Writing Co-Lab

A generative writing class for women (or anyone who identifies as female / nonbinary / gender-nonconforming) who feel like they miiiiiight be losing it. Instead of running away from home... try this class first? Whether you're overwhelmed or stretched thin; wound up or worn out; blocked, stuck, or just feel like making some time to write each week, this class is a way to reconnect with your creative core. You can write in any genre you like—nonfiction, fiction, poetry, stream-of-consciousness, journaling, fragments, rants, letters, lists—whatever feels right each day. This class is about process, creativity, and making some space for your own voice. It's just an hour, and there's no homework. Sneak it in on your lunch break (or while the kids are watching a movie; they'll live). It'll be encouraging, regenerative, nourishing, and fun. 

Each week we'll look at a very small piece of writing on a theme, discuss it a bit, and then do some writing on said theme:

1. Overwhelm

2. Expectations

3. Loneliness

4. Desire

5. Spirit

6. The Future

The object of this class is to come away with 6 new pieces of writing, 6 starts, or 6 sections of something larger. There won't be any workshopping each other's work, or outside "homework." You don't have to have anything polished ready, and you won't have to share your work with your classmates unless you want to. Mostly, this is a space to get inspired, give ourselves permission to get unstuck and be raw and honest in our work, and to establish a good writing practice you can carry on with you after our 6 weeks are up.

What people have said about this class:

Thank you so much for the women on the verge class. I looked forward to it every week and found that, many weeks, it was the hour I was most fully relaxed and most my truest self...the hour I spent there was a balm. And thank you for exposing me to some women writers I had never heard of....such gems out there, what I don't know (which is, of course, a lot) always amazes me and I think "how did I never hear about this great writer before??" —Lori, a Writing for Women on the Verge student

I am really enjoying this writing lab! It's really giving me a moment each week to really look at what's going on with my thoughts on marriage, motherhood, longing for the past while trying to sort out my future. — Rachel, a Writing for Women on the Verge student

About the Instructor: Amy Shearn is the award-winning author of the novels Unseen City, The Mermaid of Brooklyn, and How Far Is the Ocean From Here, plus the forthcoming novels Dear Edna Sloane (Red Hen Press, 2024) and Animal Instinct (Putnam, 2025). She has worked as an editor at Medium, JSTOR, Conde Nast, and other organizations, and has taught creative writing at NYU, Sackett Street Writers Workshop, Gotham Writers Workshops, Catapult, Story Studio Chicago, and the Yale Writers' Workshop. Amy's essays have appeared in many publications including the New York Times Modern Love column, Slate, Real Simple, Martha Stewart Living, O: The Oprah Magazine, Coastal Living, Poets & Writers, and Literary Hub. She has short fiction and poetry publications forthcoming in No Tokens and Pigeon Pages. Amy has an MFA from the University of Minnesota, and lives in Brooklyn with her two children. You can find her at amyshearnwrites.com or @amyshearn.