Here’s the story:
It was 2018 and we were stuck. We weren’t writing. Was it writer’s block? Depression? Laziness? You name it, we had it.
Both stalled out on our second books, we knew we needed to try something new. Annie had encountered an essay by Aimee Bender about a work contract to hold yourself accountable to writing. Tessa liked the idea. We each drafted a contract, committing to word counts and daily email check-ins and became accountability partners. We both had MFAs and we both had published books -- but this contract thing was different. The work got done. The agony ended. Writing was simplified: just show up per the rules of your contract, do the work, report progress to your supervisor.
Annie’s second novel, UNLIKELY ANIMALS, came out with Random House in April 2022, and Tessa’s second book, THE RED GROVE, is forthcoming with FSG in May 2024. Golly, that’s a happy story!
After a few years of the writing contract and accountability partnership, we decided to share this miracle drug* with other writers. The Accountability Workshops were born! Annie and Tessa have supported many writers in maintaining creative accountability. We keep our writers on track with work contracts, e-mail check-ins, group zoom meetings every other week, and one-on-one coaching phone calls.
*just to be clear, it is not really a drug. But we do know where to get good ones if you ask
*just to be super duper clear, that was a joke, we are mothers and respected members of our community
Each accountability cohort is made of 10-12 writers. Most are working on book-length projects (novels and memoirs) but the workshops have also worked for short story writers, TV writers, poets, because we all struggle with the same thing: prioritizing our writing instead of kicking it to the back burner.
We believe most writers need the support and community of a traditional workshop, but not endless feedback of traditional workshops, which can be confusing and counter-productive in the drafting stage, especially on book-length projects. In the accountability workshops, you will not be required to read anyone else’s work, nor will you get feedback on your own (although people in the group do swap full drafts, on a volunteer basis).
But this is not a workshop, in the traditional sense. It is an accountability workshop. We are working to keep butts in chairs, and help you solve problems along the way.
TLDR? Here’s a video we made to explain the story of The Accountability Workshops and a little on how they work.
(Click on the donkey!):
