Writers in Progress

05/20/2026

“Legions will create art after I am dead. That beautiful, chaotic, nutter, phenomenal ache to make art will go on, surging up through the oppressions and repressions and brutalities humans heap upon each other, carrying us when all seems lost, threading through grief and loss with breathtaking beauty, or bringing a laugh up your throat or a smile and comfort to you when you least expected it. For this I am profoundly grateful. That you all exist. I surround myself with the art of others as I add my small scrawl to the sea of us.” -Lidia Yuknavitch

05/19/2026

“There exists this moment before I edit where I feel completely overwhelmed. This is, quite literally, part of my process. I get this sense of literary vertigo, like I’m staring over the cliff’s edge into the crashing gears of some giant malevolent machine that I cannot comprehend and that I am sure will crush me into my constituent parts. And in this moment I want to back away and say, “F**k it, I’m not doing this, I’m done, game over, my work sucks, I’m not a writer, I’m just some as***le, I can’t hack it, I can’t–” And then I leap over the cliff’s edge and let the gears take me. And that’s when I find out it wasn’t as bad as I thought. It’s never as bad as you thought.” -Chuck Wendig

05/18/2026

“Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is be finished.” -Jane Smiley

05/18/2026

Join us for a morning of writing among peers! Our Community Writing Workshops run like all of our generative writing workshops do, with a brief warmup, inspiring prompts, and plenty of time to write and share. A wonderful way to jumpstart your writing projects!

Community Writing Workshops will be held online.

First Sunday of the month, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m EST

Learn more/sign up here or at the link in our bio: https://www.writersinprogress.com/writing-workshops/p/community-writing-workshops

05/13/2026

“Don’t give up, and don’t lose your stubborn belief that you have a story worth telling. I’ve had so many people tell me over so many years that I didn’t have the qualities needed to be a writer. All of my writer friends and I have one thing in common: We didn’t listen to the naysayers. We kept writing. And eventually we have all been published.” -Devi Laskar

05/13/2026

Morning coffee

05/12/2026

“I’m trying to help us remember that we invent our own beauty and our own paths and our own crooked, weird ways of doing things, but that they’re not nothing and they matter, too. We’re the half of culture that doesn’t take the paths that are sitting right in front of us. Our song may be a little off-key, but it’s a kind of beauty, too.” -Lidia Yuknavitch

05/12/2026

Want to stay up-to-date with our workshops and events?

Join our mailing list here or at the link in our bio: https://writersinprogress.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=09e38660b2f223fa55fead540&id=507f809b26

05/09/2026

“To me, the process of writing is just reading what I’ve written and—like running your hand over one of those mod glass stovetops to find where the heat is—looking for where the energy is in the prose, then going in the direction of that. It’s an exercise in being open to whatever is there.” -George Saunders

05/09/2026

Even the most seasoned writers have difficulty carving out time and summoning inspiration. This popular, productive morning workshop provides quiet, structured writing time among peers, a handful of fabulous prompts to get you rolling, and the inspiration to support your writing practice.

Starting with a variety of imaginative prompts, we warm up, engage in a sustained writing period (over an hour), then share our work and receive thoughtful, encouraging feedback. Each session includes writing time, craft tips, quotes, supportive discussion, and advice on how to sustain a creative life in challenging times… Come for inspiration, structure, and a supportive community, and make serious headway on your projects! Appropriate for all levels and genres. These popular workshops fill fast!

Mondays, 4 -7 p.m. or Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday mornings, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.; 10-week session starts week of May 18th

Learn more/sign up here or at the link in our bio:
https://www.writersinprogress.com/writing-workshops/p/writing-jumpstarts-dori-ostermiller

05/08/2026

So excited for this event tonight! Hope you all can make it!!!

Friday! Join us for a reading and conversation with Sarah Browning and Patricia Lee Lewis to celebrate the launch of their new books. The evening will feature readings from Sarah Browning’s new collection, CALL ME YES, and Patricia Lee Lewis’s debut novel, THORNS OF MESQUITE. Afterward, the writers will sit down for a conversation with Dori Ostermiller.

Hope to see you there!