31 Comments

Hi Vedika. Thanks! and yes more great essays to come. And yes, we'll follow a six-art prompt in Lesson #6 that will guide you to get a full essay down in one sitting. Plus I'll provide ideas to get you writing along the way too. Happy to have you here.

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Hey Andrea! The listed essays are so wonderful! Can’t wait to read & learn more and of course write :p

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Do I have to upgrade to a paid subscription in order to register for the workshop?

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Hi Phyllis, nope! You can take the free half and decide whether you’d like to upgrade for paid when the second half comes around.

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i registered today and i am SO looking forward to being part of this.

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Welcome Amalia!

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Excited to take part in this! What days will the lessons come out, Mondays and __? Trying to save time in my schedule to make sure I can go through each lesson before the next arrives. Thanks!

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The lessons come out Monday and Wednesday.

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Is it too late to register?

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No register anytime. Lesson #1 just went out today.

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How do I know that I am registered? I will probably stay for the 8 lessons; but want to first check out the initial 4 lessons. April 1st, Monday. What is the next day that the lesson will be posted?

thank you. Catherine Lawrence 3/30/24

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Hi Catherine. I checked. You are registered. Lesson 1 will arrive soon. Thanks for signing up!

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Looking forward to this opportunity.

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Really looking forward to this!

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Me too!

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I'm very excited for this workshop. I have several ideas for various essays related to divorce and desire, but need a way to organize and connect my thoughts.

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Hi Brittany. Generative topic. And you can write more than one, even many essays, about divorce. When we look at idea generation in Lesson 1, you can get all of your ideas out and then start to connect them with the specific themes that apply. This process will help you to organize and differentiate. Then we get the "finding the heartbeat" part of the course (which we'll be building on with each lesson) then you will be able to see what each essay is about and what connects. I think it will resonate and there will be many examples. Please do ask Qs here in the thread as they come up. oh btw--Have you read Maggie Smith's book You Could Make This Place Beautiful? It's a memoir but it's structured like a collection of connected essays (and other forms) and it's all about divorce, but all about other things at the same time. You can see what other themes she encounters.

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Funny story :-) I've attended webinars led by Brenda for Crafts Talks and on other the platforms. These have been $25 or less. I've become aware of these classes thru my feed I guess. You might periodically check her website.

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Can't wait for this workshop to start! Swerve is one of my all-time flash CNF favorites.

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I agree. Everything Brenda Miller writes is like taking a master class. She's the originator of the hermit crab essay--where you write an essay using a borrowed form, like a to-do list, or a medical record, or a field guide. We won't be getting to hermit crab essays in this course (although we'll go over a number of essay types), but if you are interested Miller wrote a remarkable hermit carb essay using a series of rejection letters. It's brilliant. She describes it all with examples in the post on Brevity Blog: https://brevitymag.com/craft-essays/the-shared-space/

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I love that one too! I love working with forms. Once upon a time (before we lost our money haha; it's ok, I turned the experience into a piece that got published!), I was hoping to study with her in the low res program at PLU. Around the same time my husband ran into her on a ferry. I don't remember how they started talking but he confused her with a different Brenda that I actually had studied with. She very politely said she wasn't sure if she remembered me. We had a laugh about that later.

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SO excited for this workshop series!!! Have started dabbling in CNF/essays but definitely find it hard to start.

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Great to dabble :-) We are starting with generating ideas for your essays in Lesson 1. And there's are good examples and an exercise to get you going. Thx--I'm excited too.

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Hi, Andrea,

Just read the first two essays you cited and I'm positively busting to talk about them. Already left a comment at Brevity. They're brilliant, and in several places they hang on a sentence you could almost miss if you're not paying attention. THANK YOU for bringing them to our attention.

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John. I'm pleased that you like the readings. There are 17 in total across the 8 lessons, and I think they are all brilliant. So much good craft! And thank you for leaving a comment at Brevity--that means a lot to both the writers and the folks at Brevity (who are are unpaid volunteers). More to come :-)

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Hi Andrea, I'm not sure if you can answer all this or not, but: what times are the workshops? Or is it all asynchronous?

Also, I tried to sign up to look for this information but couldn't--I'm a paid subscriber and when I click on the link that says "sign up" I'm not able to click on it. Is there someone who can help? FYI I'm using Firefox, and tried Chrome as well, but it still doesn't work. Thanks!

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Hi Rita, don’t worry. If you’re a paid subscriber then you are already signed up. Lessons will be coming to your inbox in April. If you have any trouble at all feel free to email me - ben@chillsubs.com

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ANd Rita--The lessons come out twice a week directly to your inbox (as a subscriber). But it is asynchronous. You read and respond/comment in the thread *like here) when it works for you. I'll check into the Comment thread and respond regularly.

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Thx for following up here Ben! And if anyone has any problems accessing the lessons--email Ben, ben@chillsubs.com

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Very exited for this 🥰

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Hi Sunday. I’m excited for the course too. See you in April.

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