Begins Wednesday, October 7, 2026

Live Seminar via Zoom from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET

🌍 Class Times by Time Zone: Los Angeles (PDT): 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM / Chicago (CDT): 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM / New York (EDT): 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

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

Instructor Bio

Instructor Ethan Joella is the author of the novels A Little Hope (Scribner, 2021), which was a Read with Jenna Bonus Selection, A Quiet Life (Scribner, 2022), The Same Bright Stars (Scribner, 2024), and The Top of the World (Scribner, 2026). His books have been featured in The New York Times, People, and Good Housekeeping. Ethan teaches English and psychology at the University of Delaware and specializes in community writing workshops. He lives in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, with his family.

Who is this class for?

This seminar is for writers at all levels who feel they've been playing it safe on the page—returning to the same themes, forms, or comfort zones—and are ready to push beyond. Whether you write fiction, poetry, or nonfiction, this online writing class will challenge you to take bold creative risks and develop a braver, more adventurous voice.

What to expect:

It's natural for writers to gravitate toward familiar territory—the same subjects, the same structures, the same voice. But the most memorable writing often comes from moments of creative daring, when a writer steps away from the shore and swims toward something unknown. In this two-hour Zoom writing seminar, bestselling novelist Ethan Joella will help you break out of safe writing habits and discover what's possible when you take risks on the page.

You'll study sample works by authors who left their comfort zones behind—writers who made bold structural choices, took on unfamiliar subject matter, or subverted reader expectations—and examine what made those risks pay off. Through guided exercises, you'll experiment with new approaches to your own writing, stretching muscles you may not have known you had.

This is an energizing, hands-on creative writing workshop designed to shake up your routine and send you home with a fearless new perspective. If you've been circling the same territory in your work, this seminar will give you the tools and the courage to venture somewhere new.

What are the writing goals?

In this seminar, students will complete generative exercises designed to push them beyond their default writing habits. Students will experiment with unfamiliar forms, subjects, or techniques and develop new material that reflects a bolder, more adventurous approach. Students will leave with fresh drafts, concrete strategies for taking creative risks, and the confidence to continue writing fearlessly.

COURSE OUTLINE

Session: Writing with Risk

• Discuss the tendency toward safe writing and how it limits creative growth
• Study sample works where writers made bold, risk-taking craft choices
• Analyze what makes creative risks succeed on the page
• Complete new exercises designed to push you out of your comfort zone
• Explore strategies for developing a fearless voice across genres

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• An understanding of why writers default to safe choices and how to break the pattern
• Exposure to published works that demonstrate successful creative risk-taking
• New generative writing produced through exercises designed to stretch your range
• Concrete techniques for experimenting with unfamiliar forms, voices, and subjects
• A bolder, more fearless approach to your writing practice going forward

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: Ethan Joella
• Wednesday, October 7, 2026
• Live Seminar via Zoom from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET
• Tuition is $99 USD.