*Free* Pop-Up Writing Workshop: Writing to Find Your Transformation July 15

$0.00

Change doesn’t always arrive with clarity. Sometimes, it shows up as unraveling. As grief. As something you resist at first—before discovering what’s been quietly evolving underneath, and the new superpower within.

In this 90-minute writing workshop, we’ll explore the emotional terrain of transformation—from the moment your diagnosis shifted everything, to the ways you’ve been quietly remade since.

This session is a companion to our upcoming issue of Wildfire Journal on the theme of Metamorphosis, guest-edited by Lisa Orr of Elephants & Tea Magazine. Whether you’re preparing to submit a piece or simply feeling the stirrings of change within yourself, this is a space to explore what it means to evolve in the wake of illness.

We’ll use expressive writing prompts, reflection, and optional sharing to access the deeper truths that live in our bodies, memories, and daily lives.

You don’t need to write well. You just need to show up honestly.

Theme: Writing to Find Your Transformation
When: Tuesday, July 15th, at 12:30pm PST / 3:30pm EST
Where/How: Live via Zoom
Cost: FREE

This workshop is for you if:

  • You’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer in your 20s, 30s, or 40s

  • You want to write but need a little structure and support

  • You’re looking for community that understands the emotional terrain of survivorship

What to expect:

  • Hosted by April Stearns, Editor-in-Chief of Wildfire Journal and founder of the Wildfire Writing Community

  • 90 minutes of guided writing using prompts such as:

    • What was most at stake when my diagnosis came...

    • “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” What does it mean to be transformed by loss, rather than only devastated by it?

    • The story of an unexpected transformation—something I never thought would change me, but did.

  • Optional sharing

  • No writing experience needed

What past workshop participants have said:

“I loved attending Wildfire's Pop Up Writing Workshop. I've wanted to journal for some time, but wasn't sure where to start. The prompts and hearing from others helped me in more ways than I realized. I will be back!” — Kristin

“The Wildfire Community workshops have had a therapeutic impact as I cope with living with breast cancer. The community has brought me new friends and made me enjoy writing more.” — Alison

Change doesn’t always arrive with clarity. Sometimes, it shows up as unraveling. As grief. As something you resist at first—before discovering what’s been quietly evolving underneath, and the new superpower within.

In this 90-minute writing workshop, we’ll explore the emotional terrain of transformation—from the moment your diagnosis shifted everything, to the ways you’ve been quietly remade since.

This session is a companion to our upcoming issue of Wildfire Journal on the theme of Metamorphosis, guest-edited by Lisa Orr of Elephants & Tea Magazine. Whether you’re preparing to submit a piece or simply feeling the stirrings of change within yourself, this is a space to explore what it means to evolve in the wake of illness.

We’ll use expressive writing prompts, reflection, and optional sharing to access the deeper truths that live in our bodies, memories, and daily lives.

You don’t need to write well. You just need to show up honestly.

Theme: Writing to Find Your Transformation
When: Tuesday, July 15th, at 12:30pm PST / 3:30pm EST
Where/How: Live via Zoom
Cost: FREE

This workshop is for you if:

  • You’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer in your 20s, 30s, or 40s

  • You want to write but need a little structure and support

  • You’re looking for community that understands the emotional terrain of survivorship

What to expect:

  • Hosted by April Stearns, Editor-in-Chief of Wildfire Journal and founder of the Wildfire Writing Community

  • 90 minutes of guided writing using prompts such as:

    • What was most at stake when my diagnosis came...

    • “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” What does it mean to be transformed by loss, rather than only devastated by it?

    • The story of an unexpected transformation—something I never thought would change me, but did.

  • Optional sharing

  • No writing experience needed

What past workshop participants have said:

“I loved attending Wildfire's Pop Up Writing Workshop. I've wanted to journal for some time, but wasn't sure where to start. The prompts and hearing from others helped me in more ways than I realized. I will be back!” — Kristin

“The Wildfire Community workshops have had a therapeutic impact as I cope with living with breast cancer. The community has brought me new friends and made me enjoy writing more.” — Alison

Book: Igniting the Fire Within: Stories of Healing, Hope & Humor
Book: Igniting the Fire Within: Stories of Healing, Hope & Humor
$25.90
Writing Journal
Writing Journal
$10.00

No writing experience necessary, this workshop is for all levels of writers and non-writers who want an environment in which to practice and commune with others. We will discuss tricks and tips for accessing and writing personal stories, particularly related to traumatic and difficult life events, such as a predisposition to cancer, as well as practice writing via prompts. Participants will also have the opportunity to share their writing if they so desire. There will be no critics, only listening. No pressure to share.

April Johnson Stearns, Founder, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, WILDFIRE Magazine. April is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Wildfire Magazine & Writing Community. A lifelong writer who landed her first memoir-based magazine cover story at just 16, April worked for her college newspaper (“City on the Hill” at the University of California at Santa Cruz) and then went on to work for her local newspaper (The Sentinel, Santa Cruz, CA) following graduation. Before long, she was lured to other writing jobs “over the hill” from Santa Cruz in Silicon Valley during the tech boom of the early 2000s.

However, in 2012, in the midst of this career, April was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer at age 35. Four years later, while struggling to “go back to normal” and find others in similar circumstances, April launched WILDFIRE Magazine & Writing Community as a way for younger people to tell and read breast cancer stories.

Since 2016, April has guided hundreds of writers through the Wildfire writing workshops and published 50 issues of Wildfire Magazine.

April believes strongly that helping others tell their stories has the dramatic effect of turning a traumatic cancer experience into an empowering one. April lives with her husband and young daughter in Santa Cruz. Although she loves town life, she also likes to get away from all the hustle and bustle whenever she can to hike in the woods, but writing memoir remains April’s purest escape.

Related Wildfire Magazine issues: Subscribers can find all our previous Wildfire Magazine issues in the digital archives. Others can purchase print and digital issues here.

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