Begins Thursday, June 5th, 2025

Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Thursdays, 7:00PM EST - 9:00PM EST.

Now Enrolling!

Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button (lower left) to talk with us.

During our four weeks together, we'll honor each other's writing journey and hold space for the possibilities that can come from putting your voice and words out there.

This is a unique course that invites writers to explore their creative nonfiction work, by tapping into those raw and unfiltered moments of being “buzzed,” “lit,” “drunk” “wasted,” “tipsy,” “high,” “stoned,” or whatever you want to call it!

This may be considered inappropriate, taboo, or not literary, or even make a narrator “unreliable.” But putting language to the experience of being under the influence helps get it as close as possible to the real experience. It’s vital to our stories, our characters’ stories, to literature, and high art that we do so.

Through a series of mini-meditations, writing prompts, and exercises, we will attempt to release any immediate or shadowy shame in our psyches and bodies about alcohol/drug use, and the things we did while under the influence. We will see these experiences as creative storytelling opportunities and explore the possibilities.

Lastly, due to the nature of this course and respecting everyone’s comfort level, there will be no submissions shared with other workshop participants. However, students may submit one writing-under-the-influence-focused pitch OR one excerpt (one-page max) to the instructor and receive brief written feedback.

Class meetings will be held over video chat, using Zoom accessed from our private class page.

COURSE READINGS & EXCERPTS

*Note: Suggested course reading is not compulsory or required to participate fully in the course.

• The Return Trip by Maya Golden
• Sweat by Lynn Nottage
• Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn
• Barefoot to Avalon by David Payne
• Open by Rachel Krantz
• Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp
• Quit Like a Woman by Holly Whittaker

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Creating stronger emotional resonance: By tapping into those unfiltered moments you can develop a more unguarded and honest connection with yourself and readers.
• Using literary craft tools to convey these moments with more intention in order to create consistency and voice. 
• A more raw and authentic storytelling experience. 
• Embracing the imperfection, fun, messes, etc of your experiences and learning how that translates to creative freedom. 
• Exploring the powerful, deep truths from these moments of being under the influence that may surprise you and your reader. 
• Increasing your narrator’s reliability by conveying the consequences of being under the influence accurately, despite normal language conventions. Basically, we’re going to break A LOT OF RULES!

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week 1: Mindset, Meditations, and Writing Prompts to Re-Remember Moments of Being Under the Influence. Embrace these moments as opportunities for creative expression, uncover deeper truths that may have been dormant, and set intentions for this writing.

Week 2: Studying Craft of “Drunk” and “High” Literature. Learn the three main “buckets” this type of literature falls into and play around with each one with guided prompts to decide which one feels best to you and your writing.

Week 3: Using “haunting” images and poetry to tap in even deeper to the raw truths of your most uninhibited moments. Playing with poetry techniques as generative writing exercises. *You do NOT need to be a poet to participate, just need an open mind. 

Week 4: Rhetoric and Publication: Discovering your “HELL YES” reader to ensure your writing lands with the audience who would delight in it, and need it the most. Exploring options for publication in journalistic and literary arenas, including self-publication.

• Instructor: Sarah Gallucci
  

• Begins Thursday, June 5th, 2025

• Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Thursdays, 7:00PM EST - 9:00PM EST.

Contact us HERE if you have any questions about this class.