the end of the 6 weeks, you’ll know how to read your own creative compass—and use it to stay oriented in your writing practice despite the intrusions of your day job and other responsibilities. You’ll be in a regular writing flow with direction and purpose, and know how to change course when your circumstances inevitably evolve. And you’ll have a plan so you can actually follow through after the workshop ends.

Your day job isn’t going anywhere, but neither is your writing practice. 

Schedule

• Whole-group classes, live on zoom: Saturdays from 9am-11am PT / 12pm-2pm ET. (Sept 19, 26, Oct 3, 10, 17, 24)

• Solo writing sessions: You pick the date/time but commit to an hour of writing on your own each week.

• One-on-one session with either Ann or Jade: A 50-minute session in October, to be scheduled individually.

Who is this workshop for?

You’re a writer who also needs to pay the bills, and let’s face it: You’ve been struggling to prioritize your creative practice. You need a reset. Deadlines can motivate you, but you’re looking for a deeper level to accountability to yourself, and a structure you can stick to so that you can really focus on your words.

You’re ready for a breakthrough.

Who are the Midwives of Invention?

You are the mother of invention, and we are your midwives! Jade and Ann are writers and friends who have been leading workshops as the Midwives of Invention since 2018. Between us we have written best-selling fiction and non-fiction books, published pioneering newsletters, edited magazines, written for beloved television shows, and created podcasts and audio essays. We are not tortured writers toiling alone. We are in constant dialogue with each other about our projects and processes, and we started the Midwives of Invention because we wanted to share that dialogue with the wider world. For us, coming up with ideas, crafting sentences, and revising drafts is actually fun, and doing it in community is the best part. We don’t think writing is easy, but we know how to make the hard work worthwhile. Click here to read more about us.

What does it include?

• 6 group classes: We’ll gather on Zoom every Saturday, where you’ll get to know your fellow writers and learn tried-and-true techniques from Ann and Jade. Each session begins with instruction and discussion, followed by a writing period. Instruction is iterative, helping you reconnect to the heart of your writing practice and truly understand what you need to move forward. Ann and Jade will be writing with you, and will remain on camera throughout the session—you have the option to turn off your camera. (2 hours per week, Saturdays)

• 6 solo writing sessions: Solo, but not alone! Each week we will give you questions, prompts, or tasks designed to continue your work and take you to the next step. (1 hour per week, on a day and time of your choosing)

• A one-on-one editorial consultation with Ann or Jade: As the workshop draws to a close, you’ll meet privately with Ann or Jade for a 50 minute one-on-one session to kick off the next phase of your writing practice. We’ll ask you confrontational questions, excavate your goals and intentions, and help you find the motivation to keep working. These meetings will all take place over zoom, during the final week of the program (October 17-23), and they are 100% for you! You can ask us anything. (50 minutes, one time only)

• A discussion board: We’ll have a discussion channel dedicated to the workshop. Ann and Jade will make occasional appearances, and there will be light moderation, but this is really a tool for you to connect with fellow writers. Discuss your progress, low-key brag about a breakthrough, recommend favorite books, or find someone in your city to work with IRL!

• A progress-tracking tool: OK, so it’s a spreadsheet– but this spreadsheet is exciting, we promise! We’ve designed it so that you can track the obvious things (dates, words, pages) as well as other essential factors, like the art inspiring you or the research you want to do before your next session.

• Reminders that it’s time to write! You’ll commit to a day and time for your weekly solo writing session, and we’ll text you to remind you when it’s time to sit down and start working. (Optional.)

• Prompts with a purpose: Each writing session, both group and solo, will be accompanied by direction and exercises. These prompts will inspire you to keep putting words on the page and move to the next step.

• A path forward: At the end of the six weeks, you’ll have a clear sense of how your writing practice fits with the rest of your life, and you’ll have the excitement to follow through.

• Bonus: Each writing session you will receive a link to an album or playlist to write to. Just for fun. 

You commit to:

• Showing up to the group classes in real time. We will make recordings available for one week after every class, but strongly encourage real-time attendance so you can connect with your fellow writers.  

• Doing one solo writing session per week on your own time

• Contributing to our generative and thoughtful atmosphere by sharing your unique perspective, welcoming different opinions, and operating from a place of respect and care for your fellow writers

• Taking your own ideas and goals seriously

You’ll leave with:

• A strong commitment to your writing practice

• Tips, tools, and resources to continue even when your circumstances change

• Established relationships with a cohort of fellow writers

• Fresh words on the page

What have past participants said?

• “I found you both to be so supportive and so smart. Your questions got at the heart of what matters and it felt like I walked away with really useful insights that I think about every time I write.”

• “Listening to how you two organized your days and years into writing was very helpful.”

• “I felt so seeeeeeeen!”

• “I loved the emphasis on tools, and so many of them feel really useful to me.”

• “Honestly a transformative experience for me.”