In the Woodshed with a Woodstove: A Generative Winter Writing Camp — 8-Week Online Multigenre Workshop with Sarah McColl Starts Sunday, January 3rd, 2027

Winter Writing Workshop: A Generative Camp | Jan 2027 Online

In the Woodshed with a Woodstove Writing Workshop: A Generative Winter Writing Camp with Sarah McColl

Begins Sunday, January 3, 2027
Weekly assignments and feedback via Wet Ink, with four live co-writing sessions on Zoom: Tuesdays, January 12, January 26, February 9, and February 23, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM ET

🌍 Zoom Co-Writing Session Times by Time Zone:

• Los Angeles (PST): 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
• Chicago (CST): 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
• New York (EST): 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Now Enrolling!

Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button to talk with us.

Instructor Sarah McColl is the author of the memoir JOY ENOUGH. Since January 2021, she has published LOST ART, a monthly newsletter about the creative work of (mostly) dead women and a 2023 finalist for the Andy Warhol Arts Writers Grant. Her essays have appeared in The Paris Review, McSweeney's, and StoryQuarterly, and her work has been supported with fellowship awards from Millay Arts, Ucross, Vermont Studio Center, and MacDowell. She lives in small town Northern California.

Meet the Teaching Artist

Sarah McColl on Winter Writing: Why Discipline Needs Gentleness and Your Messy Pages Matter

Who is this class for?

This online writing class is for writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who want structure, community, and accountability around their writing practice. It suits writers between projects, writers starting a practice for the first time, and anyone stuck in a rut who needs a generative push. All levels are welcome.

What to expect:

Before a musician takes the stage, they spend time in the woodshed. Woodshedding is practice, but it is also devotion and solitude, the slow digging that makes mastery possible. Saxophonist and teacher Paul Klemperer calls it a humbling necessity: "like chopping wood before you can start the fire." What's true about jazz is true about writing. We have to generate pages and pages of flawed, half-formed, messy work before we can polish anything.

At the same time, winter asks us to slow down and turn inward, whatever January's resolutions say. In the Woodshed with a Woodstove is woodshedding for writers, a generative writing workshop that draws on winter's quiet and cold. We need the woodstove because we spend a lot of time sitting, it's winter, and we want to be cozy. New year, new you? Nope. Same old us, still practicing.

Each week, Sarah sends a newsletter with themed readings, prompts, podcasts, interviews, and short films designed to spark fresh thinking. You post your writing and join the discussion in Wet Ink, our online classroom. Four times during the session, the group meets on Zoom to co-write: everyone shares an intention for the time, writes together in silence, then has time for optional sharing and questions. Sarah is more carrot than stick, and this creative writing course treats the Woodshed as a no-fail zone where every effort is the right effort.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will complete eight short weekly assignments of 500 to 750 words, choosing from a list of prompts or setting the prompts aside entirely. The word count is there to lower the stakes, not to limit you, and longer pieces are welcome. Students receive written feedback from Sarah within seven days of each submission, focused on encouragement and on the creative opportunities in the work.

Readings

Readings may include "The Way She Closed the Door" by Miriam Toews, "A Feeling for Ice" by Jenny Diski, "Dead Stars" by Ada Limón, "Winter in the Abruzzi" by Natalia Ginzburg, and "Snow Day" by Billy Collins.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1: Gather nuts, stock the larder. Getting prepared, getting fortified.

Week 2: Hearth, rocking chair. Safety and fear, risk and reward, and transforming fear to fire. Live co-writing session on Zoom, Tuesday, January 12.

Week 3: Snow cave. Inside the reading sanctuary.

Week 4: Chop wood, carry water. Finding the heroic in the lowly. Live co-writing session on Zoom, Tuesday, January 26.

Week 5: Lean times. When the words don't come.

Week 6: Night sky. Cultivating wonder and awe. Live co-writing session on Zoom, Tuesday, February 9.

Week 7: Digging deep. Writing the hard stuff.

Week 8: Hibernation. On rest and fallow periods. Live co-writing session on Zoom, Tuesday, February 23.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Connect with a community of writers through weekly discussion in Wet Ink and four live co-writing sessions.
• Receive eight In the Woodshed with a Woodstove newsletters full of writing prompts, reframes, readings, and radical ideas for a sustainable writing practice.
• Replace hard-charging January resolutions with a gentler invitation to show up for your writing as experimentation and reflection.
• Overcome perfectionism by generating a mass of messy, imperfect material.
• Get written feedback on every assignment, with questions and openings for where the work could go next.
• Protect time for your inner relationship with self, art, and creativity.

TESTIMONIALS:

"Sarah McColl's workshop was an experience I will neither regret nor forget. Her remote workshop sessions guided us gently through intense and important journeys, and her genuine interest in each and every one of us was clear in both her approach and style. In addition to remote workshop classes, thought-provoking newsletters which included themed writing prompts encouraged me to push past my comfort zone into a territory I'd not explored in many years, and the Group Diary we all shared helped me realize that both my successes and my shortcomings were not unfounded nor uncommon. It was the perfect mix of cherishable challenges. I would recommend Sarah McColl's workshops to anyone and everyone who wants to not only improve their writing and/or write more often, but to learn more about themselves and their part in the process of furthering their art. This experience was the indisputable highlight of my summer. Highly recommended."
— Marnie M.

"The prompts really pushed me creatively, and the instructor's feedback and enthusiasm were much appreciated. I loved just having time to experiment in the class and hear others' responses. Sarah was great."
— Former Student

"This generative writing camp with Sarah was exactly what I was looking for at exactly the right time. Sarah did a great job facilitating this class, and I really appreciated the time she took with the feedback I received from her."
— Former Student

"I wanted a space where I could experiment without too much pressure. I liked that we didn't analyze the experience of the writing exercise too much, we just kept moving along. It made it all feel less important somehow, which made it less stressful, which made it more fun, which made for better writing. At least, for me. I also commend you, Sarah, for setting the tone of the workshop as a collaborative and supportive and curious space."
— Former Student

"From the readings to the generative prompts and lively discussions, I came away feeling refreshed and invigorated not only to write and read, but to make writing an important part of my daily routine. I'm grateful to you for helping me to feel alive and curious again."
— Former Student

"I felt like I was in really compassionate orchestrating hands. The experience, wisdom and energy provided at such a high level makes it really easy to just let go and go for the ride and see what you can mine from yourself. Okay....I don't want to get weird and whip out a pan flute but it's a really special blend of pragmatism, craft, inspiration, and magic. There's a feeling of it being spiritual if you want it to be without it having to be group therapy. I felt lucky to be there and definitely don't really know how to explain it's more than a writing workshop to people."
— Former Student

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

This class is asynchronous, meaning you complete the weekly assignments on your own schedule. There are no set meeting times to allow for greater participation; your cohort will consist of writers from different time zones, which allows for a wonderful diversity of voices.

Along with your weekly deadlines, there is plenty of interaction with the instructor and your peers within Wet Ink, our dedicated online classroom. Craft materials, lectures, reading assignments, and writing prompts are all available through the online classroom. Students also post work and provide and receive feedback in the online classroom.

You can finish the work as you see fit, week to week, which is perfect for any schedule. There are discussion questions each week inspired by the assigned readings and topics in the lecture notes. Students are encouraged to take these wherever they find most compelling and/or useful. The instructor engages with these discussions throughout the week, and you will receive feedback on all assigned writing activities.

HOW DOES WET INK WORK?

Wet Ink was built and designed specifically for online writing classes. Wet Ink is private, easy to use, and very interactive.

LIVE CO-WRITING SESSIONS

Sarah also hosts four co-writing sessions on Zoom, on Tuesdays, January 12, January 26, February 9, and February 23, from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM ET. The group shares intentions, writes together in silence, and closes with optional sharing and questions. One session may become a discussion-based meeting.

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $545 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.