Do you want to help people understand what you see? Sure, speaking works. But as soon as you've said it—poof—the words vanish.
Speaking isn't enough for you. It's time to add writing to your skills. But you haven't made friends with writing yet.
You can learn to write. And write well. (And since you don't have a ton of time, write fast.)
Is This Workshop for You?
Does this describe your writing experience so far:
- You know what you want to say, and you're not sure how to say it.
- Even though you can say what you want, when you write it down, the words don't seem to flow.
- You look at a blank page and wonder, “What the heck should I say?”
And when you ask people what they think about your writing:
- No one says anything. (Good, bad, or indifferent.)
- Worse, they say, “Sorry, I couldn't quite get through this.”
Then there's the self-doubt:
- A little voice inside your head says, “Who wants to hear from me? Surely, someone else has already said this.”
- You can start writing. You don't finish.
- You edit. And edit. And edit. Instead of writing new words.
As a result of all of these problems—and possibly more—you haven't created your sustainable writing habit.
While AI can help once you know what you want to say, it's not going to help you learn what you think. More on that below.
If so, this workshop is for you. (Ready to register? Enroll now.)
What You Will Learn:
The curriculum:
- Week 1: Benefits of writing. How to make writing a habit. How to improve your writing throughput. Start writing.
- Week 2: How to write fast to write well.
- Week 3: Choose an ideal reader, and determine what matters to them. How to organize a piece for that ideal reader.
- Week 4: Edit just enough.
- Week 5: Feedback and when to ask for it. Publishing and where you might publish.
- Week 6: Help yourself succeed.
What's Included in Your Registration
When you register, you get:
- An ebook copy of Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer: Educate, Influence, and Entertain Your Readers.
- 6-week workshop with a writing assignment each week. (I expect you to send me one piece each week. Some weeks, you have the opportunity to send me more pieces.)
- If you send me your writing, I will offer feedback that you can take or ignore.
- Writing prompts, if you need them.
- Lifetime access to all the class videos and response videos.
- Lifetime access to my private Discord community of writers who have studied with me before. Many of them continue to write and publish. You can become part of a community of successful writers.
This is not a group workshop. I am the only person who will read your writing.
(Ready to register? Enroll now.)
Benefits Nonfiction Writers Can Expect
If you practice, you will learn to:
- Improve your writing clarity.
- Write faster and easier.
- Write blog posts, articles, and longer pieces without pulling your hair out. (This workshop will offer you insights on book writing, but I designed this workshop for shorter pieces, such as blog posts and articles. Maybe up to 10,000-word white papers.)
- Structure your writing to attract readers, regardless of who your readers are.
- Sell yourself through your writing. (The education, influence, and entertain ideas from the book.)
You will free your inner writer and sell your nonfiction ideas. (Ready to register? Enroll now.)
Benefits Fiction Writers Can Expect
Even if you think you “only” write fiction, your fiction career will still benefit from nonfiction writing, especially in these forms:
- Newsletters, blog posts, and articles for content marketing.
- Your bio, also for content marketing.
- Your back-of-the-book blurb so people look at your book and say, “I want that!” (Yes, that's content marketing, too.)
Yes, you noticed I said “content marketing.” Content marketing, in the form of blog posts and newsletters, is the single best way to attract people to your work. (I'm not addressing content marketing through speaking in this workshop.) Your bio helps your readers feel as if they want to read your books. And your back-of-the-book blurb is all about the conflict in the book, not the plot. Yes, that's more content marketing because it's about the genre or the protagonists readers desire.
I will do almost anything to avoid “promotion,” in the form of ads or asking people to buy my books. Instead, I use content marketing. That's why I blog and write newsletters and articles so often.
I like writing both fiction and nonfiction. However, my fiction writing feels different than my nonfiction writing. (That might be me and not you.)
If you want to write newsletters and blog posts more consistently and easier, enroll in this workshop. I'll give you an ebook copy of Successful Independent Consulting so you can read the content marketing chapter. Since everyone in this workshop chooses what to write each week, you can practice writing newsletters, your bio, and even the back-of-the-book blurb. I will read and offer my suggestions.
How to Use AI Writing After This Workshop
Several potential writers have asked me about their use of AI. One said, “I don't need your workshop. I just use generative AI and my writing is already better.”
Maybe.
As of November 2024, the current AI, LLMs, are terrific predictors of the next set of words. They can generate already-existing insights. Notice that—not your insights. Someone else's insights. (And yes, they scraped my site and books, so you get to use my insights. Sigh.)
But writing helps writers think and reason about their topics. If you want to attract people to what you have to offer, or understand what you know, you have to write it down first. Then, use various forms of AI to “perfect” it. I can guarantee your writing needs much less perfection than you think it does.
2025 Timing and Dates
This workshop is totally asynchronous. I plan to offer this workshop just twice this year. The current workshop dates:
January 14-Feb 18, 2025May 6-June 10, 2025. Yes, this workshop runs over Memorial Day, which is a US holiday. You can always send me your homework early! (On Friday or Saturday of that weekend.)
The next workshop will be in January 2026. I do not yet have the final dates. When I do, I will post the dates here and announce them to my Notification list. (See below.)
At the end of the workshop, I will add you to my private Discord community.
I limit each workshop to eight writers. That way, I have time to read everything you write and offer specific feedback to you about your writing.
Enroll in the Public Writing Workshop Now
The fee is $499.
The Q2 2025 workshop is now closed for registration. Since Teachable is changing its pricing, I will create a new home for the next workshop in 2026.
When you register, my system will send you a receipt and a confirmation email. I will also send you an email welcoming you to the writing workshop.
If you're not ready for this workshop, but you want me to let you know when the next workshop is open, please use the mailing list form below.
I'm excited to work with you.
Ideas from Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer
If you don't yet have a copy of the book, see my intermittent series of posts with the tag “writing secrets.” Click on that, and you'll get a list of posts in a new browser tab.
Not Sure Yet?
Still thinking? (Yeah, this is not a hard-sell page at all, is it?) Please sign up for the public notification list:
Want to Write Books?
Some of you writers would like to write nonfiction books. If you do not yet have a regular writing practice, please do consider this workshop. However, I'm considering running a book writing workshop in the future. Please sign up for that notification list here:
Private Alternatives to the Public Writing Workshop
If you would like more in-depth feedback and more meetings, I offer three versions of a private writing workshop, one for individuals and two for organizations:
- Work with me, one-on-one over the course of six weeks: You write. I will offer feedback. We will meet at a mutually agreeable time, just once each week. (Sometimes, this is every other week, but not longer.) The cost is $2,000 and fully payable in advance.
- Work with me, one-on-one for a quarter. Thirteen weeks where you write and I read and comment. In addition to the contents here, we will meet weekly at a mutually agreeable time. The cost is $10,000 and fully payable in advance.
- If you want to bring this workshop into your organization and we use my tools, the fee is $30,000 and fully payable in advance. Choose up to twelve people as a cohort. We will use these contents and meet weekly at a mutually agreeable time to discuss the cohort's learning.
- If we use your tools, the fee is $60,000, fully payable in advance. Choose up to twelve people as a cohort. We will use these contents and meet weekly at a mutually agreeable time to discuss the cohort's learning. In addition, your cohort can retain a personal copy of the video lessons to support their future learning. (This is not a license for you to use to re-teach my material.)
If you want to explore alternatives to the public writing workshop, please contact me.
Testimonials
“I am so very happy I did this. I absolutely love your style and your delivery of content. And I smiled and chuckled every week both in the class work and in reply to your feedback to me. This was extremely encouraging and confidence-building for me.” —Lanessa Hunter, test lead and blogger
“Johanna Rothman's workshop Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer and its accompanying book by the same title completely overhauled my approach to writing. Her techniques and guidance empowered me with new choices while writing that now help me source, finish, and publish pieces faster and more consistently. I went from feeling stuck and insecure about sharing my expertise to publishing five pieces in the last five weeks while generating a growing list of topics to keep me going into the future. I can't recommend her enough to anyone who wants to succeed as a published and professional writer!”—Erika Bjune, Product & Tech Executive
“I learned how to keep track of my ideas and measure my progress. And I received significant value in the gentle pressure to write every day and incorporate Johanna’s feedback on my writing. I now have the tools and habits to continue. A very useful workshop.” —Marius Colacioiu, Engineering Manager
“After reading a great article or looking at whatever passed as my website, I'd find my inner voice saying, “I should write more.” Sadly I felt utterly defeated in every attempt to remedy that. Writing felt like something an activity that only truly blessed people can do. Like folding fitted sheets. I took Johanna's class because I was willing to try anything to stop feeling that way and start writing. To say her class was effective might be an understatement. The year after I took her class I wrote 62 articles and published a book. I don't have anxiety about writing anymore. Instead, I have focus on my skills and confidence that I too, can fold fitted sheets.” —Ryan Latta, Consultant & Writer
“Before Johanna’s writing workshop, I was a great writer. Now, thanks to Johanna’s coaching and insights, I am on my way to becoming a great storyteller. Johanna has this knack of suggesting seemingly small tweaks and tiny experiments that have an enormous impact. On top of that, Johanna’s writing system is helping me write consistently and with ease. This workshop has transformed the way I write.” —Michael Hunter, Uncommon Teams
“I am very pleased with my experience in Johanna Rothman’s “Free Your Inner Writer” workshop. I came needing help to achieve my writing ambitions and left with a working writing system. Thanks to the ideas in the workshop, I built new and improved writing habits and understand how to connect with my intended readers. This workshop is a good investment.”—Erik Sowa, Coach
“I took Johanna’s writing workshop in May 2021 to help my professional writing. I liked the workshop because it was well structured, included video lessons and online debrief sessions. Take this workshop if you think writing will help your career or business.” —Vlad Bushin, product development consultant
“You can earn what it takes to write effectively: in six weeks, step by step. No kidding. The big gift for me was discovering that a non-fiction book is not my work. Now I’m equipped with enough information to get the job done.” —Marsha Shenk, Founder, EcosystemIQ
“I have been looking to step up my writing and was keen to learn from someone with a track record. The weekly lecture series is presented in nice small bite-sized chunks with easily digestible ideas and content. The videos are clear and well narrated by Johanna. The course is topped off with a weekly coaching session that focused on reflection, learnings and continuous improvement. Johanna has a wonderful way of reminding me of the positives and contexts, while encouraging me to improve.” —Sathpal Singh, Chair of BCS Agile Methods