Courage to Write

This online personal writing course guides you through a 5-step framework to become a more confident, skillful writer.

All the writing techniques in the world aren't worth much if you doubt yourself.

Most writing courses focus solely on writing technique—which is helpful.

But if you have the urge to write, you know that so many blocks can stop you before you even begin...

...You worry who might read (and judge) your words.

...You fear your story isn't unique enough to write about.

...You're not sure you have what it takes to do the story justice.

If you were the best writer who ever lived, it wouldn't matter if self-doubt kept you from writing in the first place. In this course, we give you simple but transformative techniques quiet your internal chatter, and then help you practice skills that make your writing more vivid.

By the end of this course, you'll have a finished piece of writing, as well as the confidence and skill to keep putting your most powerful words on the page.

We'll help you write courageously.

From Ashmae:
I was a writer who hadn't published anything and who told myself I couldn't. But I still felt a call to write and share, so I worked for years to take my writing seriously. As I did, I published two books and several smaller pieces. I'll teach you steps to take your writing seriously right now, so you can reach your writing goals.

From Kathy:
I always wanted to be a writer, so I went to get an MFA. In that program, I gained invaluable writing skills... and a heap of self-doubt. In the years after graduation, skills alone weren't enough to accomplish the writing I wanted to do. So I worked directly with my fears, until I could get up on stage to share my work. I'll help you become a more skillful writer, filled with courage to write what is yours to tell.

Together, we have collective decades of writing and teaching experience. And we promise you that your story is worth writing.

START THIS COURSE NOW

—Annie R.

"Ashmae and Kathy are safe, engaging, and inspiring teachers. Their writing exercises and encouragement have pulled words out of me that I feel proud of."

—Liesel M.

"My writing helped me to see that all the false starts, abandoned projects, embarrassments and failures do not make me a dump heap… they are actually raw materials to create beautiful and encouraging things. This helps me to accept myself in a profound new way."

—Bailey B.

The knowledge and tools Ashmae and Kathy generously shared are not the kind of thing you can just search for and find. It is knowledge that reaches further, knowledge that made me look at writing in a new way, and that I will return to whenever I write.

—Sruthi M.

I enrolled as a total beginner, never having taken a writing class in my life. Mine to Tell was exactly what I needed, and totally not what I was expecting. The teachers encourage you to write your own story in your own way, and do not dictate style or technique. Their guidance helps steer you, and you are able to look at your writing with a different perspective, and get better as a writer. I have gained a lot from this experience, and if I ever end up writing my book, I already know who to thank for leading me to it!

—Cara E.

I love how instructors Ashmae and Kathy the focus on the whole writer; not just on technique, but on the emotional, mental, and physical selves we bring to the writing process. The lessons, writing exercises, personal feedback, and the opportunity to connect with a small writing group have increased my confidence in my ability to write and given me a holistic toolkit for my writing practice.

What's included in Courage to Write

WELCOME

In this course, we guide you through a simple but transformative process to help you extinguish self-doubt first, and then build your writing skills, so you can finally put your best, most powerful story on the page.

First things first

How articulating your story makes you powerful

21 mins
55.7 MB

Printing your workbook for this course

20.1 MB

1: CREATE YOUR SPACE

The 3 steps for every lesson

Discovering your writing room

26 mins
76.9 MB

Getting to know your writing room

17 mins
33.6 MB

2: CLEAR THE ROOM

Naming your fears

18 mins
43.3 MB

Protecting your writing room

19 mins
43.1 MB

Meeting your audience

7 mins
9.37 MB

Excusing your audience

11 mins
10.9 MB

Current self as audience

11 mins
11 MB

3: CLAIM YOUR PERSPECTIVE

Who am I to write?

10 mins
32 MB

Trusting what the I has to say

17 mins
28.7 MB

The launch point

11 mins
29.4 MB

4: CRAFT YOUR WRITING

Starting small and moving outwards

17 mins
27.7 MB

The art of description

19 mins
24.3 MB

Stretching a moment

18 mins
25.1 MB

Interrogating a word

12 mins
11.8 MB

Cross-examining a word

12 mins
36.3 MB

Making your words do the work

14 mins
14.9 MB

Writing complex characters

14 mins
25.1 MB

Writing yourself as a complex character

17 mins
37.1 MB

5: CARVE TO THE HEART

Revising your way to the heart of the story.mp4

17 mins
49.8 MB

Finding your best ending

15 mins
24.9 MB

Going back to the beginning

17 mins
22 MB

Taking ownership of your work

24 mins
31.1 MB

INTERVIEW WITH WRITERS

Interview with Courtney Kendrick on Audience & Craft

(1h 01m 40s)
584 MB

Interview with Kate Finlinson on Publishing & Revision

(1h 15m 29s)
1.25 GB

Interview with Amy Lee Scott on Writing Through Self-Doubt

(1h 00m 37s)
207 MB

Contemporary Creative Writing Pieces

List of Readings + Links

If you feel the draw to write, but you've hesitated, this course is for you.

Your purchase today includes:

23 self-paced writing lesson videos
69-page workbook with guided prompts
3 interviews with published writers
Reading list of writing examples
New confidence and skills to write an important personal story.

START COURAGE TO WRITE

Frequently asked questions

How and when do I attend this course?

This is a self-paced course, which means all the lessons are accessible online right now. As soon as you make your purchase, you'll have instant access to all videos, interviews, and worksheets. You go through the course at your own pace, any time of day.

How long do I have access to the course materials?

After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like—across any and all devices you own.

Who is this course for?

Anyone who wants to write, but has ever felt blocked or self-conscious about their words on the page. Your level of experience does not matter. If you've never written before, the prompts in this course will guide you to feeling more confident on the page. If you've written for years, we guarantee that this course will give you a different approach than you've tried before. If you want to write but you've ever hesitated, this course is for you.

How is this different from your live courses?

Courage to Write is a self-paced writing course based on the curriculum from a yearly course we used to guide live, called Mine to Tell. Because we could only offer this course at certain times, we created a recorded course to be available year-round, at a more accessible price. Instead of 90-minute sessions, we reworked the content into smaller, more digestible lessons and exercises (23 videos in all). If you've already taken Mine to Tell with us, you can still get something out of Courage to Write, but you'll recognize a lot of the same visualizations and exercises from the live course.

What if I find this course is not for me?

We're confident that this is one of the most personally transformative writing courses you can find. But if you start and realize it's not what you were looking for, contact us within 30 days of your purchase and we'll refund your money in full.

BUY: COURAGE TO WRITE