November 2022 Calendar of Events
Let's Write Together!
For years I have have been telling anyone who will listen, “Stop writing alone!” Here, in the Stop Writing Alone Substack community, I’ve got a new mantra and mission, “Let’s write together!” Each month I will release the calendar of live Zoom events to let you know when that’s happening. Here’s the rundown of scheduled events for the month of November.
The New & Bonus Events
There is nothing I enjoy more than meeting up with fellow writers for all different types of events to grow as writers, improve our craft, and simply enjoy the act of writing. This month I have added two new types of events that I have been hoping to share for a while:
Writing Practice meetings nased on the practice I learned from Natalie Goldberg of Writing Down the Bones fame, and
A watch party for the Story Club members as this month’s master-story is another movie.
In addition to these new events, in celebration of the huge writer-energy that tends to surge every November (thank you very much, NaNoWriMo!), I have added bonus meetings, throughout the month I will host
An extra write in every Thursday in November (except Thanksgiving!)
Let’s get to the details about the when and what of all of these events…
Your Stop Writing Alone November 2022 Calendar
If having a printable version of this month’s events is useful to you, I am including a PDF version of it here for you:
What it Looks Like
Benefits of Being a FREE Stop Writing Alone Subscriber
ZOOM EVENTS
As a subscriber and member of the Stop Writing Alone, you’ve been invited to a
Writing Prompt Party on November 10th at 3pm Eastern
Writing Practice on Nuvember 14th at 10am Eastern
Monthly Write-in on November 15th at 5:30pm Eastern
BONUS WRITE INs November 3rd, 10th, and 17th at 10am Eastern
Zoom Link for all of these Events
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84814527346?pwd=YWVFdDdNb21ndXpDY3F4ZVhKSTVEUT09
Meeting ID: 848 1452 7346
Passcode: SWAopen
COMMUNITY
In addition to these live events, you are always welcome to join the Stop Writing Alone Network for round the clock community connection.
OTHER POSTS & RESOURCES
Every Thursday you will get a new episode of the Stop Writing Alone podcast delivered to your inbox, and every Friday you will get a new Writing Prompt video from the NV Rivera YouTube channel so you can take the 52 Stories in 52 Weeks challenge with support!
Benefits of Being a PAID Subscriber
Investing $5/month or $50 for the year gives you access to everything above, PLUS
EXCLUSIVE ZOOM EVENTS (link will be shared in a separate PAID post)
Goals & Accountability Chat on November 4th at 12pm Eastern
Story Club Watch Party PULP FICTION on November 16th time TBD
Story Club Chat (Lesson 5) on November 23 at 3pm Eastern (What is Story Club?)
Writing Practice on November 21st at 10am Eastern
Writing Prompt Party on November 28th at 3pm Eastern
even more bonus write-ins TBD
OTHER POSTS & RESOURCES
Last month I announced a new rotation of Monday posts.
Masterclass Mondays - a post where I reflect upon a gem from one of the very many teachers available on Masterclass.
Motivation Monday - this was an idea that was first shared with the Happy Campers Club last year. Each Monday I shared a motivational and/or educational quote and wrote a little inspirational blurb to go with it.
Last month I had intended to try both, but I kind of fell in love with my MasterClass watching habit and got stuck. Especially as this is NaNoWriMo month, I know motivation is going going to be needed, so look forward to some of that coming at you this month! If you feel drawn more to one or the other, let me know!
Wednesdays will still be our Story Club posts
on November 2nd you can expect the Intro to Lesson 5 and the master story of the month
on November 9th you can expect your Writing Exercise to complement the lesson of the month
on November 16th, those who are interested are invited to join me in watching the movie of the month (the intro to lesson 5 post will have the details needed to determine interest and the time we will schedule the watch)
on November 23rd we’ll have our live chat
on November 30th I will write up my reflections on the month’s lesson, master story, and our chat!
Explanation of the Types of Events Coming Your Way
If you are new to writing community and, specifically the Stop Writing Alone community, you may not know how awesome this offer is, so let me give you a brief run down of what’s coming your way:
What’s a Write in?
A live Zoom Write-in is an event designed for writers seeking community paired with productivity. It’s an hour long Zoom call with light chat and timed writing sprints. Typically, in a one hour session we have three five-minute chat sessions and three fifteen-minute writing sessions. This is modeled after the Pomodoro method and it is amazing what kind of work can be accomplished in this time.
What is a Writing Prompt Party?
Easily my personal favorite writing event to host, a writing prompt party is an event where we all get to play for at least an hour, hear each other’s writing and build writing relationships that last. In a writing prompt party you come with your favorite writing tool and I bring a writing prompt. We begin the meeting with some introductions and chat and then I share the prompt. I set a timer giving all the writers a chance to write a story based on the prompt. When the timer goes off, then we read our first draft fiction stories aloud to one another. To see some recorded Writing Prompt parties from previous years in the Stop Writing Alone community, check out the Writing Prompt Parties Playlist on the NV Rivera YouTube channel.
What is Story Club?
Story Club is the newest addition to the Stop Writing Alone offerings. It’s like a super-charged book club with a goal of expanding our knowledge on the craft of storytelling. As a former teacher, I tend to “nerd-out” when I see opportunities for expanding my education in any subject. When I first found the book 27 Essential Principles of Story by Daniel Joshua Rubin, I saw the potential in diving deep to learn about storytelling. In this book Rubin shares 27 lessons in storytelling using a master story to exemplify each. Through Story Club we will dive deep on each of these lessons by reading each lesson, experiencing the master story, and having a live Zoom call to reflect each month.
What is Writing Practice?
Writing Practice has its roots in the Zen practice of meditation. When we work at writing practice it is two-fold: first is the meditation, second is the writing (which is essentially meditating on the page).
When I worked with Natalie Goldberg we did THIRTY MINUTES of silent meditation before ten minutes of writing on a topic. This is intense. When starting out with writing practice, you can do as little as three minutes of silent meditation and five minutes of writing on a topic. The topics often feel nonsensical, or unrelated to anything that you are doing or may need to address in your life, your art, or business, but it is the strange conjunction of the odd topic with your mind-stuff that unearths beautiful epiphanies.
In the Stop Writing Alone Writing Practice Sessions we will begin with 3-5minutes of silent meditation, followed by two 10 minute writing exercises. We will end with break out room read alouds.
This is the stuff I dreamt up all on my own. As we meet together, write together, and see how this space can further serve our needs, you can bet there will be more to come. (I didn’t even mention my addiction to making supplemental pdfs for community members when we meet together!) So are you ready to invest in your writing? Skip one fancy coffee this month and spend $5 to see how you can grow when you finally stop writing alone! Let’s Write Together!
Become paid subscriber today!
Two More Ways to Truly Stop Writing Alone
If you already have a growing group of writing buddies, make sure you embrace the Stop Writing Alone philosophy by sharing this offer with them
Or, even better, shout our motto, “Let’s Write Together!” to your writer friends when you give them a gift of a subscription to Stop Writing Alone!
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