Saturday, June 6th, 2026

Live Seminar via Zoom from 11:00AM - 1:00PM Eastern 

🌍 Class Times by Time Zone: Los Angeles (PDT): 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM / Chicago (CDT): 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM / New York (EDT): 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM / London (BST): 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM / Berlin (CEST): 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

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

Instructor Lillian Stone is an author, humor writer, freelance reporter and perennial day-job keeper. She juggles gainful employment while working as a regular contributor to outlets including Slate, BBC Worklife, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and The Onion. She sold her first book, EVERYBODY’S FAVORITE, to a Big Five publisher (Dey Street Books, a HarperCollins imprint) in 2021; over the next two years, she wrote it while working full-time and enduring the tribulations of beagle ownership. Today, the book has garnered acclaim from Publisher’s Weekly, Glamour, Vulture, the Chicago Reader and, weirdly, Bob Odenkirk.

Meet the Teaching Artist:

Lillian Stone on Writing the Book While Keeping the Day Job

Who is this class for?

This seminar is open to writers and creatives at all levels who are struggling to maintain a consistent creative practice alongside the demands of a day job, family responsibilities, or life's general chaos. It's especially well-suited to anyone working toward a long-term creative goal — a book, a freelance career, a body of work — who needs practical tools and renewed inspiration to keep moving forward.

What to expect:

In this lively two-hour online writing seminar, humor writer and full-time employee Lillian Stone shares a practical framework for protecting and advancing your creative work — even when life refuses to cooperate. Drawing on her own experience writing her debut book while working full-time, Lillian walks students through a four-part approach: Intention, Discipline, Grace, and Action — a roadmap designed to meet you wherever you are in your creative journey.

The lecture features a look at artists who maintained day jobs well into their periods of creative success, from Samantha Irby, who kept her position at a veterinary clinic even after a major book deal, to Mark Rothko, who taught art students for over two decades. These stories aren't just inspiring — they're evidence that constraint can fuel creativity. Students will leave with concrete tools: boundary scripts for advocating for their creative time, and a year-long progress tracking template to sustain momentum long after the seminar ends.

Can't make it live? No problem — the session will be recorded and available to registered students after the seminar concludes.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will identify their "Big One" — a single, meaningful creative goal to pursue — and build the practical scaffolding to chase it. Students will draft short scripts for setting boundaries and advocating for their creative time with colleagues, family, and friends. Each participant will leave with a personalized progress tracking sheet and year-long time management template to use throughout their project. This single-session seminar emphasizes guided exercises and group discussion rather than manuscript critique.

COURSE OUTLINE

Pre-class prep work for students: Visualizing your Big Creative Goal (BCG)

• Intro: Why constraints on creative living can actually be… good!
• Step 1: Intention
• Step 2: Discipline
• Step 3: Grace
• Step 4: Action

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Students will identify their Big One: a single large creative goal to pursue.
• Students will create several short scripts to set boundaries and advocate for their creative time.
• Students will create a progress tracking sheet and time management template to update throughout their project.
• Students will leave feeling empowered by the stories of other creatives — Samantha Irby, Mark Rothko, and others — who propelled their art while working day jobs.

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $99 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.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: Lillian Stone
• Saturday, June 6, 2026
• Live via Zoom from 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM ET
• Tuition is $99 USD.