If you've landed here from my Substack or Medium accounts - hi! This is where all things Unmentionables will live from now on. All the details below:

A friend gave me excellent advice years ago: create the community you crave. Since then, when I don’t find what I need or don’t get accepted into the places I want to be in, I try to make my own - The Unmentionables Writing Community.

Last summer, I hosted the first Unmentionables Writing Retreat in the mountains. It was an experiment and a gift to myself for my birthday. I invited a group of 8 writer friends to join me for a few days of writing, workshops, and reading our drafts to each other. We cooked and shared meals, made s’mores around the campfire while being serenaded, painted journal covers, sat in the hot tub and stargazed, and ended with a raucous karaoke night.

Some of what we wrote was good, sure, but more importantly, a lot of what we wrote was true.

I want to focus my resources more toward creating spaces that support writing the most true thing possible, without worrying if it’s “good” enough for public consumption, or getting accepted into a retreat or residency, or getting published in that prestigious mag, or getting a deal with this famous agent.

These two experiences made me realize that I need to change some things. I'm no longer focusing on teaching pitching and publishing classes, and I've left Substack.

Here’s the new stuff I want to bring you, and the stuff I’ve loved doing that I will continue (new dates/times for daily co-writing and monthly reading labs):

New stuff I want to bring you:

The Unmentionables Writing Retreat and Residency

One of my big dreams is to start my own year-round writing residency. It won’t be based on how “good” your writing sample is, or whether you tick certain boxes for age, gender, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, genre, or income requirements. You do not need to have a degree or connections or recommendation letters. You don’t need to know what kind of project you’ll be working on. You don’t need to publish or share what you write. It’s just writing for writing’s sake. You are allowed to keep it for yourself.

I want to give people who want to write something true for the sake of writing a place to do that. It has merit on its own.

Until the day I buy or build a retreat space to welcome writers year-round, I will experiment with retreats like the one I hosted last summer and different types of residencies that will be reduced-cost or free to participants.

Houseswap/Airbnb for writers

Can’t make it to a specific retreat or residency? I want to create a community of writers all over this country and internationally who are willing to host someone in their spare room, second home, casita, cottage, apartment over the garage, yurt in their backyard, or camper in their driveway. Maybe you let them have your whole place while you go spend time in their place, like Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz in The Holiday, or host someone from somewhere, then go stay at a completely different person’s place.

Matchmaking for writers and retreats/residencies

Almost every writer I know goes on writing retreats or applies for residencies. There are a million different versions in different places, offered by writing teachers, organizations, and non-profits. Some are quiet spaces to work on your projects, some include interaction and community with other writers, instructions from teachers, classes and workshops, or readings and feedback on your work. Some are paid, some are free, and many have very specific qualifications or requirements you must meet to be eligible to attend. This can take a long time, and it can be discouraging to get materials together only to read the fine print and realize you don’t qualify after all.

This tool I’m envisioning is a personalized matchmaker rather than a generic dating app for writers and retreats/residencies. Instead of randomly scrolling and swiping through options and then spending a bunch of time trying to figure out if they match what you’re looking for, you fill out your profile with demographics, experience, needs, wants, etc., and the tool spits out options for you where you match the requirements, and the opportunity matches your needs.

What I’ll continue offering:

Writing Classes, Co-Writing & Reading Lab

Writing classes: I will still offer Zoom or digital spaces and teach some classes or invite experts and mentors, but they will focus on writing, rather than pitching and publishing. Upcoming classes will include NYT bestselling author Tia Levings (A Well-Trained Wife, second book I Belong to Me out now!), a memoir workshop with Emily Gindlesparger (author of Please Make Me Love Me), and a weird little witchy thing in which my buddy Melanie Shirley and I will combine tarot readings with generative writing exercises.

Daily Co-Writing and Monthly Reading Lab: I have been experimenting with a daily co-writing space and monthly reading lab for a couple of years now, and both have been consistently meaningful and fun for me, so I want to see what will happen when I open them up to more people. You.

Co-writing

The co-writing hour will be Monday-Friday, at 8 am Mountain time. Come to journal, or work on an essay, or a book project.

Monthly reading labs

I will continue hosting a monthly reading lab where we share our work in progress without offering feedback. It’s practice for being seen in draft stage and for paying attention to what calls out to us in our own words, without having our voice diluted by other people’s perception. This is not a dig against workshops with critical feedback. It’s just that I feel drawn to focus on creating space for our new, fresh words to breathe without being immediately snuffed out by another person’s interpretation. There will be some reflection from the group and me, but no advice.

What’s going to happen now?

1. If you want to unsubscribe from future communications, you can click the unsubscribe link in the footer of this email. You will no longer receive my essays, poems, writing prompts, or information about co-writing, reading labs, and future offerings.
2. If you currently have a free membership and want to keep it that way, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll still get random essays and poems from me.
3. If you still have a paid membership for my Substack, it will not transfer over here. You can cancel your Substack membership and then upgrade your membership here. Here are the specific plan options:

Confetti $5/month (or $50/annually, 16% savings)

What’s included:

• Weekly writing prompts that don’t suck and a chance to have your writing featured
• Access to a private co-writing space on Zoom every Monday - Friday from 8 am - 9 am Mountain

Glitter $10/month (or $100/annually, 16% savings)

What’s included:

• Weekly writing prompts that don’t suck and a chance to have your writing featured
• Access to a private co-writing space on Zoom every Monday - Friday from 8 am - 9 am Mountain
• Access to private monthly reading labs to share your writing

Sparklers $20/month (or $200/annually, 16% savings)

What’s included:

• Weekly writing prompts that don’t suck and a chance to have your writing featured
• Access to a private co-writing space on Zoom every Monday - Friday from 8 am - 9 am Mountain
• Access to private monthly reading labs to share your writing
• Plus one free spot for a class per year (with annual membership, $97 value)
• Early access to upcoming offerings (The Unmentionables Retreat & Residency, The Writer’s Homeswap, Matchmaker for Writers & Residencies)

As always, comment here with questions or email me at juliane@bergmannconsulting.com