Unfuck Your Writing
Follow your creative instincts. Unlearn stagnant writing habits.
Reclaim & rediscover your flow.
Sunday 20th October 2024 — 2-4pm BST
Unfuck Your Writing is a workshop for stuck writers. Tired writers. Stalled writers. Frustrated writers. Blocked writers. Burnt out writers. Creatively dead inside writers. Screaming into the void writers.
So… most of us, then?
But if you’d like to try a different way — a way that re-engages with the joy of writing — then join me for The Great Unfuckening. An honest, objective, empathetic look at all the reasons why we might be feeling creatively fucked, and some thoughtful, practical, realistic approaches to unfucking ourselves.
I’ve worked with thousands of writers and I see us all hitting the same brick walls and getting stuck in the same quicksand over and over again. And I reckon it’s time to unlearn all the pressure-laden write-by-numbers methods that have turned creativity into a hustle and art into a commodity.
What if we stepped back and took an appraisal of what actually works for us? What actually feels good about our writing? What actually excites us? What actually expands our creativity instead of shutting it down?
Important note: This is NOT a workshop on how to be more productive. How to write more words. How to ‘win’ at writing. How to get published. How to finish your book.
Instead, this is an invitation to rethink your connection with creativity — what that means for you, how important it is to you, and how to helps (or hinders) you. What joy is hiding within your writing, and how to tap into it.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
In this workshop, we’ll look at all the many ways you might be feeling creatively fucked, and how the hell we got so stuck.
We’ll also look at all the ways creativity does work for you. We’ll see what adjustments and accommodations you can make. What fundamental shifts in mindset might open things up for us.
We’ll take a few wobbly steps toward:
Being objective about why we’re stuck
Differentiating between emotional, logistical, and great big systemic sticking points
Figuring out how to break down the blockages
Accepting what we can change, and what we have to live with
Learning how to step back, slow down, and follow the flow
Discovering what works for us and what absolutely fucking doesn’t (no matter how much we push)
Finding the unadulterated joy in our writing
Looking at ways to better support our own creativity (and others’)
DATES & DETAILS
When: Sunday 20th October @ 2-4pm BST
Where: Online via Zoom
Cost: £25*
Please note: This workshop will be recorded and sent to all participants the day after the workshop.
[*Pay as you feel options are available if cost is an issue. Choose the PAYF option below and donate your preferred amount.]
OPTIONAL ONE-TO-ONES
If you’d like to book a one-to-one Zoom to continue the conversation on a personal basis, you can add on an extra 45-minute mentoring call.
This is a chance to talk with me in more detail about your writing, and make a tailored plan to truly unfuck thyself.
Choose the Workshop + One-to-One option from the booking options below.
WORKSHOP BOOKING & OPTIONS
WAIT, WHO THE HELL AM I TO TELL YOU WHAT TO DO?
A valid question. And I’m just a writer like you, trying to figure this shit out. But I’ve also had the benefit of working with thousands of writers over the past decade as an editor and creative writing educator, running hundreds of workshops, writing retreats, courses, and mentoring individuals — and I’ve listened and observed as we all hit the same creative brick walls again and again.
I’m not going to pretend I have all the answers. That would be bullshit. But I’m interested in exploring why and how we’ve all become stuck in similar ways, and curious about why and how different approaches might get us unstuck. It’s gonna be both an individual and a collaborative effort, but I have faith that we can all un-fuck ourselves, together.
On a personal note, I’m a neurodivergent writer with my own experiences of burnout and chronic illness, and I’ve worked with many other writers in similar situations for whom finding creative time and space feels especially difficult. So this workshop was specifically devised to be as accessible, adaptable as possible, with a broad range of accommodations to suit different types of brains and needs and capabilities. But I’m always glad to receive feedback and suggestions on how I can do this better, so please get in touch if you have ideas to share.
Jo Gatford writes all sorts. Her work has most recently been published by Best Microfictions & Best Small Fictions 2024. Her chapbook, The Woman's Part, was published by Stanchion Books in 2023 and her novel, White Lies, was published by Legend Press in 2014. She is also a poet, playwright, director and screenwriter, and edits other people's words for her supper (hire her, why don’t you).
Subscribe to The Joy of Fixion on Substack for writing exercises, ‘fixion lessons’ and thoughts on writing and creativity. Or find her on various socials @jmgatford