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Take some time for your writing this fall with a series of virtual Write-Ins hosted by The Writers Grotto. Led by one the Grotto’s many talented and accomplished writers, each of the sessions below provides 60 minutes of space and guidance in which to get your creative energy flowing, generate new material, bring old material up to snuff, and just make contact with the community of writers that is the Grotto, our teachers, and our students.
Write-Ins are held on a variety of days and times to give our students the opportunity to choose a Write-In that works best for their schedule.
Cost: $25/session or $99 for a season pass!
Sessions:
FRIDAYS, Oct. 3rd - 24th | What happens when a poem looks like a dictionary entry or reads like a recipe? In this generative four-week poetry workshop, we’ll explore how poets across traditions transform familiar forms into powerful containers for memory, identity, and resistance. Each week, we’ll read and discuss published poems that bend and subvert form, from Layli Long Soldier to Terrance Hayes, and we’ll generate new work through guided prompts and playful constraint. You’ll be encouraged to experiment with visual layout, voice, and structure in ways that serve the heart of your poem.
By the end of the course, students will:
Take some time for your writing this fall with a series of virtual Write-Ins hosted by The Writers Grotto. Led by one the Grotto’s many talented and accomplished writers, each of the sessions below provides 60 minutes of space and guidance in which to get your creative energy flowing, generate new material, bring old material up to snuff, and just make contact with the community of writers that is the Grotto, our teachers, and our students.
Write-Ins are held on a variety of days and times to give our students the opportunity to choose a Write-In that works best for their schedule.
Cost: $25/session or $99 for a season pass!
Sessions:
Thursday, Oct. 9th | Having a challenging conversation is never easy but at times its necessary. It doesn't matter if it's personal or professional learning how to have this kind of conversation will help you prepare yourself. This course will teach you how to prepare for the conversation you don't want to have but you have to.
THURSDAYS, Oct. 9th - 30th | This course will cover the building blocks for short-form memoir and personal narrative writing. Perfect for people interested in getting back into memoir or personal narrative or for those authors with projects underway wishing to provide themselves with structure and community. You do not need to be an experienced writer to join! If you have any questions about your qualifications, please reach out using the provided contact information! We will focus on creating compelling stories from memory and experience. Each week, prompts will be provided, and we will write together in community. Expect to complete short readings of published authors and weekly writing assignments outside of class. All writing assignments will receive instructor feedback and choice selections can be submitted for peer review. We will focus most on generating writing, and supporting your writing habits. You deserve a witness, and that witness can be you!
Take some time for your writing this fall with a series of virtual Write-Ins hosted by The Writers Grotto. Led by one the Grotto’s many talented and accomplished writers, each of the sessions below provides 60 minutes of space and guidance in which to get your creative energy flowing, generate new material, bring old material up to snuff, and just make contact with the community of writers that is the Grotto, our teachers, and our students.
Write-Ins are held on a variety of days and times to give our students the opportunity to choose a Write-In that works best for their schedule.
Cost: $25/session or $99 for a season pass!
Sessions:
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 15th | Having a challenging conversation is never easy but at times its necessary. It doesn't matter if it's personal or professional learning how to have this kind of conversation will help you prepare yourself. This course will teach you how to prepare for the conversation you don't want to have but you have to.
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 15th| Thanks, I Hate It: The Art of Writing a Bad Review is a two-hour crash course in how to write a well justified bad review of a movie, television show, or even book that you hated for all good reasons. Maybe it’s racist, or unnecessarily misogynistic, homophobic, or just plain poorly produced, there’s a time in every writer’s life where we need to write about a cultural artifact that went wrong—and why.
This class is designed for writers with some experience reviewing texts of all stripes in order to help hone your critical skills to give a work some bad news about why it’s problematic. We will read and discuss work by Myriam Gurba, Roger Ebert, Angelica Jade Bastien, and class leader Sezin Devi Koehler who have made an art of the necessary sociocultural takedown of troubling pop-culture trends and releases.
The class will work from prompts and brainstorming to help you figure out how best to approach a bad review, and especially whether a certain work actually needs the critique you’d like to offer. You’ll also get guidance on how to punch up in your bad review, not down on marginalized communities, in order to unpack why a piece of media just doesn’t work for you, or society and culture as a whole. We will also discuss when it’s appropriate to simply decline to review a piece.
Sezin will offer constructive feedback on essay ideas and outlines, as well as a first read of your essay draft after class with notes and ideas of places you could pitch the piece. Students can submit essays of up to 1500 words, due no later than ten days after this class concludes.
MONDAYS, Oct. 20th - Nov. 24th |Maybe you have an idea you have had for years or a vague story starting to form. You keep thinking you want to start a novel, memoir or creative non-fiction book, but something stops you; still, there is a little flame of something that wants to come alive, something inside you that wants to be written. In this workshop, we will help you fan the flames of your little ember. You will start by developing your story idea and then write an outline. A messy outline, probably one that will change, but a starting point! And then write a very messy first chapter and get feedback in a supportive group. Come with your idea and an urge to go deep. Lean into your obsessions, your weirdness, and your passions.
THURSDAYS, Oct. 23rd - Dec. 4th* | Want to write a short story by the end of the year? This is the class for you!
We'll spend six weeks building stories from the foundation. We'll celebrate the trouble at the heart of good short fiction. We'll look at ways to get characters in and out of (or deeper into) hot water. We'll look closely at short stories that achieve unity of purpose, precision of craft, and an emotional wallop. We’ll explore diverse forms and voices and examine not only how each story builds from the first word to the last but how tightly the structure depends upon - and enhances - our understanding of character.
During these six weeks, each student will craft a short story from beginning to end, starting with in-class exercises and prompts. Homework will consist of weekly reading assignments as well as student writing. Please be prepared to share your work in class, as we will regularly do so in a supportive, respectful, and constructive manner (with guidelines provided by the instructor). If you've written short fiction before, or are looking to start, this class will give you concrete help in developing and strengthening your craft. You will finish class with a complete first draft of a short story.
Note: this class is generative rather than revision-oriented. While you may already have a draft, please be prepared to write (and share) new material.
*No class Nov. 27th
Take some time for your writing this fall with a series of virtual Write-Ins hosted by The Writers Grotto. Led by one the Grotto’s many talented and accomplished writers, each of the sessions below provides 60 minutes of space and guidance in which to get your creative energy flowing, generate new material, bring old material up to snuff, and just make contact with the community of writers that is the Grotto, our teachers, and our students.
Write-Ins are held on a variety of days and times to give our students the opportunity to choose a Write-In that works best for their schedule.
Cost: $25/session or $99 for a season pass!
Sessions:
SATURDAY, Oct. 25th | Life is full of problems that are hard to endure, but as writers these obstacles can fuel stories with momentum and shape resilient characters worth rooting for. In this generative class, we will use art, music and text to open our minds, inspire our writing, and turn life’s "garbage" into literary gold. Transform the small, humorous, and tragic moments of your life into compelling drama and comedy. This is your chance to turn that one unbelievable thing that happened to you into a narrative others can relate to and empathize with.
We'll have pens, pencils, and paper ready for you, but feel free to bring your own notebooks or laptop. Don’t take yourself too seriously—the goal is to have fun and create. Afterward, you’re encouraged to sign up for The Writer's Grotto LitQuake open mic with a complimentary theme, “Narrative Therapy: Trials, Failures and Miscellaneous Bummers”.
During this class, students will:
Britta Stromeyer is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. Her writing appears in The Common, Tupelo Quarterly, Beyond Words Magazine, Necessary Fiction, On The Seawall, Flash Fiction Magazine, Bending Genres Journal, Marin Independent Journal and other publications. Britta has authored award-winning children's books and holds an MFA from Dominican University, CA, an M.A. from American University, and a Certificate in Novel Writing from Stanford University.
Jessica Martinez makes the “Get Over It, Go Out With Somebody Else” zine series which celebrates breakups using quotes from Wayne’s World. She has also written children’s books for the Khan Academy Kids app and sketch comedy for Killing My Lobster. Her plays have been staged in LA and SF, including “Schooltown Funk,” a satire on public school teaching, which had a sold-out run at the SF Fringe Festival. She is a 2025 LAMBDA Literary Fellow and currently at work on a young adult novel.
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, Oct. 25th & 26th | Clear the decks for a singular weekend of poetry. In this intensive, we will meet for 90 minutes two days in a row. Writers will be given prompts and technique exercises in the first, and the opportunity to revise and workshop in the second. Some prompts will review techniques of poetry, others will be geared towards generating new work. We will write together in community.
MONDAYS, Oct. 27th - Nov. 10th | "How will I structure my memoir?" This can be one of the most daunting challenges for memoirists. Come learn about the many possibilities that might inspire your own structure! We will look at 13 (maybe more) distinct and unique memoirs and examine how authors have broken out of (or stayed within) traditional boundaries. Students will read and analyze a variety of memoir excerpts, and practice generative writing with their own material. At the end of the course, students will have many tools at their fingertips and be better able to make creative decisions to find a structure that is "just right" for them.
SOLD OUT! Optional Add-On: Susan Ito is available for a one-hour private consultation for registered students. These consultations will be scheduled outside of class sessions, at a time that is mutually convenient for instructor and student. This consultation includes reading a one-page synopsis and potentially a table of contents, and a maximum of a five page sample of your manuscript. The consultation hour will involve an in-depth conversation regarding the writer’s memoir, and thoughts and explorations regarding structure. Please note that there will be a maximum of eight available add-on sessions (at one session per student).
How does writing across genres feed our imagination and strengthen craft?
Cross-train your writing muscles at this month's Grotto Night at the Main Library. Novelist and professor Nina Schuyler leads a conversation with Xandra Maria Castleton, Matthew Clark Davison, and Devi S. Laskar as they discuss the commonalities between poetry, fiction, film, and more.
Take some time for your writing this fall with a series of virtual Write-Ins hosted by The Writers Grotto. Led by one the Grotto’s many talented and accomplished writers, each of the sessions below provides 60 minutes of space and guidance in which to get your creative energy flowing, generate new material, bring old material up to snuff, and just make contact with the community of writers that is the Grotto, our teachers, and our students.
Write-Ins are held on a variety of days and times to give our students the opportunity to choose a Write-In that works best for their schedule.
Cost: $25/session or $99 for a season pass!
Sessions:
SATURDAYS, Nov. 1st - 29th | Many would-be novelists fall short of their NaNoWriMo goals, but this course is designed to give each writer maximum chance of success and a more polished draft. Custom coaching, brainstorming and feedback, plus plenty of emotional support will keep you on track. Novel-writing is hard enough without the added pressure of a time constraint, but writing the wrong way is a great way to discover how to write right. Let's do it together!
Included in the course:
• Weekly one-on-one sessions with the instructor
• Individualized feedback specific to your project during weekly one-on-one
• Daily personalized email with strategies and prompts
• Ability to email instructor daily for help
• Weekly whole class meetings with the instructor
• Limited class size ensures more attention and support
Upon registration, writers will receive a planner to fill out for feedback on their story's premise, characters, plot, etc. New due date: planners should be submitted by October 14th. Writers will have the opportunity to request their preferred dates and times for their weekly private consult.
This group has a limit of 6 very dedicated writers. The group meeting time listed is a suggestion only and can be adjusted weekly according to the schedules of the whole group.
TUESDAYS, Nov. 4th-18th; final performance Friday, Nov. 21st | Do you have a story you’d like to tell on stage? Or perhaps you need help digging it out? Storytelling is one of the oldest traditions from all cultures that connects people to each other and themselves. This three session workshop will guide you to explore a moment in your life, identify the themes and stakes that matter, and exercise your authentic voice. The class will culminate in a performance of your 6-minute story (in the style of The Moth) at The Writers Grotto’s monthly Reading + Meeting event. There will be space to study the craft and work through the vulnerable. You have a unique perspective and the world needs to hear it! This class is suitable for anyone who wants to tell a story and writers who want to add excitement to their readings.
Outcomes:
Class times are 6-7:30pm; final performance is at 5pm.
FRIDAYS, Nov. 7th - 21st | Where do your poems live? In this three-week generative poetry workshop, we’ll explore how place functions as more than backdrop; how setting becomes character, metaphor, memory, and resistance. From childhood bedrooms to ancestral terrain, from city streets to imagined landscapes, we’ll examine how poets across cultures use setting to deepen emotional resonance, build narrative, and anchor the abstract in the tangible. Each session includes close readings of poems, guided craft discussions, and prompts that encourage exploration of your own emotional and geographic landscapes.
By the end of this course, participants will:
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 12th | Having a challenging conversation is never easy but at times its necessary. It doesn't matter if it's personal or professional learning how to have this kind of conversation will help you prepare yourself. This course will teach you how to prepare for the conversation you don't want to have but you have to.
Take some time for your writing this fall with a series of virtual Write-Ins hosted by The Writers Grotto. Led by one the Grotto’s many talented and accomplished writers, each of the sessions below provides 60 minutes of space and guidance in which to get your creative energy flowing, generate new material, bring old material up to snuff, and just make contact with the community of writers that is the Grotto, our teachers, and our students.
Write-Ins are held on a variety of days and times to give our students the opportunity to choose a Write-In that works best for their schedule.
Cost: $25/session or $99 for a season pass!
Sessions:
Take some time for your writing this fall with a series of virtual Write-Ins hosted by The Writers Grotto. Led by one the Grotto’s many talented and accomplished writers, each of the sessions below provides 60 minutes of space and guidance in which to get your creative energy flowing, generate new material, bring old material up to snuff, and just make contact with the community of writers that is the Grotto, our teachers, and our students.
Write-Ins are held on a variety of days and times to give our students the opportunity to choose a Write-In that works best for their schedule.
Cost: $25/session or $99 for a season pass!
Sessions:
Take some time for your writing this fall with a series of virtual Write-Ins hosted by The Writers Grotto. Led by one the Grotto’s many talented and accomplished writers, each of the sessions below provides 60 minutes of space and guidance in which to get your creative energy flowing, generate new material, bring old material up to snuff, and just make contact with the community of writers that is the Grotto, our teachers, and our students.
Write-Ins are held on a variety of days and times to give our students the opportunity to choose a Write-In that works best for their schedule.
Cost: $25/session or $99 for a season pass!
Sessions:
We welcome you to an evening of readings by members of The Writers Grotto. Refreshments will be provided.
Editing on consultation on nonfiction book manuscripts.
A dramaturgical script consultant can function in several ways. Depending on the project we function as a literary, historical, or artistic advisor as you are developing your script for the stage or screen.
Consultations can look multiple ways. For example, perhaps you just need 1-2 script meetings to discuss story evolution, character development or consistency in theme. Or perhaps you need someone to comment on what is working, what feels like it is missing, and a list of questions to support development. Or perhaps you want 4 -6 session of coaching, homework, and suggestions for how to strengthen, tighten, clarify in the service of moving your script forward.
Consultation fees are developed in conversation about the project (bespoke), and begin around 150.00- 200.00 an hour.
Doug Henderson offers two levels of developmental editing:
Full Developmental Edit for $12/page. This level provides writers with a comprehensive road map that will help them hone their manuscripts for publication. This includes:
-An initial conversation about the project (via Zoom).
-Extensive page notes, including editing suggestions, margin comments and questions.
-A thorough editorial letter discussing craft and structure elements — such as theme, tension, narrative and character arcs — as well as thoughtful suggestions to strengthen your story.
-A second conversation to discuss next steps.
Read-Through Evaluation for $8/page. This level is good for writers who want broader feedback, including new writers who want early advice, or more experienced writers who seek general input, but don’t need or want detailed editing. This includes:
-An initial conversation about the project.
-Light page notes.
-A thorough editorial letter discussing craft and structure elements — such as theme, tension, narrative and character arcs — as well as thoughtful suggestions to strengthen your story.
-A second conversation to discuss next steps.
Let’s chat about how your ideas fit into a basic story structure that will lead to an engaging narrative. Send me up to 2000 words of idea or story summary prior to meeting consult. Session will take place via Zoom.
Polish your writing with Carly Stern, an award-winning independent journalist. Carly offers one-on-one consultations on all forms of narrative non-fiction, with an emphasis on writing about the self. Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, the Guardian US and The Washington Post.
Initial bespoke services consultation to determine the fee. Polish your prose with New York Times best-selling author Julia Scheeres.
Initial bespoke services consultation to determine the fee.
Are you struggling to finalize a piece of science writing, whether it's an academic manuscript, article, or marketing blog? Need editorial help to make sure your message is clear and concise without losing accuracy? Jenny can help you improve your scientific content, using her unique combination of scientific and creative expertise.
Jenny Qi has a PhD in Cancer Biology from UC San Francisco and over a decade of experience in science communication spanning a range of industries, including biopharma, tech, and journalism.
This listing is for a 20-minute consultation to determine the scope of the project.
As an award-winning journalist, author, and consultant with decades of experience, I offer expert editorial consulting services at competitive rates. I write reports, policy briefs, articles, op-eds, blogs, and other materials for major national institutions and individual clients. As a veteran reporter, I also help writers develop and tell their stories for articles and book projects. First, we discuss your project and needs and how I can meet them, then I provide you with an estimate and we move forward with a simple straightforward contract. I look forward to talking with you, learning more about your project, and working together. Estimates are based on $100/hour fee. You can check out my work at www.christopherdcook.com.
Industry veteran writer-director-producer provides consulting for documentary and narrative film projects of any length and at any stage, from concept to pitch deck to rough cut to screenplay draft. Production services also available through Bay Area-based The Unscripted Company.
We will build your fictional work in a collaborative process for as long as it takes to create a whole and satisfying story. Thaisa Frank, a Pushcart Fellow, has published a novel and three collection of short stories. Her original approach, developed through teaching, addresses fiction from all cultures.
Initial bespoke services consultation to determine the fee. Laird Harrison, author of the novel Fallen Lake, provides editing and consultation services on all aspects of novel writing.
Initial bespoke services consultation to determine the fee. Laird Harrison will work with you one-on-one to improve your written communication. Laird has experience with both creative and business writing and can assist with all levels of writing.
Full-length poetry collections (45-80 pages in length).
Individual Poems up to 2 pages in length.
Folios consultation, up to 7 pages in length, with no more than 5 poems.
Chapbooks consultation (16-40 pages in length).
Got an idea for a children’s book? As the brilliant Madeleine L'Engle said, "You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grownups, then you write it for children.” In this 30-minute private Zoom consult, Lisa will give feedback on your idea to help you realize your vision and elevate your story to reach multiple audiences in today’s market. And if you don’t know what “multiple audiences” means in the kid-lit genre, that’s okay; she will tell you! Lisa’s YA crossover novel JUST LIKE BEAUTY was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and is in pre-production as a movie. She has decades of experience writing children’s books for major publishers and regularly teaches workshops to kids and adults who want to write for kids. In her free time, she enjoys petting rabbits and eating cake. Curious cats can find out more at www.lisalerner.com
In this three-session package of Creativity Hypnosis, experienced hypnotherapist and writing coach Jenny Bitner will help you delve into the depths of your subconscious mind to awaken your imagination and overcome creative blocks. This can be customized to deal with whatever issues around writing you are experiencing. Start this journey today!
Unleash your writing potential with Jenny Bitner. As a trained hypnotherapist, coach, and writing teacher, she'll help you overcome fear and tap into your creativity. Experience a transformative hypnotic session to release barriers and claim your full potential as a writer. Take the first step today.
Initial bespoke services consultation by email to determine the fee. Katia will draw on her expertise as an award-winning longform journalist to provide written feedback on magazine pitches. Katia has written for The New Yorker, Forbes, Mother Jones, Marie Claire, The Atavist Magazine and many other publications.
Initial bespoke services consultation to determine the fee. Maw is a writing coach and editor for poets. Maw has many years of experience as an educator, author, and editor. She teaches in the MFA Program at the University of San Francisco and is the inaugural poet laureate of El Cerrito, CA. You can learn more about her at mawsheinwin.com.