Live & Recorded Classes
Find community and grow your craft in our online workshops. Whether you’re a new writer or a well-published pro, you’ll find motivation, structure, constructive criticism, and a dedicated cohort.
Upcoming Classes
Instructor: Tricia Park
Date: Sunday, May 25, 2-4 pm ET on Zoom
Can’t make it on May 25th? No problem. A recording will be sent to all registrants.
Cost: $60. Open to writers of: All Genres
What if the key to writing a great story wasn’t writing at all—but speaking? Inspired by the late great Peter Elbow’s Vernacular Eloquence, this workshop explores how storytelling begins in the voice, not the page. Through guided exercises in talking your stories aloud before writing them down, we’ll unlock natural rhythms, authentic emotions, and the freedom to shape our narratives intuitively.
We’ll also explore progressive distancing—a technique that allows writers to step back from personal experience, transforming raw memories into crafted fiction. By shifting perspectives and filling in the gaps with imagination, you’ll discover how to turn personal moments into rich, compelling stories without feeling trapped by “what really happened.”
Sunday, May 4, 2-3:30 pm ET on Zoom
Sunday, June 8, 2-3:30 pm ET on Zoom
Sunday, July 6, 2-3:30 pm ET on Zoom
See More Dates…
Cost: $5. Open to: All Writers
Are you struggling to find writing time? Showing up for your writing practice is the hardest part—life knocks you off track.
Cleaver Magazine to the rescue! You don’t have to go it alone. Join us for our monthly Ass in Chair Sessions, a once-a-month, 90-minute commitment to your writing practice. With the communal energy that comes from writing together, you will make progress towards your writing goals, one word, one paragraph, one page at a time—by getting your Ass in Chair time. We’ll offer an optional prompt at the beginning—who knows where it will take you?
Each session costs $5 (because you’re more likely to show up for yourself if you have some skin in the game), and happens on the second Sunday of every month. Make the commitment to yourself. Register here. These sessions are not recorded.
Instructor: Karen Rile, Cleaver Editor-in-Chief
Sunday, May 18, 2-3:30 pm ET on Zoom
Sunday, June 22, 2-3:30 pm ET on Zoom
Sunday, July 13, 2-3:30 pm ET on Zoom
Cost: $5. Open to: All writers, all genres, all humans
Embodied Resistance. It’s a metaphor; it’s a concrete concept. Resistance training is the key to longevity and long-term mobility. Join us for a Sunday afternoon functional yoga class to reconnect your body to your mind. We’ll practice a combination of movement, bodyweight resistance, brain mapping, and breathing for a fun, low-impact, anatomy-based workout. This class is based on the LYT Method (pronounced as in “litmag”), which combines the mindfulness of yoga with the intelligence of physical therapy to improve core strength, flexibility, and balance for humans of every age. You don’t need to be a writer, and you don’t need yoga experience to attend.
Our brains were designed to move; the better you move, the better you think.
This class will be conducted on Zoom. You’ll need a yoga mat and two yoga blocks. If you have knee pain, have a blanket or towel nearby. If your wrists bother you, you can use a pair of dumbells (any weight) for support. You don’t need to turn on your camera, but if you set up your mat and camera so I can see you, I may be able to give you live feedback. Questions? Email me. Each session costs $5 and happens on the third Sunday of every month. If cost is a barrier, email me directly and you’ll be added to the list, no questions asked. Make the commitment to yourself. Register here.
BUILDING A REWRITING PRACTICE
Instructor: Megan Stielstra
Date: Sunday, August 24, 2-4 ET on Zoom
(Signups not yet available)
Cost: $60. Open to writers of: All genres
We write what is urgent to us; we rewrite to make it urgent for others. This lightning-bolt session examines rewriting as an invitation to invite other people—readers—into your writing practice and, in many ways, your own head and heart. What will they need to understand what you’re trying to share? What will they need to feel what you felt, see what you saw? Pulling from both literary and oral storytelling traditions, we’ll engage in activities asking us to consider the different stages of the rewriting process—are you diving back into the work to find its deeper meaning, or preparing it to share with others, i.e. submission and publication?
We all have hard drives and handwritten notebooks full of stories. We wrote them for a reason—let’s find it. Let’s share it. Let’s get at your stories.
Read more about Megan Stielstra here.
Recorded Classes
Missed it? No problem. Buy the recording.
Instructor: Chris Callison Burch
Open to writers of: All Genres
This masterclass explores the impact of AI on the writing profession, from creative possibilities to practical concerns. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Beth Kephart
Open to writers of: Creative Nonfiction, Memoir
Are we ever really objective when we write ourselves onto the page? This class offers tips for writing about yourself with complexity and power. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Jackson Tatge
Open to writers of: All Genres
In this hands-on workshop, you’ll create a professional website tailored to your unique voice and brand as a writer. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Sophie Lucido Johnson
Open to writers of: All Genres
In this interactive workshop, you’ll learn how to create, grow, and monetize a successful email newsletter using Substack. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Morgan Larocca
Open to writers of: All Genres
In this masterclass, we’ll peel back the curtain and look into how publicity works to advance your book at every stage in your writing process. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Megan Stielstra
Open to writers of: All Genres
In this class, we’ll engage in activities to get experiences out of the body and onto the page, encourage risk and discovery, and examine literary craft in new ways. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Beth Kephart
Open to writers of: All Genres
In this class, we’ll take note as details evolve across pages, and discuss the additive impact. Generative prompts will also be offered. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Sarah Freligh
Open to writers of: All Genres
Students will leave this class with an understanding of character development and the aspects of craft involved in creating characters on a small canvas. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Jess Silfa
Open to writers of: All Genres
This two-hour masterclass will equip aspiring writers with the skills, insights, and strategies to craft compelling MFA applications. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Sophie Lucido Johnson
Open to writers of: All Genres
In this class, we will focus on the nuts and bolts of humor writing, and practice ways to incorporate levity into all types of compositions. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Jen Mathy
Open to writers of: All Genres
In this class, we’ll talk about your small-business “must-haves,” and look at best practices across the literary community. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Anni Liu
Open to writers of: All Genres
In this class, we will provide insight into the journey of publication – from both the writer’s and the editor’s perspective. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Megan Stielstra
Open to writers of: All Genres
This class reframes publication as a vital and informative part of the writing practice, as opposed to rejection/acceptance roulette. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Megan Stielstra
Open to writers of: All Genres
In this class, we’ll take our writing out of the head and into the body, generating new work and digging into material you’re already exploring. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Kathryn Kulpa
Open to writers of: Flash
This class will help writers at all levels untangle the sometimes daunting process of taking your flash and microfiction from private to public. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Sara Levine
Open to writers of: All Genres
This class is a high-energy exploration of the rhetoric of grammar. We’ll look at how writers make decisions when they confront a sentence. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Beth Kephart
Open to writers of: Fiction & Nonfiction
In this class, we’ll be thinking about how to make the most of our obsessions in our writing practice and in our storylines. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Andrea Caswell
Open to writers of: Fiction & Nonfiction
This class reframes revision as a dynamic collaboration between writer and text, rather than a combat sport. Watch the recording.
Instructor: Sheree L. Greer
Open to writers of: All Genres
In this class, writers explore point of view as a craft element, an opportunity for play, and a portal of exploration in prose and in creative practice. Watch the recording.
CLEAVER CLINICS
One-on-one editorial feedback for works-in-progress.
WORKSHOP FACULTY
