These Spaces Changed My Writing Life
Virtual coworking spaces have been a game-changer for my writing. Here's why.
I can’t stop subscribing to virtual coworking spaces.
If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, you know allllllll about my obsession with Chelsea Hodson’s Morning Writing Club, the Zoom room that made me a morning person, helped me carve out more regular writing time, and gave me a community of lovely writers who are, like me, fueled by accountability.
Here’s what happens during Morning Writing Club.
Every weekday morning at 8AM EST, we log onto Zoom. Chelsea says good morning. (She has not missed a single meeting since launching the club 33 weeks ago.) She pulls an Oblique Strategy card and reads it. Occasionally, the card will say something annoying like “is it finished?” or “would anybody want it?” and we’ll all groan. Chelsea wishes us luck. We silently wave from our little Zoom rectangles. We turn our cameras off. And we start writing. The Zoom room is open for two hours. At the end, Chelsea waves goodbye and tells us to have a good day.
Some folks stay the whole two hours. Others stay for some of it.
Some folks come every day. Others come occasionally.
Some find that the whole Zoom situation doesn’t really work for them—it’s not the right kind of accountability, or they’re just not morning writers, or they’re just not accountability-driven, or they need to stay away from the Internet completely in order to focus on their work—and they’ll cancel their membership.
Others, like me, can’t imagine writing any other way now.
Throughout the month, Chelsea offers additional resources to club members. Q&As on all things publishing. A communal spreadsheet, where members can track their writing output. Every Friday, we check in to share how the writing week went for us. This time is filled with a mix of good news (FINISHED DRAFTS! PUBLISHED ESSAYS! SOLD BOOKS!) and not-so-good news (a whole week gone, and not a single word written). These sharing sessions are my favorite part of each week. They remind me that writing is filled with ups and downs, but no matter what, we’re all in this Zoom room together.
Lately, I’ve felt hungry for more Zoom room community. I use my time during Morning Writing Club to work on an ongoing novel project, but I have other projects in the hopper that could benefit from this kind of accountability.
I went searching for other digital coworking spaces that met at different times of the day. They certainly exist, but I felt discouraged by the way they’re structured or focused.
There were platforms that paired you up with one other person for coworking. However, I found that there was a big difference between coworking with a group of strangers and coworking with one stranger.
There were other coworking groups that met sporadically, but I wanted something steady.
Plus, most of the coworking groups I was finding were geared more toward professional purposes. The sessions were often titled “inbox sprints” or “digital spring cleaning.”
When it comes to my professional life as a freelance copywriter, I don’t need the extra layer of accountability that a coworking group would extend. I don’t need accountability to do something that an employer is already holding me accountable to do. I need accountability to do the things that only I want to do. Things that could lead to an income stream eventually but haven’t yet.
At the perfect time,
(one of my faaaaavorite creative thinkers) announced that they were offering a seasonal coworking group called Flexible Office. The group would meet Tuesdays and Thursdays. I immediately signed up.
Much of Marlee’s creative encouragement falls under the umbrella of gentle productivity rather than the Girlbossy, hustle-til-you-drop attitude of (thank god) yesteryear. Mar’s gentle messaging encourages me to create space for the work I want to do and, when the time comes, fill that space authentically. Or, in their own words:
It is my hope this brings you closer to bringing your projects to the light, and that you craft accountability around making that cultivates joy in sharing with the people.
At the start of each Flexible Office session, Mar would ask us to type our intentions for that day’s session in the chat. Some folks were writing newsletters or planning workshops. Some were quilting or painting. Others were filing taxes or paying parking tickets. There were folks in the group coping with chronic pain or mental illness, for whom Flexible Office was the perfect time to eat breakfast or just take a nap.
Most days during Flexible Office, I stuck to the goals I’d committed to paper during the lovely Visioning Session that Marlee hosted right before our biweekly coworking sessions began. I finished a draft of a piece of writing I had to submit to a workshop I’d gotten into. I wrote syllabi for upcoming workshops and made PowerPoint presentations for my students.
There was one day, though, when I needed to be gentle before I could be productive. I read a book and made a snack and had a great afternoon after that. And turns out, even with those gentlenesses in the mix, I still accomplished every single thing I set out to do during the Flexible Office season.
Flexible Office began meeting in February and wrapped up last week. Weeks before it ended, I felt a low-grade sadness. The group had been such a great supplement to the Morning Writing Club. Would I be able to keep up the great work without it?
Then, Marlee solved all of my problems by announcing that Flexible Office was going to keep on going. Starting next week, the group will meet every Tuesday and Thursday for two hours. Much like the Morning Writing Club, there will be other scrumptious resources. Monthly Visioning Sessions! Additional coworking sessions! Perhaps an Artist’s Way book study at some point!
Now, I have two monthly coworking memberships: one for Morning Writing Club and one for Flexible Office. I’ll do my best to protect both of these spaces for creative work, but it won’t always work out that way. A client might need an early morning meeting. One of the teams I work on might have a big deadline. But for the most part, I’ll be able to show up to these Zoom rooms and work on my own projects.
It will be regular.
It will steady.
Over time, the fruits of my labor will get plump.
All because I hop into my little Zoom rectangle and do the work.
Book Club for Writers
If you enjoy hopping into a Zoom room and connecting with fellow writers: wow, do I have the book club for you.
My Book Club for Writers meets quarterly on Zoom. We only discuss books about the craft and process of writing. And since this book club is full of writers, we do a lot of writing together during our meetings. It’s a blast!
On Sunday, April 30, at 1-2:30PM EST, we’ll meet on Zoom to discuss Betwixt-and-Between: Essays on the Writing Life by Jenny Boully. This is one of the most unique writing books I’ve ever read. For Boully, writing is clearly intertwined with the rest of life, and she has a magnificent and often very lyrical way of describing that intwinement.
If you already joined the club by becoming a paying subscriber to this newsletter (thanks, by the way!), you’ll receive an email with a Zoom invite the day before we meet. If you haven’t joined, click below to become a paying subscriber.
A quick word for recent free subscribers!
There was a recent glitch on my end that sent an email to free subscribers about a “complimentary paid subscription.” If you received this email, I do apologize—this was my error!
If you would like to join the Book Club for Writers and are unable to pay for it for any reason, I will gladly extend a free year-long membership to you, no questions asked. Simply reply to this email and let me know. Thank you for your patience as I build my little corner of the internet.
One more thing! 🏳️⚧️
My friends Rick and Sarah Colado are asking for help to help to pay for their son Jasper’s gender-affirming top surgery, recovery, and legal name change. Here’s what Rick has to say:
At 12 years old, Jasper came out to Sarah and me, and over the last 9 years, we have done the best we could to support him in his transition. After years of waiting, he is ready to move forward with gender-affirming top surgery. He has worked hard over the last few years to save money and has successfully saved several thousand dollars, but the cost of this needed care is significant.
If you are interested in donating to the Top Surgery and Recovery Fund for Jasper, it would mean the world to so many of us.
See you later this month with book recommendations and more!
💛 Hurley
Have you tried the London Writer's Salon? Meet-ups Monday through Friday. Great stuff!
I do two sessions a week of virtual coworking through a mothers who write group called Calliope Writer. These are an hour long. Which seem just right. I'm unsure if two hours would be too much for me, but I like the way you sometimes start with a more gentle action.