This is how we wrote our books.
We want to help you finish yours, too.
We were stuck.
In 2018, 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 contract she’d drafted to hold herself accountable to finishing her book. Tessa liked the idea. We each drafted a contract, committing to word counts and daily email check-ins, and became accountability partners.
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.
The contract worked. And so did the community.
We decided to share what worked for us with other writers. From there, the Accountability Workshop was born. Since May 2022, Annie and Tessa have supported over 100 writers in maintaining creative accountability.
Each accountability workshop cohort has 8-10 writers who are working on book-length projects and need support to keep them on track, but not necessarily feedback at this stage.
You will not be required to read anyone else’s work, nor will you get feedback on your own, although there will likely be opportunities at times to swap work. 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 work through problems that arise in your work. We troubleshoot creative roadblocks, scheduling issues, craft questions, plot hangups. We share resources, podcasts we’ve found helpful and upcoming grant deadlines. We cheer for one another’s successes, which have recently included book contracts, contest wins, getting an agent, and prioritizing writing. We help one another through roadblocks and frustrations.
Each accountability workshop cohort meets with Annie and Tessa for 1.5 hours every other week. The workshops are made up of published and unpublished authors, agented and unagented. It's a super supportive and lovely environment.
In addition to the bi-weekly meetings, you will:
create your own accountability contract and be held to it
receive one-on-one support whenever you need it
have access to weekly online cave writing sessions
join a community slack channel
and be able to attend a monthly speaker series, a quarterly book club, and more.