DO YOU STRUGGLE TO CULTIVATE A CALM AND PRODUCTIVE CREATIVE LIFE?
Join our 4-week Write Your Novel Incubator.
This 4-week community writing experience, starting April 1, 2025, will include lessons from the Write Your Novel course, assignments to put into action right away, co-working sessions to work in community, one-on-one meetings with me to discuss your work and process, opportunities to share work with the group, and optional editing services offered at a deep discount.
Writing is an act of bravery.
Get the support you need to live a fulfilling creative life in uncertain and chaotic times.
For 12 years, I’ve guided novelists and memoirists toward their writing goals by leaning on community, accountability, cheerleading and constructive feedback, and personalized support.
It’s astonishing what you can accomplish when you have an experienced guide in your corne
Get writing. Keep writing.
Tiered pricing available.
Here’s what’s included:
Write Your Novel Chapters 1 through 6
2 co-working sessions per week for 4 weeks
2 one-on-one meetings with me
Weekly group live chat, with Q + A
Opportunity to share excerpts with the group
Optional opening edit from me, deeply discounted for Incubators only
Deep discounts on WYN Chapters 7-12
SCHEDULE
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Tuesday, April 2
Access the first 3 WYN chapters:
Ch1 Your Strongest Mindset
Ch2 Prep Smarter, Not Harder
Ch3 Your Novel’s Great Beginning
Thursday, April 3
Co-working Session at 10a CT/ 11a ET
Friday, April 4
Co-working Session at 10a CT/ 11a ET
Office Hours with Q+A at 11 CT / 12p ET
PLUS Sharing, one-on-ones, and assignments available throughout the week.
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Monday, April 7
Access WYN Ch4: The Power of Point of View
Wednesday, April 9
Co-working Session at 10a CT/ 11a ET
Friday, April 11
Co-working Session at 10a CT/ 11a ET
Office Hours with Q+A at 11 CT / 12p ET
PLUS Sharing, one-on-ones, and assignments available throughout the week.
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Monday, April 14
Access WYN Ch5: Your Book’s Strongest Plot
Wednesday, April 16
Co-working Session at 10a CT/ 11a ET
Friday, April 18
Co-working Session at 10a CT/ 11a ET
Office Hours with Q+A at 11 CT / 12p ET
PLUS Sharing, one-on-ones, and assignments available throughout the week.
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Monday, April 21
Access WYN Ch6: Why can’t I Write Sometimes?
Wednesday, April 23
Co-working Session at 10a CT/ 11a ET
Friday, April 25
Co-working Session at 10a CT/ 11a ET
Office Hours with Q+A at 11 CT / 12p ET
PLUS Sharing, one-on-ones, and assignments available throughout the week.
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Monday, April 28
Co-working Session at 10a CT/ 11a ET
Wednesday, April 30
Co-working Session at 10a CT/ 11a ET
Next Steps Live Chat with Q+A at 11 CT / 12p ET
PLUS Sharing, one-on-ones, and assignments available throughout the week.
Participate in as many or as few of the events as you need.
Have you struggled to start or finish your novel? I have.
Do you struggle to make time for your creative work? I do.
With the Mechanics + Mindset approach, writing can be a satisfying, meaningful experience, and one of the bravest things you’ll ever do.
What if you had one month of deadlines, accountability, and feedback?
The WYN Incubator is designed to provide:
A Strong Mindset Toolkit
Strategies for overcoming common creative challenges like imposter syndrome, busy schedules, fear of failure, and uneven craft skills.
Craft Skill Workshops
Concise craft lessons on beginning strong, deepening point of view, and plotting and pacing, with advice you can put to use right away.
Accountability & Deadlines
Each week, you’ll check in with the group on your progress, questions, challenges, and successes, and attend optional co-working sessions.
Personalized Support
Meet with me to talk through your work’s unique challenges, and the mindset obstacles have kept you from meeting your writing goals.
The WYN Incubator Curriculum
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Your Mindset Toolkit
8 Keys to a Strong Mindset
Writing Exercises
Your Personalized Mindset Blueprint
Accountability Check-in
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The Most Crucial Writing Habit Is Also the Simplest
Writing is Math
A Book is the Sum of Its Parts: Get Organized
Your Personalized Weekly Writing Plan
Accountability check-in
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3 Early Choices to Start Strong
Elements of a Great Beginning
Great Beginnings Examples
Your Novel's Narrative Drive Blueprint
Accountability Check-in
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Why POV is More than POV
Narrative Distance: Inside, Not Beside
Omniscience: Getting it Right
A Study in Effective 1st Person
Accountability Check-in
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Situation vs Story
Guide to Plotting
Scene vs Exposition
Narrative Modes: Your 3 Options
Accountability Check-in
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5 Reasons We Can’t Write Sometimes
6 Tips for Overcoming a Block
Accountability Check-in
Hi, I’m Susanna.
“I can’t recommend Susanna and her approach enough.”
I believe that writing is an act of bravery.
I've been helping novelists finish their books since co-founding the Madison Writer's Studio and leading my first Book in a Year workshop in 2013.
WYN includes everything I know about starting, getting through, and finishing a novel.
After earning my MFA at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 2001, it took me a grueling 10 years to finish my first novel.
In 2023, I finished my 4th novel in 8 months.
Mindset + Mechanics made all the difference.
The Mindset + Mechanics framework tackles everyday challenges like imposter syndrome, busy schedules, fear of failure, and uneven craft skills, and delivers smart, practical advice you can apply to your own work right away.
I'm the author of Stiltsville, winner of the PEN/Bingham prize, and Sea Creatures, a Target Book Club pick. My third and fourth novels, Battersea Road and Girlfriending, are represented by Emily Forland of the Brandt Hochman Agency; the publishing part of their story is just beginning.
You can do this. I can help.
If you’re not sure whether WYN is the right fit for you, feel free to schedule a chat with me to discuss your project goals.
“Susanna continually dazzles me with her quick yet comprehensive grasp of story and craft.”