Dear Readers,

Forgive my shameless bit of self-promotion here: this blog is one of the ways I sometimes reach people and prospective students.

A bit of background. I am one of Natalie Goldberg’s two dharma heirs. I studied with her in person multiple times of year for nearly twenty years until the pandemic sent us all online for awhile. Natalie endorses my teaching and said in a retreat in December 2024 that she would study with me.

Nearly four years ago some people who had studied with Natalie online wrote to me and asked me if I would teach a writing practice group. I formed the Monday AM Practice Group where we meet Mondays on Zoom to practice sitting meditation, writing practice and reading aloud. That group is still going strong after all this time with some of the original members still attending. I open the Monday AM Practice Group once each quarter to new students and require that new students attend the entire session (usually twelve weeks during fall, winter and spring and shorter sessions — four or eight weeks — during the summer). There will be openings in the Monday AM Practice Group for Spring Quarter in April 2025.

Do you know what writing practice is? Writing practice is generally timed writing where you just put down on paper the words that occur in your mind about any topic. You don’t cross out, edit, or self-censor, you just say what you think as you think it. Since we all think faster than we can write, you may not be able to get all of your thoughts on paper, but you try. For this reason, you keep your hand moving during the entire time period from when I say “Go” to when I say “Wind down.” You do not stop to think, ponder, consider.

Here is an example of writing practice. I wrote this on my Facebook page after an old friend died recently. It is unedited, just as I wrote it (I may have gone back once to remove a typo or to change a punctuation mark — simple proofreading — but I did not change any words or word order). Here it is.

“My old friend Ed has died and I have so many memories of him: Ed singing bass and doing a spoken part on “The Hallelujah Trilogy” on my first CD; Ed’s kitchen on Henry St with the coffee pot labeled “Psychotic Blend;” Ed taking me to a Yom Kippur service so that I could experience its beauty and majesty; Ed getting obsessed with songs from New Jersey; Ed wearing dresses on New Year’s Eve and skirts on no occasion at all; Ed being asked to peel potatoes for a holiday dinner — we showed him the bin and he peeled all ten or twenty pounds (badly, leaving skin and eyes — my Grandmother, who loved mashed potatoes, ate only a teaspoon and refused to take any home); Ed turning around at the original Freight and Salvage when he heard me sing and asking who I was, and Ed and I going after Mary O’Brien when we first heard her sing at Camp Harmony (“Who’s that? Let’s find out!”); Ed writing a love song to Dale about snoring; Ed snoring the loudest of all in the snoring cabin at camp; Ed getting in bicycle accidents (His automobile driving was terrifying); Ed driving a car with a bumper sticker that said “Legalize lutefisk”: we got stopped on Amherst Ave by an overzealous Kensington cop who wanted to know what lutefisk was and if it was legal; Ed’s loud laugh; his big blue eyes; Ed coming to a company party wearing a suit the color of orange sherbet with an elegant woman dressed in black velvet. One of the things I remember best about him is that, despite bouts of depression and discouragement, he often had some idealistic new plan for his future.”

That’s it. You can do it, too. Many people find writing practice useful for overcoming writer’s block (I believe that writer’s block happens when we are scared of what we think and feel, or are scared of taking the next step in a piece).

Teaching writing practice is a skill that I developed over two decades. Facilitating successful groups where the members feel safe and develop into a community is also a skill that I have been honing for years. I am good at what I do, although no one teacher is a good fit for every student.

Here is what one of my current students had to say about my classes:

Attending Sharyn’s classes has helped me maintain a writing and meditation practice for over three years. Sharyn’s classes have provided me structure to develop my own practice and build my “writer’s spine”. Her classes are an opportunity to write and read in a community of other writers from around the world. Sharyn provides comprehensive class summaries and additional writing topics to carry you through your week and sessions usually include a book study to explore a published author’s mind and words, recall practice to enhance listening and awareness skills, and notebook review to study your own writing and get to know when you are hot and when you are not. Sharyn is a steadfast and creative writer and mentor and if we’re lucky sometimes she sings.

If you are wanting to develop, maintain, or reconnect with your own writer’s spine (writing self) joining sharyn’s classes will give you the opportunity and experience you are looking for. — Jodi Griffith, Wholehearted Sage, Canada.

And this from my assistant Adela:

My name is Adela and I am a Mexican writer, translator and psychotherapist living near Mexico City. I have been participating in Sharyn’s Monday morning writing group for almost 3 years now and it has been a very profound and enjoyable experience. I have been able to deepen my understanding and practice of the principles developed by Natalie Goldberg in a safe and structured space. This has had a very clear impact on my creative energy as a writer of novels and short stories. Working with Sharyn and interacting with the other participants, knowing that everything is ok and nothing is judged, has opened the gates of freedom for my words. I now dare to go where I wouldn’t have before with a renewed sense of excitement and commitment.

If you think you would like to join a writing practice group on Zoom in the next few weeks or months, please let me know in the comments 1) What time zone you are in 2) What days and times would work best for you for a weekly one and a half hour class. 3) When you could start.

Eternal verities: a quarter currently costs $300 for twelve weeks, which works out to about $25.00 per week. For that, you get twelve weekly meetings of an hour and a half duration, a written class summary each week, optional writing assignments and topics to explore and email access to me for all of your questions and concerns. I accept payments via PayPal and by check and students may either pay in full at the beginning of the quarter or pay in three monthly installments.

Full transparency: Teaching writing practice is how I make my living. Please do not ask me to teach for free or ask for a deep discount on my rate. If you need an accommodation to attend, please ask me about it — I can sometimes offer discounts to a motivated student and I also sometimes need an assistant in a class (Assistants attend for free in exchange for helping me out in class and being able to hold the class if something happens to me. In fact, I have been at every class since I started teaching, sometimes on my phone during power outages because one of the rules is to show up).

Added February 10, 2025: What I Know About Editing. If you have been doing writing practice and are ready to take a first pass at editing or revising or expanding your work, I am willing to teach a class on what I know about editing. I need some guinea pigs — er, students. Dates and time to be arranged when I have five interested parties.