Writing in Company
Workshops

Does this sound like you?

I'm not really a writer. But I want
to pay attention to my life.

I want to write for healing, wholeness, or as a spiritual practice.

I need inspiration for writing I'm already doing, or for a new project.

Find your writing voice in a Writing in Company workshop.

Join fellow writers in a supportive small group, and see where your words take you.

My workshops welcome all who wish to write, all genres, and all experience levels.

Current & Upcoming Workshops

If no workshops are listed here, my workshops are either in progress or on a short break. You can join my email list to get notified of future workshops, and receive my free weekly writing prompts. I also offer a monthly writing workshop hour online for paid subscribers. You are most welcome!  Find out more about how to join in over on Substack.

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Fall Writing Workshop (AM)

Wednesdays 11:30 am - 12:30 (Eastern) September 21 – November 2
Online on Zoom | $90

Join me for a six-week morning online writing workshop with a small group of fellow writers. We will pay attention to what matters, and explore our memories and imagination with our words. No writing experience is necessary, and all are welcome.

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Fall Writing Workshop (PM)

Wednesdays 7:00 - 8:00 pm (Eastern) September 21 – November 2 Online on Zoom | $90

Join me for a six-week evening online writing workshop with a small group of fellow writers. We will pay attention to what matters, and explore our memories and imagination with our words. No writing experience is necessary, and all are welcome.

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Faith & Grief Workshop

Mondays 7:00 - 8:30 PM (CENTRAL)
Sept 26, Oct 3, 10, 17, 24, Nov. 7
Online on Zoom | $79 - $99

Join me for a six-week evening Writing for Remembrance & Healing workshop in collaboration with Faith & Grief. Writing can help us learn to live with loss, capture stories and memories to remember, and process our feelings as we move towards healing. Register through Faith & Grief. 

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Upcoming Workshops

Words of Hope: an Advent Grief Writing Workshop

Tuesdays December 5, 12, 19

7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Eastern 

Online on Zoom 

$90

Join a small group to write together as a spiritual practice during Advent. We’ll use poetry, images, objects and more as inspiration, and prompts to get our words flowing, Whatever or whomever you are grieving, writing with other generous listeners can open an avenue for healing and hope. All are welcome—no writing experience is needed, and grammar and spelling don’t count. Come experience the power of writing—alone and with others—to help you in your grief journey. There will be opportunities to share your words in a supportive environment. Read more about my workshops here.

Tuesday Group

More Ways to Write with Me

Writing Prompts for You

Join my email list over on Substack for a free weekly writing prompt. These show up in your inbox, usually on Wednesdays, with a creative idea to jumpstart your writing and reflection.

Some people use the prompts as starting places for journaling or morning pages or even prayer and meditation. Others use them as inspiration for art projects, or for writing they do for work.

Not everyone writes every week, to every prompt. (Not even me.) You might just read and reflect, then find the idea sparks something in you later. Writers are working on their writing even when they don't have a pen in their hands....

Get prompts

Custom Writing Workshops

I am also available to provide a custom writing workshop or retreat for your group, either in person or online.

Whether you want to explore writing as a spiritual practice, write for a specific season with a group, or create a writing experience around a retreat theme, I would love to work with you.

You can read more about some of the past workshops I've led below. You can also read about what happens in my workshops and the method I use below.

Let's write together.

Contact me

Recent Workshops

I led two workshops on Writing for the Soul for participants of the Women's Connection Conference, where Kate Bowler was the keynote speaker. We wrote using blessings, objects, mirrors, memories and imagination around the theme of being Seen.
I led a 4-week series on Writing for the Soul with online participants. Shannan said, "If you're looking for inspiration and encouragement in your writing life, sign yourself right up. Words are weighty and wondrous; they are luminous when shared in Julie's workshops."
I led a day-long workshop on "Paying Attention: Writing as a Spiritual Practice" for a gathering of folks from a variety of churches in Georgia. This was an offering in a series focused on Soul Care and creative spiritual practices.
I led a workshop at a conference for faith formation leaders on Writing for Healing. We paused, listened, wrote, read, and gathered some tools for resiliency in the work of ministry, and in life. One participant reflected: "This was just exactly what my soul needed."
I led two six-week fall writing workshops with writers from all over the country. One participant wrote: "Julie's workshop is the best! Her prompts have facilitated some of my best writing. I now have invaluable take-away tools to carry my motivation forward."
I led two workshops on Writing from the Heart for the Women's Connection Conference at Montreat. We used poetry, pictures, our memories and imaginations to listen to our lives.
I led a six-week workshop on Writing for Remembrance and Healing, sponsored by Faith & Grief. A group from around the country met on Zoom and wrote as a way to process grief, loss, and hope.
I spoke about "Pen & Paper: How I Learned to Pray Again" for a women's group at Myers Park Presbyterian Church. The group of 250 bravely wrote together for part of the time!
I led a one-day workshop for a women’s group at First Presbyterian Church, Asheville on Writing as a Spiritual Practice. We held a hybrid class, with some in person and some on Zoom. Wonderful writing together, with some trying it for the first time, and others seasoned journalers.
I led a six-week Fall Writing Workshop on Zoom. Dennis H says: “Writing in Company, the weekly prompts, and hearing the written words of others in the group helped me to slow down in the telling of my stories, and to see the value and beauty of carefully chosen words and phrases.”
I led a beginner-friendly workshop called Playing with Words: Writing for Wholeness, for the Women’s Connection Conference at Montreat, where Jen Hatmaker was the keynote speaker.
I led a six week series of writing sessions over Zoom on Writing for Resilience for First Presbyterian Church, Asheville as a small group gathering.
I led a one-night workshop on Writing through Loss and Change at First Presbyterian Church in Asheville, NC, as part of a series on practices to help deal with transitions in life.
I led a weekly Lenten writing series at Myers Park Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC. Our prompts for the season came from scripture, poetry, pictures, and more.
I co-led a weekend series of workshops with Carol Henderson at Myers Park Presbyterian Church. We explored the idea of Writing toward Wholeness, and Paying Attention with five sessions: Memory and Meaning, Grief and Gratitude, Pausing and Playing, Fear and Faith, and Love and Loss.
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More about my Workshops

Who joins your workshops?

Writers! Think you aren’t a writer? A writer is simply someone who writes.  

Maybe you write journal entries, emails to friends and family, or Instagram posts. Maybe you write stories or poems or essays about your life for your own enjoyment. Maybe you dream about being a published writer but haven’t made time for it. My Writing in Company workshops will help keep the words flowing.

Already writing and want to write more? Whether you have an established writing practice, have already published, or have hit a wall in your writing, this is a place for you. Give yourself the gift of space, time, and support to develop your craft.

What happens in a workshop?

We focus on writing. We’ll introduce ourselves, and learn about one another, but it will primarily be through what we write. 

I offer prompts accessible to all (a poem, a quote, a picture, an object, etc), then everyone writes in response, for a set period of time. We just start and see what develops, as we write from our own memory and imagination. One writer might write what sounds like a journal entry while another writes poetry. One might write a scene between characters as another writes a list related to the prompt (or not.) 

Writers are free to ignore the prompt and work on whatever they wish if something else bubbles up.

Do we share what we've written?

We often have time to share what has just been written, if desired. No one has to read aloud but because of the way we give feedback, most writers find it powerful to do so. We listen carefully for what is strong, and what is working in the piece, and offer our responses to the writer. We never criticize new, just-written work. Instead, we help one another see the strengths in our writing. 

In most workshops—to allow us to take risks, go deep, and follow wherever our memory or imagination take us—we treat newly created writing as story/fiction/art. Even if a writer uses the first person “I” narrator, we focus on the writing itself, not on the writer. Within the safety of this environment, we are free to explore and create. 

In my own years as a participant in a similar workshop, I’ve surprised myself at the creativity and truth that comes out of my pen, and been astounded at the art that comes from the pens of my companions. 

I hope you will join me to find your own creative genius.

Contact Me

About the Method I Use

Amherst Writers & Artists is an international writing organization founded on the belief that everyone is a writer. For over thirty years, AWA has supported practiced and emerging voices through a proven workshop method. I was trained and certified as a workshop facilitator in 2018, and continue to learn from AWA.

*Everyone has a strong, unique voice.

*Everyone is born with creative genius.

*Writing as an art form belongs to all people, regardless of economic class or educational level.

*The teaching of craft can be done without damage to a writer’s original voice or artistic self-esteem.

*A writer is someone who writes.

Click here to learn more about Amherst Writers & Artists.

Let's get started.

You can begin right now with a free writing prompt, when you join my email list.

After that you’ll get a weekly brief email—usually on Wednesdays—with a creative suggestion to jumpstart your writing, and more tips on using your words to pay attention to what matters most.

*I value your privacy, and you can unsubscribe at any time.