QUARRY: An Excavation Workshop
REVEAL WHAT LIES BENEATH THE SURFACE OF YOUR WRITING
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2026
9-11am PST/12-2pm EST | REMOTE ON ZOOM
You’ve heard of Proust’s madeleine, right? You have a buttery dessert in your personal history, too. In this workshop, we’ll help you find it. And use it to make your writing fuller, deeper, more YOU.
In this two-hour workshop, we’ll explore your creative influences and uncover emotional details that will make your writing sing. We offer guided exercises, rich prompts, and structured connection with other writers. It’s perfect for writers who are feeling creatively tapped out, who aren’t sure what to write next, whose words are feeling flat and lifeless. We’ll help you look to your past to guide your future—and get excited about it.
You’ve already been doing the work. Now it’s time to reveal it to yourself.
Our workshops aren’t like other writing classes. We’ve got proven tools, not platitudes. Are you ready to turn all those half-formed ideas in your notes app into long-form writing that fulfills your creative goals? It starts here: Two hours with the Midwives of Invention.
Let’s the dig in, together.
Workshop $70
All The Details
In this two hour zoom workshop Ann and Jade will lead you through our Core Sample exercise, a foundation of our writing workshops and a tool that you can use again and again in your practice. We’ll offer step-by-step prompts to analyze and deepen your understanding of what you’ve revealed. And we’ll leave you absolutely dying to open a document and get to work.
Who’s it for?
Have you ever wondered, “Why am I the writer to tackle this?”
Are your ideas feeling stale and lifeless?
Do you want to use your writing practice to deepen your understanding of yourself?
Are you ready to make your inner child a co-author?
Is your work feeling shallow, general, or simply less dynamic on the page than it seemed in your head?
Are you drawn to the same themes over and over, but aren’t sure why?
QUARRY will give you tools to surmount all of these writing roadblocks. Our workshops have an encouraging and propulsive dynamic that will get you excited to dig in and do the hard work. We are pro-ambition and pro-experimentation, and cultivate an inclusive environment. We welcome writers of all experience levels.
(If you’ve attended one of our past workshops, either in person or online, please be aware that this workshop will cover familiar material. If you’d like a refresher course, you’re still welcome to join us!)
Who are the Midwives of Invention?
You are the mother of invention. 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. Click here to read more about us.
What have past participants said?
“You loosened my grip and allowed me to fall in love with being an artist again.”
“The best professional workshop I've ever attended.”
“The practical and very well laid out simple steps were super helpful for a novice like me.”
“I like the how tightly pragmatic and how deeply personal this process is. I can see a LOT of fruitful writing coming out of it!”
“I can't believe how engaging a three hour zoom was, the time flew by. “
“Honestly a transformative experience for me.”
Workshop fee: $70
The Fine Print
Refund policy: We offer a 50% refund if you cancel before December 21. After that, there will be no refunds available. However, if you would like to have a friend take the workshop in your place, contact us at: themidwivesofinvention@gmail.com
Will you provide a recording? We will provide a link to watch the zoom recording of the workshop. It will be available for one week after the workshop ends.
Accessibility: We will do our best to make this workshop as accessible as we can. If you have specific questions or needs, please ask: themidwivesofinvention@gmail.com.
Scholarships: If the workshop fee is a hardship, we have full and partial scholarships available for SCRAPS. If you are interested, please email us at themidwivesofinvention@gmail.com with the following information: 1) A brief description of yourself and your writing practice (beginners welcome!) 2) A brief paragraph explaining why you’re interested in the composting workshop.