I’m excited to invite you to be part of Writing in the Cracks: A Writing Mentorship.
When I decided to pursue writing as a profession, I had a 3 month old baby at home. I was really tired and pretty busy. The extent of what I had to offer to myself was a jumbled journal entry, written sentence by sentence as my day allowed. What I had to offer the general public was an occasional Instagram post. There was no coffee shop with perfect latte art or vintage typewriter anywhere nearby. There was no perfectly curated acoustic playlist pulling the words out of me and onto the page. I didn’t feel like a writer. But I was a writer. Turns out, the first step to being a writer is deciding you are one, and allowing yourself to believe the truth of what your soul is telling you.
I searched out every writing resource I could find. I read about platform and social media and how to plan the perfect blog post. The words algorithm and SEO were scattered throughout. I read all the books about habit building and goal-setting. I assume these books are great for people who have a lot of time or someone that handles their laundry and meals and general life maintenance. There was nothing for me: the stay-at-home mom drowning in laundry and nap and bottle feeding schedules. I didn’t care about building my platform, I just wanted to write, and I wanted to learn how to be a writer.
There are lots of people out there who can teach you how to build your platform and optimize your SEO. That’s not me. There are lots of teachers out there who will tell you to make your life fit into your goals— your writing. But for most of us, that’s not the way our lives work, and its time to stop wishing for the perfect writing day and the perfect circumstances to be a writer. It’s time to figure out how to make writing fit into your life. It’s time to be a writer.
We are living in, wait for it— unprecedented times. It may feel impossible to commit time and energy to your love of writing right now. And I get it. And yet I can’t help but wonder if the impossible-ness of it all means its all the more important. If writing makes you feel alive, at home in your own body, closer to God, or simply brings you joy— let yourself write. We need you to feel alive. We need you to feel at home in yourself. We need you to feel joy.
This mentorship won’t be just writing. It will be a journey of self-exploration and inner work to help you become the writer you want to be, so that at the end of the eight weeks you will be better equipped to do the writing you want to do.
Over the last two years, I have sold a book proposal, signed a book contract, published my first book, and written for five national publications all during a season as a stay-at-home mom, with pandemic chaos scattered throughout. While it hasn’t been easy to figure out how to make it happen, it has been possible. And it can be possible for you, too.
A Couple of Notes:
There will be a spiritual and religious component to this mentorship. However, if you aren’t a Christian or a religious person you are still totally welcome to apply! Feel free to let me know and we can make the curriculum custom to you.
This is not just for people who want to be authors. You do not have to want to publish a book to be a writer. Being a writer takes many forms, and few of them actually involve writing a book.
Past participants have gone on to publish articles in national publications, sign with literary agents, and start sharing their writing content online.
This writing mentorship is for:
Anyone who feels too busy to write, too guilty to take time away from your kids to write a few words, or too intimidated by everything writers are supposed to do.
Anyone who wants to stop resenting their lives because they are trying to keep up with the algorithms and the posting schedules. It is for anyone who wants to be fully mom, dad, friend, spouse, human, and also writer.
Anyone who is afraid to call themselves a writer, but knows they love to write.
Anyone who has made a PB&J for their kid while mentally writing an essay or instagram post.
Anyone who has read advice for writers and thought “Must be nice!”
Anyone who feels the call from God to write but just doesn’t know how to make it happen.
Anyone who wants to create a sustainable way to be a writer in their current season of life.
Anyone who believes writing is part of them, whether or not anyone ever reads their words.
Objectives
During the mentorship you will seek to:
Proudly own the title of Writer.
See your current season of life as fertile ground for your creative pursuits, instead of a place where you feel weighed down by mundane life tasks.
Identify the pain points in your current writing life and develop strategies to work within your time and capacity.
Let go of the standards you feel you should be meeting in your writing life, and instead create attainable goals that fit your life and season.
Create sustainable writing habits that fit your real, right now life.
Let go of the guilt you feel when you choose writing over another obligation, such as chores, time with your kids or significant other, or something that makes money.
Give yourself permission to ignore advice that doesn’t work for you and find the freedom to figure out what does.
Integrate writing into your life to become more fully yourself.
Grow into confidence as your own best editor.
Utilize social media for your writing in a way that doesn’t kill your soul.
This writing mentorship will last for 8 weeks (September 25th-November 20th).
The cost of the mentorship is $300. While I believe investing in yourself is a worthy way to spend your money, I don’t want money to be a hindrance so payment plans will be available (1, 2, 3, and 4 payments options), with the first payment due by September 25th. This cost includes:
The 8 week writing mentorship
Individualized feedback from me on all writing assignments
Weekly “office hours”
Lifetime access to your writing cohort group
What we will cover
Week One: Finding Contentment & Absence: Being Where You Are & Choosing Where You’re Not
Week Two: Making Space: Quieting Our Minds When Life is Loud
Week Three: Writing as a Gift to Yourself: Honoring Your Story in Word and Deed
Week Four: Writing as a Gift to Others: Honoring Your Reader with Compassion and Honesty
Week Five: Embracing Vulnerability: Writing When It’s Personal or Controversial
Week Six: Writing When It’s Hard: Finding Balance Between Grace and Grit
Week Seven: Measuring Success in Our Capacity: Creating Our Own Standards
Week Eight: Honoring & Celebrating Small and Mighty Progress
Week Nine: Final Feedback and Notes Returned
What I expect from you
Before the beginning of the mentorship, you’ll be expected to choose from a list of books about writing and creating. You may listen on audiobook or read a hard copy. Your first assignment will include this reading.
Each week you’ll receive an email from me with teaching and direction, along with your assignments for the week. You'll be assigned both an exercise and a writing project. I may send a podcast episode to listen to, or an article or book excerpt to read to help you with your assignments. Writing assignments will range from 250-1200 words, with most being in the 500 word range. Depending on your writing speed, you can expect to dedicate around 2 hours each week to this mentorship.
Because this mentorship is for busy people in busy seasons, I will be flexible and understanding with you and I expect the same in return. There is no shame or judgement here. This mentorship is all about finding freedom to figure out how to be writers in our current season. With that being said, please try to dedicate yourselves to your assignments to the best of your capacity. If you miss a deadline (or a few!) it is not the end of the world. I do want you to get as much as possible out of this mentorship and the assignments as possible, so please try to make space for the work.
You will be expected to post on social media on occasion and to engage with the other members of the group.
General kindness and respect towards me and your fellow writers.
What You Can Expect From Me
Practical tips for how to actually get writing done in the cracks of your life.
Honesty about writing, both personally and professionally.
Individualized feedback for every writing assignment.
Personalized direction for creating your own writing life.
Probably some memes.
If all of this sounds like something you’re interested in, I would love for you to sign up. The mentorship will be open for the first 15 people who sign up. This is to help ensure ample time to prepare financially and practically for the mentorship to begin on September 25th, with time built in to read your chosen book. I’m excited to have you join us! Please feel free to email me at taylorrschumann @ gmail.com.
I can’t wait to work with you!
