A 75-MINUTE WORKSHOP WITH STEPH SPRENGER
Brainstorm & Build Your Personal Essay
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13th at NOON EST
In this 75-minute interactive workshop, we'll discuss what makes a fantastic personal essay, brainstorm, and begin drafting our stories together.
Come with an idea or two for an essay you've been *meaning* to write but haven't gotten around to. Steph will guide us through the bones of brainstorming ideas for topics and scenes, crafting a solid premise statement that reflects the inner and outer story of your piece, and identifying the lighthouse that serves as your essay's theme.
We'll cover the building blocks to turn your essay idea into a compelling story with a clear narrative arc, scenes, and a clear writer's voice. Bring your ideas—anything from seedlings to bones to more fleshed out stories—and we'll workshop together!
Here's what you'll learn:
- How to determine what makes a great essay idea
- How to pinpoint small moments as the heart of your piece
- The formula for an effective premise statement
- The importance of inner and outer story, theme, and narrative arc
- The building blocks you need to begin drafting your story
- A "What's next?" checklist to continue workshopping your essay
Meet your instructor
Steph Sprenger
Steph is one of the co-founders of The HerStories Project and facilitates MidCircle, our writing community for midlife women. She is a writer, producer, stand-up comic, and podcaster. Steph is currently revising a memoir and editing an anonymous collection of essays by divorced women for Redacted: What Divorced Women Aren't Telling You.
You can follow her Substack, The Reclamation Era—the intersection of midlife, neurodivegence, and single motherhood—here.
Two options to join us.
THIS WORKSHOP
ONE-TIME PAYMENT OF
$25
Get the Zoom link and join us live—a recording with handouts will be emailed following this workshop.
SIGN UP →MIDCIRCLE MEMBERSHIP
MONTHLY PAYMENTS OF
$39
Get access to this workshop as well as all other MidCircle paid workshops each month, as well as co-working, forums, and a video library.
LEARN MORE AND SIGN UP →We are the HerStories Project.
We are a community by and for midlife women who write.
Jessica and Stephanie have been teaching creative writing workshops to women for over a decade—everything from prompt-based groups to personal essays to month-long summits to planning books. Our community members have shared what matters most to them, and we are listening..
