It’s almost summer and the pool is open!
The edge of a pool. The deck is yellow, the water is classic swimming-pool blue. Photo credit: Etienne Girardet.
Hi Lovely.
Are you too tired to write? Am I projecting my problems onto you? I am so tired right now. All my ideas feel floppy, and I don’t have the energy to dream beyond them.
Luckily, I get to talk to writers all day, so I know I’m not alone. So many of us are in a period of malaise and “what’s-the-point”-ism. I have a lot of theories about what got us here, but right now I’m more interested in how to gently nudge us back.
Here’s one way. Seven Swimming Pools.
Sometimes we need the sweet nectar of low-hanging fruit. An easy ladder back into the pool of possibility… back to our voices and ourselves.
Each season, in addition to our small group workshops, we offer one program that’s bigger and wider, with low stakes, and a spirit of experimentation. These are distraction-friendly and cameras-optional. They’re a good fit if you’re just starting to get to know us, or if you don’t need a lot of connection to get started — you just want to write.
This summer, we’re bringing back our most popular large format program from last year — Seven Swimming Pools. It’s partly back because it was popular, but mostly because we had so much fun last time.
Here’s how it works:
There are seven facilitators at Firefly. We all have our own passions and predilections when it comes to words. Each Monday evening through the summer, one of us will get on Zoom and lead a 90-minute writing session on a theme or topic we personally can’t put down.
Mine will be on voice — what we need to whisper, what we need to yell.
Kim’s will be on music — how to use it to unlock new energy and directions in your work.
Asifa’s will be on wildness — how to use words to unearth our untethered selves.
The idea isn’t that each of these topics will be perfectly suited to each writer… rather that they’ll be ongoing invitations to dive into a new pool and find out who we are there.
Like all our large format programs, this is sliding scale.
This means you can find a price that works for your current access to resources — we have it priced at $90-$175, but if $90 is too high, we would love to make it work for you.
And yes, we still have small group workshops with room!
These are more intimate, with more space to grow trust and connection with other writers, and to be deeply heard. Some are around a table in Toronto, some are on Zoom, but they feel like a table. Read on for those.
“I don’t know what I want to write but I know there’s something.”
We have 2 workshops this summer that invite participants to try out a bunch of genres, voices, and styles to find their own true groove. All sessions are 4 weeks.
Begin Here (either Tuesday mornings or Wednesday evenings)
Keep Your Pen Moving (either Thursday mornings or Wednesday evenings)
“I have a little mojo and I want to take it further.”
We have some very fun themed workshops this summer to take your writing deeper.
Lift Off — a poetry workshop (Wednesday evenings in person)
The Life Stories Workshop (Tuesday evenings in person or Thursday afternoons on Zoom)
Brief Bursts — a flash non-fiction workshop (Tuesday afternoons on Zoom)
Getting Out of Our Own Way (Wednesday evenings on Zoom)
Aaaaand Seven Swimming Pools.
I’ve probably scattered the link to this program throughout this email way more than necessary, but if you want something simpler, shorter, and less engaging than a small group workshop…
And a poem for you.
This one’s called What Begins by Danusha Laméris.
In case anyone else needs the reminder: Being tired is OK.
We can’t live our creative lives in a constant springtime, dewy-eyed at the wonder of it all. But there are great gifts to lowering the bar, and writing anyway.
The wonderful Richard Wagamese wrote: “Sometimes you write just to feel your fingers moving.”
We’ll meet you there.
