Introducing the Power of Hope to Our Writing Process, a Zoom Seminar with Ben Tanzer on Thursday, April 30th, 2026
Thursday, April 30th, 2026
Class will meet once via Zoom on Thursday, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET
🌍 Class Times by Time Zone: Los Angeles (PDT): 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM / Chicago (CDT): 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM / New York (EDT): 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM / London (BST): 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM / Berlin (CEST): 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button to talk with us.
Instructor Ben Tanzer is an Emmy-award winner whose acclaimed work includes the short story collection UPSTATE, the science fiction novel Orphans, and the essay collections Lost in Space and Be Cool. His recent novel, The Missing, was released in March 2024 by 7.13 Books and was a finalist for the Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year in the Traditional Fiction category. His new book, After Hours: Scorsese, Grief and the Grammar of Cinema, which Kirkus Reviews calls "A heartfelt if overstuffed tribute to the author's father and the ameliorative power of art," was released by Ig Publishing in May 2025. Ben's next book, Human Noise, is a short story collection that will be released by Thirty West Publishing House in spring 2027. Ben is also the host of the long-running podcast This Podcast Will Change Your Life, teaches at Lake Forest College and Roosevelt University, and lives in Chicago with his family.Who is this class for?
This online writing workshop is for writers who feel stuck in their writing process and want to discover how the power of hope can help them become unstuck. It is open to all levels.
What to expect:
Wishing is not a strategy. There are a number of reasons why we may get stuck in our writing process, and one of them is a lack of hope. This interactive writing workshop is focused on recognizing that hope is a practice, and when we embrace the three key pillars of this practice—goal setting, pathways, and willpower—we can ward off the loss of hope and build strategies that nurture it.
Not only will you leave this online writing class with knowledge of how to implement these strategies (and the science behind them), you'll be in possession of personal action steps to put them into practice yourself. Through solo reflection and small group discussion, you'll engage deeply with these concepts and begin building your own hope-centered approach to writing.
What are the writing goals?
In this course, students will leave energized to expand the possibilities of their writing practice, and with personal action steps in hand to ensure they do. There will be feedback and engagement throughout the session.
COURSE OUTLINE
- Introduce Hope – Introduce the concept of hope and its core components (not wishful thinking)
- Goal Setting – Develop personally relevant goals
- Pathways – List and explore potential pathways toward goal achievement
- Willpower – Identify and describe sources of motivation
- Problem Solve – Identify and list obstacles
- Create Hope Visual – Create a visual map for reference
- Re-Goal – Remember, we have the ability to re-goal
- Q&A
COURSE TAKEAWAYS:
- Learn the science of hope and how it applies to your writing life
- Begin building a practice focused on goal setting, pathways, and willpower
- Leave class with a DRAFT action plan tailored to your personal writing goals
- Gain strategies to nurture hope when facing adversity in your creative work
- Develop problem-solving skills for identifying and overcoming obstacles
No problem! The session will be recorded and available to watch after the seminar concludes.
PAYMENT OPTIONS:
- Instructor: Ben Tanzer
- Begins Thursday, April 30, 2026
- Class will meet once via Zoom on Thursday, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET
- Tuition is $99 USD.
🌍 Class Times by Time Zone: Los Angeles (PDT): 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM / Chicago (CDT): 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM / New York (EDT): 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM / London (BST): 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM / Berlin (CEST): 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM