by Writing Workshops Staff
5 hours ago
Arya Samuelson has attended more than seven artist residencies since 2019, and the experience has reshaped not just her output but her entire understanding of what it means to keep the creative channel open. In her upcoming seminar A Room of One's Own: Demystifying Artist Residencies at WritingWorkshops.com, the official education partner of Electric Literature, she shares everything she's learned so you can pursue the time and space your writing deserves.
Since 2019, I've attended six residencies, with three more coming up this year. Each one has been transformative. Here are five ways residencies have genuinely changed my creative life — and how they could change yours too:
1. I've Generated Material That Surpasses My Wildest Expectations
Even though I always fear I won't write anything at all, I'm always reminded that once everything quiets around me, my innate creativity arises the governing force. At my first residency at Wassaic Project, I wrote 150 pages of a novel, and most recently at Vermont Studio Center, I wrote the first 35k words of a new manuscript. But residencies are about more than word or page count. I've had ideas for short stories emerge in the middle of the night and discovered the lucidity to finally finish essays I'd been sitting with for years. This isn't because I suddenly became a faster writer — it's because the structure of the residency allowed me to keep the channel open. To show up day after day after day, which is how the most extraordinary things happen.
This is what residencies are really about: not productivity, but keeping the channel open.
2. I've Discovered How Much I Think About Food (and Other Crucial Things About Myself as an Artist!)
Residencies have taught me how much mental energy I spend thinking about food. What to eat, what's in my fridge, what time to cook, whether I have enough ingredients, etc. etc. This is why I now only apply to residencies that feed me — one less thing draining my creative energy! I've also discovered that the structure of solitary daytimes followed by communal dinners strikes the perfect balance of focus and rejuvenation for me. I've learned I like to write first thing in the morning but hit my best editing rhythm after lunch. I've learned that walks are essential to my process — when I'm stuck, I'll go for a walk and often find myself dictating the rest of a story aloud to myself. Also, 20-minute naps are everything.
It's so hard to figure this stuff out when you're writing in stolen moments. You need sustained time to understand your own creative rhythms.
3. I've Written Things I Never Could Have Written Anywhere Else
The residency settings often become characters in my stories. At a one-room cabin in Tennessee, I found myself haunted by my surroundings and an old relationship – and that haunting became the essay. Inspiration suddenly starts appearing everywhere: someone mentions something over lunch about their practice and suddenly I'm sprinting back to my studio, completely reinvigorated with a new direction.
These communities are designed for creative risk-taking, sparking inspiration in a way that can't happen in the same way at home.
Want to experience that creative risk-taking for yourself? In A Room of One's Own, Arya walks you through every step of finding and applying for the residency that fits your work, your life, and your budget.
Enroll in A Room of One's Own →4. I've Built a Creative Community That Spans the Globe
I've made wonderful writer friends who exchange work regularly. But I've also attended residencies with artists across all disciplines and made friends with visual artists, musicians, and other kinds of creatives. Talking about art from a completely different medium is a sure-fire way to ignite creativity. I've also loved the intergenerational aspect of most residencies, and bonded with residents my grandparents' age, alongside folks just celebrating their 30th birthday.
These aren't just people I met briefly; they're my creative community now, scattered across the world, but forever connected by the work we were doing when we met.
5. I've Discovered That Residencies Are Much More Varied and Accessible Than You Probably Expect
Here's a myth that I really want to bust: residencies aren't all expensive or only for established artists. There are all kinds: ones with generous fellowships and financial aid; ones that are just for a couple of days; ones specifically for parents; or folks with disabilities, etc. Even if you don't see yourself as a capital-A Artist, there are residencies for activists, landscape designers, and so many other creative-minded people.
The variety is staggering — which means there's almost certainly one that fits your passions, your needs, and your budget.
That last point is exactly why I created this class. I've discovered that many writers think residencies "aren't for them," because the process feels mysterious, intimidating, or overwhelming. In next week's class, we'll demystify the whole thing: what residencies are really like, how to find ones that fit your needs and budget, and most importantly, how to prepare the materials you need to apply — artist statements and project descriptions that will stand out.
By Arya Samuelson, a writer, editor, educator, and somatic practitioner-in-training in Western Massachusetts. She is the winner of New Ohio Review's Nonfiction Prize, Lascaux Review's Nonfiction Prize, and CutBank's Montana Prize in Nonfiction awarded by Cheryl Strayed. Her essay, "I Am No Beekeeper" was selected as Notable in Best American Essays 2024. Other essays and stories have been published in Fourth Genre, Bellevue Literary Review, Columbia Journal, Gertrude, and elsewhere. Arya holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College, and her work has received support from Ragdale Foundation, Straw Dog / Edith Wharton, Virginia Creative Colony for the Arts, Vermont Studio Center, and Juniper Summer Writing Institute. Arya teaches and works as a developmental editor and creative coach to help writers unearth the deeper story. She is currently writing a memoir, a novel, and a book of essays.
Ready to find your room of your own? Join Arya Samuelson on Saturday, May 16th, and leave with the practical tools, insider knowledge, and drafted materials to pursue the time and space your writing deserves.
Save Your Seat in A Room of One's Own →WritingWorkshops.com is an independent, artist-run creative writing school and the official education partner of Electric Literature. Since 2016, we've helped writers strengthen their voice, develop a greater understanding of craft, and forge a path to publication.
