Finding a Voice; Writing your Way into Story, Online, Sunday Afternoons in October
Writing Your Way into Story
There is something you’ve been longing to write. It could be a book you've been thinking about for years, a collection of stories, a personal essay, or just a memory that replays in your mind.
Yet, knowing you want to write and sitting down to write are two very different things. This four-week writing workshop will help you bridge the gap between thinking about it and doing it.
We'll write before we worry about whether it's good. We'll pay attention to the details that stay with us from the smell of a room to the feeling a conversation leaves behind, and the thing someone said without saying it.
We'll talk about structure and craft, but we'll mostly spend a lot of time building your writing muscle. Think about it like doing yoga, on the page. Sometimes the only way to find the story is to start telling it.
FOUR WEEKS. FOUR DIFFERENT WAYS INTO THE WORK.
Week One: Flexing the Writing Muscle
Getting past the blank page, the inner editor and the need to get everything right.
We'll use speed writing, memory mapping, sensory prompts and the "no backspace" rule to get words moving. We'll look at why writing and editing are two different activities, and why sometimes the fastest way to something true is to stop trying so hard to find it.
Week Two: Making a Scene
A memory isn't automatically a story.
We'll look at how to take something that happened and turn it into a scene a reader can step inside. We'll work with perspective, sentence rhythm, dialogue, silence and subtext. We'll pay attention to what people say, what they don't say and what is happening underneath the conversation.
Week Three: Finding the Shape of the Story
Your life happened in chronological order. Your story doesn't have to.
We'll look at narrative arc, desire and obstacle, emotional escalation, recurring themes and the difference between chronology and narrative. The question isn't only What happened? It's Why does this belong here? Why does it matter? What is the reader discovering?
Week Four: Shaping What You've Written
Once the words are on the page, we can begin to make decisions.
We'll work with tense, pacing, exposition, endings and the difference between writing for yourself and writing for a reader. The goal isn't to polish the life out of your writing. It's to make it more precise, intentional and yours.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
Every week, we'll spend time reading, talking about craft, writing and sharing.
You'll have prompts to take home between sessions, but there is no expectation that you arrive with a manuscript, or even a clear idea of what your manuscript is. Come with a notebook, a laptop, a memory, a question or a story you've been carrying around. We'll take it from there.
BY THE END OF THE FOUR WEEKS
· You'll have written new material and begun to see connections between the pieces.
· You'll have a better sense of your voice and the story you want to tell.
· You'll have experimented with scene, perspective, dialogue, rhythm and narrative structure.
· You'll have the beginnings of something you can keep writing.
The final exercise is to write 1,500–2,500 words toward the story you're trying to tell. Not the finished story. Just the beginning.
WHO SHOULD JOIN?
This workshop is for writers who:
Have a story they've been thinking about for a long time.
Want to write a memoir, book, essay or other narrative work.
Have pages but aren't sure what comes next.
Tend to edit themselves before they've finished the sentence.
Want to develop their voice.
Need a little structure, accountability and time to write.
Are ready to stop waiting until they feel "ready."
You don't have to know exactly what you're writing. You don't have to know where it ends. You don't have to get it right the first time. You just have to begin.
THE DETAILS
Four consecutive Sundays in October
October: 11th, 18th, 25th and November 1st
2:00–3:30 p.m. ET
Live online
The workshop is intentionally limited to 10 writers so there is time to read, write, talk and receive feedback.
Tuition
$425 Early-Bird (until September 15th) / $475 Regular
Your registration includes four live 90-minute sessions, writing prompts, curated readings, exercises, feedback and a digital workshop workbook.
ABOUT LAUREN EASTMAN
Lauren Eastman is a writer, editor, ghostwriter and brand strategist. She has spent more than two decades working in communications, storytelling, hospitality and branding, and has written and edited long-form books and manuscripts for authors, executives and entrepreneurs. Her work is less about making writing sound impressive and more about helping writers figure out what they are trying to say. She believes the good stuff is usually already there. Sometimes you just need to write long enough to find it.
Writing Your Way into Story
There is something you’ve been longing to write. It could be a book you've been thinking about for years, a collection of stories, a personal essay, or just a memory that replays in your mind.
Yet, knowing you want to write and sitting down to write are two very different things. This four-week writing workshop will help you bridge the gap between thinking about it and doing it.
We'll write before we worry about whether it's good. We'll pay attention to the details that stay with us from the smell of a room to the feeling a conversation leaves behind, and the thing someone said without saying it.
We'll talk about structure and craft, but we'll mostly spend a lot of time building your writing muscle. Think about it like doing yoga, on the page. Sometimes the only way to find the story is to start telling it.
FOUR WEEKS. FOUR DIFFERENT WAYS INTO THE WORK.
Week One: Flexing the Writing Muscle
Getting past the blank page, the inner editor and the need to get everything right.
We'll use speed writing, memory mapping, sensory prompts and the "no backspace" rule to get words moving. We'll look at why writing and editing are two different activities, and why sometimes the fastest way to something true is to stop trying so hard to find it.
Week Two: Making a Scene
A memory isn't automatically a story.
We'll look at how to take something that happened and turn it into a scene a reader can step inside. We'll work with perspective, sentence rhythm, dialogue, silence and subtext. We'll pay attention to what people say, what they don't say and what is happening underneath the conversation.
Week Three: Finding the Shape of the Story
Your life happened in chronological order. Your story doesn't have to.
We'll look at narrative arc, desire and obstacle, emotional escalation, recurring themes and the difference between chronology and narrative. The question isn't only What happened? It's Why does this belong here? Why does it matter? What is the reader discovering?
Week Four: Shaping What You've Written
Once the words are on the page, we can begin to make decisions.
We'll work with tense, pacing, exposition, endings and the difference between writing for yourself and writing for a reader. The goal isn't to polish the life out of your writing. It's to make it more precise, intentional and yours.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
Every week, we'll spend time reading, talking about craft, writing and sharing.
You'll have prompts to take home between sessions, but there is no expectation that you arrive with a manuscript, or even a clear idea of what your manuscript is. Come with a notebook, a laptop, a memory, a question or a story you've been carrying around. We'll take it from there.
BY THE END OF THE FOUR WEEKS
· You'll have written new material and begun to see connections between the pieces.
· You'll have a better sense of your voice and the story you want to tell.
· You'll have experimented with scene, perspective, dialogue, rhythm and narrative structure.
· You'll have the beginnings of something you can keep writing.
The final exercise is to write 1,500–2,500 words toward the story you're trying to tell. Not the finished story. Just the beginning.
WHO SHOULD JOIN?
This workshop is for writers who:
Have a story they've been thinking about for a long time.
Want to write a memoir, book, essay or other narrative work.
Have pages but aren't sure what comes next.
Tend to edit themselves before they've finished the sentence.
Want to develop their voice.
Need a little structure, accountability and time to write.
Are ready to stop waiting until they feel "ready."
You don't have to know exactly what you're writing. You don't have to know where it ends. You don't have to get it right the first time. You just have to begin.
THE DETAILS
Four consecutive Sundays in October
October: 11th, 18th, 25th and November 1st
2:00–3:30 p.m. ET
Live online
The workshop is intentionally limited to 10 writers so there is time to read, write, talk and receive feedback.
Tuition
$425 Early-Bird (until September 15th) / $475 Regular
Your registration includes four live 90-minute sessions, writing prompts, curated readings, exercises, feedback and a digital workshop workbook.
ABOUT LAUREN EASTMAN
Lauren Eastman is a writer, editor, ghostwriter and brand strategist. She has spent more than two decades working in communications, storytelling, hospitality and branding, and has written and edited long-form books and manuscripts for authors, executives and entrepreneurs. Her work is less about making writing sound impressive and more about helping writers figure out what they are trying to say. She believes the good stuff is usually already there. Sometimes you just need to write long enough to find it.