Enlivening & deepening
our relationships to ourselves,
our communities, and our world—
one line at a time.
Surprise the Line invites writers of all interests, backgrounds, and experience levels to write and learn in a fun, supportive workshop setting.
How We Grow as Writers
We celebrate the work, building and strengthening neural pathways
in the brain that associate a task with pleasure.
We celebrate the effort.
There are a lot of frustrating moments in the writing process. We celebrate the micro-accomplishments that arise through trial and error. There is no failure. We learn and grow from everything, applying lessons learned to the next draft.
We celebrate what’s working.
“Somewhere, in every poem, there are words that shine forth, are activated, light up, almost as if plugged in.” —Matthew Zapruder (Why Poetry) ——— We nurture that, encouraging more poetic activation. Don’t neglect what’s working. Celebrate what’s there.
We celebrate our work.
Celebrating our work brings awareness and attention to the pleasure and fun of creating. You start to believe you can do other things, increasing self-competence, self-confidence, and self-esteem. Celebration over time leads to more mastery and accomplishment.
Workshop & Event Schedule
We post our upcoming workshops on Eventbrite throughout the year. Please follow Surprise the Line on Eventbrite for notifications of upcoming workshops.
Or sign up for our email newsletter to receive updates in your inbox.
Craft & Community
Write with us.
