Friday Dispatch: Come Write with Me in 2024

Groups, prompts, and prints – oh my!

Dec 22, 2023

“Give Jena your hand, dear writer, and enter here. And be prepared: to surprise yourself, to tell the truth you never knew you knew, to find the treasure that is your story hiding in plain sight.”

— Katrina Kenison, author of Magical Journey: An Apprenticeship in Contentment

Friday greetings,

I’m excited to share details today about the following four writing groups, all of which begin in January and are now open for registration!

The Shamati Sessions
Sound of Real Life Happening 2024
Jewels on the Path
Jewels on the Path – for Jewish Writers

You’ll also find links to my self-paced eCourse and writing prompts and a beautiful poetry print to order for your home, office, or place of worship (also makes a great gift!).

There is a good deal of information here, so take your time sifting through it and please give me a holler if you have questions. I may also do a pop-up info session the first week of January, so stay tuned for that.

And now for note in a bigger font because this is important :)

These groups are open to ALL people who wish to write. You do not have to have a particular writing badge or background.

If you’ve been gearing up to work with me 1:1, now is a great time to get in touch and start a conversation. Wondering what that might be like? Here’s a taste.

Finally, there will be no Friday Dispatch next week, as I’ll be celebrating Aviva’s college graduation in NYC!

Shabbat Shalom and love,

Jena

Register Now for the Following Groups

The Shamati Sessions

This is a Jewish space for seeing each other’s faces, hearing each other’s words, and remembering we are not alone. Each week begins with a poem, silent writing time, sharing, and witnessing. We will not be discussing our work, our feelings, or our politics here – but rather listening to each other and making room for the validity of all of our responses to the Israel-Hamas war. You do not have to commit to all four sessions to sign up.

THE DETAILS
Dates: Mondays, January 8, 15, 22, 29
Time: 6:00 - 7:00pm (ish) ET
Where: Zoom
Cost: By donation
Size: No limit (we’ve been averaging 5-10 people per week since October)
Registration: www.jewishcreativepractice.com/the-shamati-sessions/

The Sound of Real Life Happening 2024: A Year of Writing 11 Things

This year-long experience offers you a deceptively simple invitation: Show up and write 11 things every day for 11 days. We’ll do this once per season, in a private group where you’ll get to know your fellow travelers over the year.

Nothing you record will be deemed too mundane or too radical, too boring or too blasphemous. Your life is your life, and nobody else among the 7.6 billion humans on the planet is having the same experience as you.

Come practice and discover the magic of writing “elevens” and sustaining a practice of noticing and curiosity throughout the year. (Here are a few examples.)

THE DETAILS
Dates: January 11-21, April 11-21, July 11-21, October 11-21
Where: Private Facebook group + one Zoom call per quarter
Cost: 4 payments of $150 (group only) or $300 (add quarterly coaching sessions)
Size: Limited to 11
Registration: www.jenaschwartz.com/the-sound-of-real-life-happening

Jewels on the Path

The 12-week online writing intensive is for writers of all kinds who wish to deepen their creative process. It’s highly participatory, asynchronous, and takes place in a private Facebook group.

Each week follows three touch points: intention-setting on Mondays, sharing new work on Wednesdays, and “naming the jewels,” i.e. self-reflection on Fridays.

Whether you’re looking to develop and strengthen a writing practice or get momentum on a specific project, the Jewels community will offer you mutual accountability, encouragement, and support!

THE DETAILS
Dates: January 22 - April 12, 2024
Where: Private Facebook group
Cost: 3 payments of $250 (group only) or $500 (add a total of six coaching sessions)
Size: limited to 8
Registration: www.jenaschwartz.com/jewels

Jewels on the Path - for Jewish Writers

Put down the struggle and find the accountability, encouragement, and support your writing life deserves.

The cohort of Jewels on the Path is specifically for Jewish writers who wish to deepen their creative process and/or work on a particular project in the company of other Jewish writers.

Other Fun with Words

Getting Words on the Page eCourse

This asynchronous, self-paced eCourse is at once practical, deeply human, and fun! You will be reminded, again and again, that showing up matters and that everything you write counts. Come back to the encouraging videos and practical exercises again and again to start, enliven, and sustain your writing practice.

Where: Anywhere!
When: Anytime!
Cost: $127.50 (use the coupon code GRATITUDE49 at check out)
Enroll here

Prompts, Prompts & More Prompts!

Hop over to the Fierce Encouragement shop where 70 prompts await you in seven different downloadable PDFs. Start with one PDF and move on to the others at your own pace, and be amazed at how much material is sitting untapped inside of you.

Where: Anywhere!
When: Anytime!
Cost: $14 per PDF
Link: www.jenaschwartz.com/shop

“The Future Loves You Already”
Ready-to-Frame Print

This broadside of Jena’s 2021 poem is 11” x 14” printed on beautiful textured paper, ready to be framed or hung on your wall as is! Perfect for your home, office, classroom, place of worship, or as a holiday, graduation, or birthday gift.

Cost: $30 for one print or $49 for two
Link: www.jenaschwartz.com/shop