A 12-Week Writing Community for Women, Queer, Nonbinary, and Gender-Expansive Scholars Ready to Reclaim Their Voice
Healing the Writing Wound
You are not struggling with writing because you lack discipline.
You are struggling because of what writing has come to mean in your life.
Pressure.
Evaluation.
Performance.
Getting it right.
Not falling behind.
Not being exposed.
Somewhere along the way, writing stopped being a place where you could think, explore, and discover…
…and became a place where you are constantly being measured.
So now, even when you care deeply about your ideas, sitting down to write can feel heavy.
Tense.
Avoided.
Or quietly overwhelming.
If that’s where you are—you’re not alone.
And nothing is wrong with you.
What if writing didn’t feel like this?
What if writing could feel like:
✓ a place you can enter instead of resist
✓ a space where your ideas can unfold without immediate judgment
✓ a practice rooted in presence, not pressure
✓ something that supports you, instead of depleting you
This is the work of Healing the Writing Wound.
“I didn’t realize how much I needed a space like this until I was in it.
Healing the Writing Wound gave me permission—permission to be silent, permission not to perform, permission to just be. In academia, I’ve been so used to feeling like I have to show up a certain way. But in this space, I was already seen. I didn’t have to prove anything.
Over the 12 weeks, something really shifted. I started sharing my work again—work that had been sitting for years. I started submitting. I still hear that little voice sometimes, but I moved forward anyway. And that’s new for me.
What made this experience so powerful was the community. It was intergenerational, honest, and deeply supportive. There was no judgment—just people really listening, really holding space for one another.
And it brought me back to myself. I’m an artist at heart, and somewhere along the way, the academy had pushed that aside. This space reminded me that part of me is still alive. Now I’m working on my book again. I’m creating. I’m moving.
This wasn’t just about writing. It was about healing, visibility, and having a space where you can actually bloom.
In the climate we’re in right now, spaces like this aren’t optional. They’re necessary.”
Deidre Hill Butler, Ph.D.
Professor & Chair
Dept of Sociology
HTWW Alumna
This is a trauma-informed writing community.
A space designed for academics who are ready to shift their relationship with writing at the root—not just push themselves harder within the same patterns.
Because the problem is not that you need more discipline.
The problem is that you’ve been asked to write inside systems that disconnect you from your own voice.
Inside this 12-week experience, we focus on:
- rebuilding trust in yourself as a writer
- softening the inner critic without losing rigor
- reconnecting with your ideas in a more grounded, sustainable way
- writing with presence instead of urgency
- moving forward with compassionate accountability
We do this through:
- weekly 90-minute live community sessions
- guided reflections and writing practices
- real-time conversations about what’s actually happening in your writing life
- a small, intentional group (max 10 participants)
- a private community space for ongoing support
This is not about writing more.
It’s about writing differently.
Program Schedule
Live Sessions: Mondays (12 weeks)
11:00am – 12:30pm CT
12:00pm – 1:30pm ET
10:00am – 11:30am MT
9:00am – 10:30am PT
Format: Weekly live sessions + ongoing community support
All sessions are held live to support real connection and conversation.
Replays will be available if you need to miss a session.
If you're outside the U.S. or navigating a complex schedule, you're still welcome—some participants attend live when they can and use replays when needed.
The Shift
You avoid writing or push through it with tension
You overthink and second-guess your ideas
You feel alone in the process
Writing feels like something you have to force
After:
You trust yourself more on the page
You can begin without spiraling
Writing becomes something you can return to
You feel supported, witnessed, and in motion
This is not about becoming a different person.
It’s about coming back to yourself as a writer.
You don't have to take my word for it.
Here's what participants are saying:
Healing the Writing Wound is designed for women, queer, nonbinary, and gender-expansive scholars who are ready to move beyond writing as performance, and step into writing as healing, truth-telling, and reclamation.
This program is for you if:
01
You’re a faculty member, graduate student, or scholar who has internalized writing wounds — and you’re ready to name and transform them.
02
You’ve ever been told your writing wasn’t “academic enough,” “too emotional,” or “not polished” — and those words still linger.
03
You find yourself avoiding writing, procrastinating, over-editing, or writing in someone else’s voice.
04
You’re navigating academic spaces where your full self hasn’t always been welcomed — because of your race, gender, class, language, ability, or identity.
05
You’re craving a writing space that centers compassion, authenticity, embodiment, and community.
06
You want to write from your power — not your wounds.
07
You are ready to do the work of healing your writing wounds
This space is for academics who:
feel stuck, overwhelmed, or disconnected from their writing
are tired of relying on pressure, urgency, or last-minute energy
want a more sustainable and humane relationship with writing
are open to reflection, honesty, and doing this work in community
This space is not for you if you are looking for:
✓ quick productivity hacks
✓ rigid writing systems
✓ high-pressure accountability
There are many spaces that offer that.
This is something else.
What Happens If Nothing Changes?
Let’s be honest.
If nothing shifts, it’s not just that the writing doesn’t get done.
It’s that:
✓ the tension stays
✓ the avoidance continues
✓ the ideas stay inside you longer than they need to
✓ the self-doubt gets reinforced
And over time, something deeper starts to erode:
Your trust in yourself.
This is the cost most people don’t name.
What Makes This Different
- performing
- proving
- comparing
- or trying to keep up
- allowed to be who and where you are
- supported in telling the truth about your writing experience
- guided toward a more grounded, self-trusting relationship with your work
Investment
$3,500 total
or $295/month over 12 months
Registration Deadline: June 1, 2026
If you’re hesitating, that makes sense.
This is an investment.
But many people who join are not deciding between this and “nothing.”
They are deciding between this and continuing to carry their writing alone.
Begins August 31 · Mondays at 11am CT / 12pm ET / 10am MT / 9am PT · 12 weeks