You Have Permission to Write or Not to Write

Today on our show, we are talking about what we can’t stop talking about, the coronavirus. Every email, text, call starts with, “How are you holding up?” It’s beautiful and exhausting, so we put out a call for coronavirus stories.

We have two stories to share. One is by our own Andrea Askowitz who is still living in Madrid. Madrid is one of the most contagious cities on earth and if you’ve seen her videos of her family dancing on FB, you are aware she’s going a little stir-crazy. Writing has helped calm her. 

And we have a story by Sari Botton, the essays editor of Longreads. In Sari’s essay, she gives us permission to tell our stories even if they feel petty. We always say, stories matter. And now, stories matter as much as ever. But for those of us too freaked out to write, Sari also gives us permission to take the pressure off producing. 

We talk a lot on our show about situation and story. The stories you will hear today are both about this coronavirus situation, but they also bring us something more about the human condition. We hope these stories are both comforting and inspiring.

Sari Botton’s list of writing resources for anyone interested in writing now:

• Vanessa Mártir offers many personal essay prompts that she made available for free in 2019 on her Writing Our Lives site.
• Cookbook author Julia Turshen is offering free food writing workshops via Instagram Live.
• Rachel McKibbens is offering writing prompts for 30 days in a Twitter thread. (Anyone can access them, but she is asking for donations to The Pink Door, the writers’ retreat for women-identified writers of color.)
• Weds., 3/25 The Writing Barn is offering a free webinar called “Writing Through Troubled Times.”
• Nancy Stohlman and Kathy Fish are offering 30 days of free writing prompts.
• Toby Litt has a free 10-session short story writing workshop online.
• The Porch Writers’ Collective in Tennessee is offering daily writing prompts on Twitter. They’ll be moving them to email, so sign up here.
• Barrel House is offering free online write-ins.
• Anna Polonyi has started Quarantine Quill, via the Paris Institute for Critical Thinking, a podcast on which she offers one writing prompt and one writing tip each day, for the duration of the lockdown in Paris.
• Stonewall Writers & Readers is hosting free writers’ groups online.
• Leigh Shulman is offering free online writing workshops next week, and also free writing prompts via email.
• And one more from Sari: I’ve got an into-level essay writing workshop on Skillshare. If you sign up for it, you can get a two-month free trial that lets you access all the courses on their site. Right now, Skillshare is also offering two months free (without having to give credit-card information) for current K-12 and college students, and others who qualify based on need. (I’m pretty dorky in my video, and I wish I’d thought to like, style my hair that day…? But I stand by the content of it.)

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Ariel Henley is our media specialist.

Theme music is by Emia. Additional music is by Ari Herstand, Justina Shandler, and Poddington Bear,

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

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If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.