Sometime in the middle of last year, I made a few goals for myself:
Teach more classes that focus on joy.
Teach classes with more institutions I align with and increase my reach.
Offer more courses to the QTBIPOC community.
Find a way to offer courses and write-ins directly to you, Substack readers.
This off-schedule post is an announcement that these goals are panning out. As I was drafting my monthly free Substack, a warning popped up that the post was reaching the length limits allowed by the platform. This was because I offer updates on where and when I’ll be teaching after every post. It looks like that will have to change!
With that said, this marks the first Write with Me! update that lets you know where and when to find me.
I want you to know that while many of my courses are geared toward QTBIPOC or femme community members, I have private options if you don’t fit those parameters. I am also always open to setting up courses for the broader community, and will be doing so. Always feel free to ask for those! I’m very happy to provide them when I know there is demand.
To that end, I’m considering launching quarterly writing courses available at no added cost to SYS paid subscribers. Please let me know if this is something that would interest you using the poll below:
A Little Bit About Goal 1
There’s a lot to be said for the light. It guides us home. It warms. It aids growth. It cleans. It reveals.
When we choose to write in the light, we choose to write with intention. We may expose what we’ve hidden, flush out what has been churning or is no longer needed. We may discover little (or big) piles of forgotten history, and through those, reconsider ourselves.
Writing with the light on can be a radical act of joy, in that we are choosing to self-witness through a healing modality. We do so without judgment. We simply look. Sweep. Bend over and pick through what we’ve discovered. Marvel at the shiny bits. Discard what we do not need. Move on.
This idea is the purpose of writing through trauma for me. There is the method of first purging, which many writers need. I have needed this and still do. But there is also the method of looking into our hidden selves with confidence, because we are carrying the light. What we are looking for in the darkness glitters with hope.
I’m happy to say I will be hosting Writing with the Light On through
. Applications for this Writing Circle must be received by March 10th, and you’ll find information just below.Write-Ins
Writing with the Light On
"Here, we write with the light on—so that we can see and be seen, so that our stories can illuminate the path forward."
Join this 12-week expressive writing circle for BIPOC writers, prioritizing queer/trans voices. Weekly sessions, sliding scale, apply by March 10.
Dates: March 29 - June 28 (no session on April 12 and May 31)
Time: 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM EST or 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Location: Online
Find out more and apply to register here.
Register for the next Survive Your Story Silent Write-In!
These are for paid subscribers of the SYS Substack and enrolled Center for Creative Writing students. This offering will increase over time.
I expect these to evolve over time, but for now, here are the details:
The last Sunday of every month, I host a 90 minute silent write-in on Zoom. You need to register to join, but you can drop in (or out!) at any point to write or work in community. I will offer a prompt. If you write to that prompt, you are welcome to send me your writing within a week of the write-in for private, written feedback. If not, no worries. This will be a judgement-free zone.
Know a friend who will enjoy this and with whom you’d like to write?
The details:
March 28, 2025 01:00-2:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Regularly Offered Courses
I teach the following classes through the Center for Creative Writing year-round and you still have time to enroll for this session!
Oct. 29-Dec. 12, 2024
Jan. 7-Feb. 20, 2025
*Feb. 25-April 10 now enrolling*
April 15-May 29
June 3-July 17
July 22-Sept. 4
Sept. 9-Oct. 23
Oct. 28-Dec. 11
Writing through Trauma to Truth, Parts 1&2
Writing about trauma is often an attempt to make sense and meaning; to unravel what can’t easily be felt or said; to stitch torn cloth together again with well-crafted words that make, from struggle, something good and beautiful and true – for yourself and for future readers. Read the full course description.
Writing the Wave, Parts 1-4
Writing the Wave is an organic approach to writing that will jump-start your creative process and free the writer inside you—even if you’re just starting or have been struggling for years. Working with both your creative and analytical mind through a series of imagination-boosting techniques, the course has helped thousands of aspiring writers get to the page and thrive there. Read the full course description.
Writing Your Web Presence
You know the hows and whys of starting a blog. Now you need to generate some quality content. On a blog, you can write about anything you want as long as you have a strong “voice.” You can blog on one topic or many, but a strong voice allows you to wander with your creativity while staying in “niche.” Read the full course description.
Independent Study Options
I periodically accept independent students for Generative Writing and Private Writing Guidance.
Generative Writing
Generative writing sessions are designed to get you writing. Enjoy the benefits of weekly deadlines and regular, in-depth feedback from your teacher as you develop new or existing projects. These sessions follow the same format, pricing (includes a free consultation), and schedule as our regular six-week courses, but without formal assignments. Read the full course description.
Private Writing Guidance
Whether you want to polish or publish your writing, the Center offers expert, one-on-one guidance for the next stage of the process such as first reader, copy editor, manuscript midwife or content editor. Read the full course description.
Privately Offered Courses
Professional Development Workshops
Some professions work with others’ stories as a matter of course. Think of first responders, nurses, social workers, therapists, prison faculty and volunteers, and others. If you are part of an organization that handles sensitive stories, you know that sometimes these stories are hard to let go of. I teach a specialized program for letting go of those stories that stay with us, focusing on secondary trauma and the use of expressive writing as a tool for its release. This workshop is designed for groups of 10 or fewer, and can be in-person or online. Sessions run 2-3 hours and are curated to the needs of your group.
Rates start at $500 with a sliding scale for non-profits and smaller organizations. Larger groups and travel incur different costs. Please reach out to me for more information.
“Shawna is a highly skilled, knowledgeable and compassionate instructor. Now that I've had a workshop with her, I will definitely watch for other opportunities to write under her guidance.”
-Kristen
Sliding Scale Options
I recognize that not everyone is able to access the classes I teach through various institutions. For that reason, in addition to these regularly scheduled courses, I take 2-3 private students per month for courses priced on a sliding scale of $75-125. These sessions typically last 4 weeks and are scheduled with me via email. Generally, I reserve these spaces for QT, BBIA or differently-abled individuals, and includes anyone on a fixed income. Course goals are curated to client need. Coursework is assigned and completed through email exchange. However, video conferencing is an option. Contact me directly: shawna.ayoub@gmail.com
Retreats, Workshops & Classes
I generally teach single-session workshops or weekend retreats on a quarterly schedule. Contact me for a course list and information on how I instruct expressive writing if your organization is interested in hosting my classes.
Upcoming Course Series through RCWMS
Through RCWMS, I will be teaching a 5 part series on Expressive Writing for Release and Recovery. All classes can be taken individually. They also work to build on one another. Many of these topics have been offered before, but content will be refreshed so repeat students will have a new experience. You will have an opportunity to purchase all five course for a reduced bundle rate of $325 or you can bundle 3 for $200. Courses can be registered for and taken individually. You are also welcome to donate to support making RCWMS courses accessible to the greater femme-identified QT and BBIA communities.
Surviving Your Story
Difficult experiences can become lodged in our bodies in ways that impact us daily, and writing is a way to name, release and even recover from those experiences. Expressive writing allows us to make sense and meaning; to recraft the struggle and better reflect our truth. In other words, it supports you in surviving your story.
This course is structured in two parts. In the first, we come together as a group for a two-hour Zoom session to discuss the what and how of safe expressive writing practices followed by exercises and a take-home writing assignment. For the second part, you will connect directly with your instructor, if you choose, to share your writing and schedule a one-on-one, confidential response and conversation about your writing goals.
This workshop is for all LGBTQIA+, BBIA, and marginalized folks.
Zoom, March 23, 2-4PM EST
$75-$100. Scholarships available.
Min 3, Max 12 participants
Contact info@rcwms.org for more information
Remaking a Memory
Traumatic memories are formed differently than normal memories, and can be more intense and longer lasting. In addition, we can inform our own traumatic memories by rehearsing them. This looks like retelling the event to others, to ourselves, or writing it down. When we do this, we are at risk of introducing inaccuracies and potentially doing ourselves greater harm. However, when we write our traumatic memories, we are also presented with a powerful opportunity: to reframe them.
Reframing our difficult memories allows us to remake them in a way that serves us. In this two-hour Zoom session, we will learn how memories can be intentionally offered through multiple reframing techniques including altered point of view and writing the story as it otherwise might have happened.
Writers will take home a packet of writing examples as well as prompts, and can contact Shawna for written feedback within two weeks of this workshop.
Sunday, May 25, 2025
2-4PM EST via Zoom
Min 3, Max 12
Tiers: $75, $100. Scholarships available.
Contact info@rcwms.org for more information
Writing the Body
It’s a well-researched fact that we store our emotional experiences in our physical bodies. On anniversaries of loss, for example, it is common to feel body pain, heaviness, or fatigue. In this workshop, we will practice feeling into our body stories safely in order to capture them in words. As a group, we will learn about how the body stores memory, and why, and take home practices for listening to the stories our bodies want to tell us. While this course is appropriate for writers at every level and of every genre.
Writers will take home a packet of writing examples as well as prompts, and can contact Shawna for written feedback within two weeks of this workshop.
Sunday, July 27, 2025
2-4PM EST via Zoom
Min 3, Max 12
Tiers: $75, $100. Scholarships available.
Contact info@rcwms.org for more information
Becoming the Second Person
Do you have a painful and true story you find yourself reliving each time you try to tell it? What about a story that’s stuck inside you because it feels too raw to be writeable, too vulnerable to be readable? Is being able to tell that story without suffering the key to releasing yourself from the trauma of the narrative?
What if you found out there is a way to create safe distance while still telling that hard story? To minimize trauma and (re)gain control of your narrative by no longer being your story’s first person?
What if you could be your story’s second person?
Writers will practice using narrative distance as a tool to explore their stories in new ways. Writers will also take home a packet of writing examples as well as prompts, and can contact Shawna for written feedback within two weeks of this workshop.
Sunday, September 21, 2025
2-4PM EST via Zoom
Min 3, Max 12
Tiers: $75, $100. Scholarships available.
Contact info@rcwms.org for more information
Remembering Those We Miss
Writing letters can be a heartfelt way to express our love and celebrate the relationships we've shared. Letters can help us preserve important memories and stories, confront unfinished business, and expose ourselves to things we may be avoiding. This is especially true when we are writing to those who are gone from our lives, whether they have passed on or passed on us.
In this workshop, we will come together to examine our grief through the epistolary form. In a safe and supportive space, we will write letters to those we have lost as an act of self-care.
Writers will take home a packet of writing examples as well as prompts, and can contact Shawna for written feedback within two weeks of this workshop.
Sunday, November 16, 2025
2-4PM EST via Zoom
Min 3, Max 12
Tiers: $75, $100. Scholarships available.
Contact info@rcwms.org for more information