The Sense of Place
Story Intensive ‍

A full-day for developing a story that matters to you.

Thursday, August 20th 9:30 am to 7:30 pm (ET) • Online

A full-day guided writing immersion for bringing a sense of place story to life.

There are stories we carry for months or years.
An essay we keep thinking about.
A personal story that feels important.
A collection of poems taking shape around a landscape, community, or experience.
A piece of writing that keeps calling for our attention.

Many of us gather notes, make plans, and promise ourselves we'll get back to it when we have time.

This is a day for finally giving that story the attention it deserves.

You may have an idea you've been wanting to explore but haven't yet found your way into it. Or you have a story calling to be written,

This full day intensive will give you the time tools and support you need to bring your idea to life.

Bring a sense of place story, idea, or project and spend a full day developing it alongside others exploring similar creative territory.

Through a structured sequence of writing practices, prompts, discussion, feedback, and focused drafting time, you'll move beyond notes and intentions into the work itself.

When you get stuck, there is guidance. When resistance appears, there is structure. When you need perspective, there is a community of peers working with the same questions of place, memory, experience, history, landscape, and meaning.

This is more than time to write.

It is a rare opportunity to immerse yourself in a community of people committed to sense of place storytelling and to experience the momentum that comes from working together.

By the end of the day, you'll have developed your story, generated substantial new material, and created a fresh draft that can continue to grow long after the intensive ends.

What makes this different?

Sense of Place Tools & Techniques

Throughout the day, you'll work with a variety of sense of place practices designed to help you deepen a story, enrich it with detail, uncover new material, and bring greater depth and meaning to your writing.

These tools come directly out of Erica's work helping writers, educators, interpreters, and creatives deepen stories through place, experience, observation, and reflection.

Whether you're working with a rough idea, a partial draft, a collection of notes, or a piece already underway, these tools can help you see new possibilities and strengthen what is already there.

The Updraft of the Group

Writing is often solitary work. This intensive brings together people working on similar kinds of stories—stories rooted in place, experience, memory, landscape, history, and meaning.

The shared focus creates a rare atmosphere of encouragement, insight, and creative momentum. Sometimes a simple observation from another participant can unlock something you've been trying to express for months.

Guidance and Perspective

Throughout the day, Erica offers prompts, observations, feedback, and guidance to help participants move through obstacles and stay connected to the heart of their work.

Sometimes what a story needs is a new perspective, a thoughtful question, or a small shift in approach. Having an experienced guide alongside the process can help you move beyond the places where you might otherwise stop.

Together, these three elements help create the conditions for meaningful progress: a story that feels more alive, a stronger draft, and a clearer sense of where the work wants to go next.

Throughout the day, you'll gather material, explore new perspectives, deepen your story, and move through a series of writing practices designed to build momentum.

Then, in the late afternoon, we'll enter what many participants describe as the most productive and rewarding part of the experience.

The Power Hour.

During this session, you'll choose a section of your story and write a fresh draft without stopping to revise, edit, or second-guess yourself.

By this point, you'll have the support of the group behind you, fresh material to draw from, and the momentum that comes from spending the day immersed in your work.

The goal isn't perfection but movement.

It's discovering what happens when you stop circling the story and finally enter it.

Many participants are surprised by what emerges during this hour and how much writing they're able to produce when supported by the energy of the group and the structure of the day

Why A Full Day Matters

Many of us carry piles of good ideas. We think about the story, make notes, promise we'll return to it when we have time — and then life keeps moving.

This intensive gives you the time, structure, support, and group energy to stay with one story long enough to develop it.

You'll experience the full arc of development, revision, and craft in a focused, supportive day. You will get somewhere. And that momentum will likely carry you farther than the day itself.

If you have thought about a story that you tried to begin and gotten stuck, or are already deep into writing and want fresh inspiration, perspective, and support, this day is for you.

This group will be intentionally small so you can get the support and feedback you need.

What We'll Do

Throughout the intensive, we'll move through a variety of writing practices designed to help you reconnect with your story and bring it forward.

Participants will have opportunities for:

Guided writing exercises
Reflection and discussion
Sharing and feedback
Sense of place writing practices
Focused drafting time
Creative exploration and idea generation
The Power Hour writing session

The day is structured to help you move beyond resistance, generate new material, and enter a deeper creative flow.

What You'll Leave With

By the end of the intensive, you'll have:

A more developed sense of place story or project
A substantial new draft or body of writing
Fresh material, ideas, and possibilities for further development
Feedback and perspective from peers
Greater clarity about where your work wants to go next
Renewed momentum and confidence in the project

Most importantly, you'll have spent a full day giving a meaningful story the attention it deserves.

Who This Is For

This intensive is for people working on stories and projects that explore the relationship between people and place.

Participants may be working on:

Essays
Personal narratives
Articles
Collections of poems
Interpretive writing
Creative nonfiction
Educational or public-facing projects
Other place-based writing projects

You do not need to arrive with a polished draft.

You only need a story, idea, experience, or project that you want to develop.

Join us for a day of focused writing, creative exploration, and meaningful progress.

Bring your story.

Give it a day.

See what becomes possible.

Who Is This For?

This is not just for writers, but for anyone interested in developing and expressing a meaningful connection to place.

Some participants may be working on writing projects, while others may be developing interpretive programs, presentations, creative work, or personal stories.

What We’ll Do

A series of warm-up exercises designed to help you reconnect with your story and get words on the page.

Share where our writings, projects and ideas are, and where we want them to go.

We'll use a variety of sense of place practices to expand a section of writing, strengthen a draft, or uncover fresh material and new directions.

Participants will have opportunities for sharing, discussion, feedback, and optional field-based experiences throughout the day.

By late afternoon, we'll move into a dedicated “Power Hour.” During this session, you'll choose a section of your story and write a full fresh draft without stopping, revising, or editing.

The goal is not perfection, but the experience of momentum, enrichment and flow.