Write With Su new sessions beginning
Friends, new 8-week sessions of Write With Su begin Saturday, January 25, 10-12 est, and Monday, January 27, 7-9 est. More information and registration is at bit.ly/3Y20qds
I am happy to be returning to a fully Pay as Led and Able model; you can find more information at the registration link, and I have copied that information at the end of this message. The full fee is $300, but you do not need to be able to pay that (or at all) to participate. Your contributions are much more than financial!
At each meeting, we will write to a prompt, then people will share what they have written, if they choose to. We give only positive feedback, expressing our appreciation of things we particularly enjoyed or admired. It is a very generous, welcoming, and empowering workshop model.
I hope you will join me, and that you will mention my workshop to friends who might be interested. I have gotten nearly all new participants by word-of-mouth, and appreciate your recommendations. Anyone is welcome to come to a meeting to try it out if they like; they can email me to set it up.
Su Penn
THE PAY AS LED AND ABLE MODEL
Friends, I am very committed to economic inclusion, and prefer using a Pay as Led and Able scale for my workshops. I am happy to return whole-heartedly to this model for these upcoming sessions.
However, I would like to share some things about my current personal economy. Forgive me for the length; I hope you will read through it.
I have been forced to give up my part-time job as a math tutor at the local community college, due to a serious relapse of a long-term chronic illness (autoimmune hepatitis). I am no longer receiving child support, as my youngest child now lives independently. My current income is $1600/month, from my retirement savings, plus $588 in Section 8 housing subsidies, for a total of $2188. My fixed costs are $1377, leaving me with $861/month for groceries, clothing, toiletries and household supplies, books, gifts (four children! who all have birthdays and celebrate a gift-giving winter holiday!), travel to visit friends, out-of-pocket dental and optical expenses, and anything else that comes up.
I take a workshop run on this same model, led by Tony Amato of Write Here, Write Now, which matters a great deal to me and which is a big part of my inspiration for wanting to lead this workshops. When I found my way to Tony during the Pandemic, I felt I had finally found the supportive, steady writing community I had always wanted. It fulfills a deep need in me to be writing, to be sharing my work, to be receiving enthusiastic support for my work. Writing can be lonely work; having a group to meet with weekly who care whether I am writing or not, and who are glad I am, has been transformative. I wanted to bring this experience to more writers, at whatever level they are working, and no matter what their aspirations are. I still want this.
I pay Tony $240/eight week session, which is his full fee. His full fee is significantly below what other people charge for similar work. This is my largest monthly expense, after rent and groceries. My writing grouop is that important to me, a fact which has only been driven home by an 8-week session in which I was too unwell to attend 5 out of 8 weeks, and then an 8-week session I didn't enroll in because I didn't want to waste either my money or a spot in the workshop that someone else could take advantage of. Fortunately, that dry spell ends this week, and I am thrilled to be getting back to it. I've decided it's better to sign up and have to miss some sessions than to not sign up and not have my workshop at all.
I know it's taboo to speak this plainly about money. But I'm tired of pussy-footing around and being coy about it. These are just my facts.
PAY AS LED MODEL RETURNS
I am happily returning to my full Pay As Led model, with a generous and optimistic heart. I have set the "regular price" of my workshop at $300 for eight weeks, because it's a fair price, and if you can afford it, I can really use the money. But I encourage you to do things: think deeply about the value of this workshop to you and the value of my work, and sign up no matter what your ability to pay.
You don't need to explain or justify yourself. Just let me know what you've chosen to do. Your participation is valued; you are worth more to me than the money you might put in my pocket.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE FRIENDS TO GIVE THIS A TRY
People are welcome to come to a meeting to try out the model. Please encourage any friends you think might be interested to reach out to me to set this up. Word of mouth has been the most effective way I've found new clients, and you can really help me by talking me up.