WINTER WRITING INTENSIVE

It’s a wilderness out there. The woods are overrun with feral, unruly tales. How do we track the right one through rough terrain? How do we take it down and get the whole thing home? That’s the first part of this process—be it a short story, an essay, or a full manuscript. Be it fiction or nonfiction. It’s all the same, in this regard. But then we must forage for what will season the meal—the right language, the best research, the meaningful metaphor. Even then, we’re not finished. Because a story is never a story until it is fed to others. Stories, especially in times of uncertainty and despair, gather us in the cave, by the fire. They shelter us from the storm, the big teeth and claws. They offer us the solidarity and nourishment we need to find our way, arm in arm, toward a better, kinder, more equitable world.

(Amy Irvine)

Join celebrated writer and teacher Amy Irvine for a catalytic, six-month online writing intensive with the option to join an in-person weekend retreat at the legendary Ghost Ranch, in Abiquiu, New Mexico.

Be it an existing story or manuscript, or simply the idea of one that you have in mind, participants will explore all the steps that can bring that story into its best, highest form. We will study and develop the nuts and bolts: word choice, plot, structure, research, characters and scenes. We will deepen and strengthen our individual creative processes and sharpen our skills of editing and revision. And we will learn how to draw emotional heat and deeper insights from the story’s viscera.

Along the way, we’ll construct a rock-solid, shared space of support. Here, we’ll feed and nourish one another in ways that sustain us as storytellers and highly social primates—even in, especially in, uncertain times. 

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Amy Irvine’s memoir, Trespass: Living at the Edge of the Promised Land, received the Orion Book Award, the Ellen Meloy Desert Writers Award and the Colorado Book Award. Desert Cabal: A New Season in the Wilderness, is a feminist response to western wilderness icon Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire and was included in Orion Magazine’s 25 Most-Read Stories of the Decade, Outside’s Adventure Canon, Backpacker’s New Wilderness Classics, and Recommended Reads from Stanford University’s climate scientists. Irvine’s essays have appeared in Best American Science & Nature Writing and Best American Food Writing series, and she has been a contributing editor for Orion. For over a decade she taught fiction and nonfiction in the Mountainview MFA Program at Southern New Hampshire University; she has also taught for Fishtrap’s Outpost, Whitman College’s Semester in the West, and Orion’s Environmental Writing Workshops Irvine was the William Kittredge Distinguished Visiting Writer for University of Montana’s Environmental Humanities Program in spring of 2024. She lives and writes on a remote mesa in southwest Colorado. Her second memoir, Almost Animal, is forthcoming by Spiegel & Grau.

WHAT YOU CAN COUNT ON

Freeflow's Winter Writing Intensive includes:

• Twice-monthly, two-hour Zoom class sessions with Amy that include craft talks, generative exercises, and rich discussion and inspiration
• Two one-to-one, hour-long Zoom meetings with Amy—one at the beginning of the semester and one in the middle—to discuss your project, co-create a plan, establish goals for semester, and dive deep into your ideas
• A personalized monthly letter from Amy that provides detailed feedback on your monthly submission packets 
• Rotating peer feedback groups of two to four people—governed by clear, constructive and supportive guidelines—that meet once a month
• An ongoing group email thread with exercises and links to additional resources and strong writing examples

GHOST RANCH RETREAT  |  February 6 - 8, 2026  |  Participants also have the option to attend a grounding and restorative in-person retreat with Amy Irvine and Chandra Brown (Freeflow Institute's founder) at New Mexico's storied Ghost Ranch. We will cover instruction, facilitation, and shared space at Ghost Ranch, as well as really good coffee, snacks, and nutritious, healthful dinners. Participants should arrange for their own travel to Abiquiu, breakfasts and lunches (refrigeration and kitchen are provided), and lodging. A variety of lodging options are available, from private rooms to primitive camping.

COURSE DETAILS

The cohort will meet for twice-monthly Zoom class sessions beginning January 7, 2026 and ending June 24, 2026 (on the first and third Wednesday of each month). The sessions will run from 6 - 8 pm MST. 

Rotating peer groups will meet during the second or third weeks of each month.

During the fourth week of each month, participants may submit up to 20 pages of writing. These writing packets may include work from larger manuscript, a complete shorter piece, and/ or custom-designed exercises from Amy. You may choose to include a one-page cover letter about your process, so Amy can respond to this, too.

Amy's monthly personal feedback letter may include individual recommendations on exercises, books, essays, poems, stories, scholarships and/ or podcasts to inform and support your project, as well as suggestions for what to accomplish ahead of your next deadline. 

IS THIS INTENSIVE A GOOD FIT FOR YOU?

This six-month Winter Writing Intensive is designed to support writers of all backgrounds, skill levels, and genres. If you have a project you've been hoping to start (or finish!), this community will support and bolster your process. This offering is made for anyone hoping for accountability, structure, substantive discussion of craft, and generative creative community.

CLAIM YOUR SPACE

We offer this course on a sliding scale. Please consider paying at the highest level that you can afford: Your generosity support Freeflow's effort to offer lower fees and scholarships to those who need them.

Confluence (Enhance) – $5400
River (Perpetuate) – $5000
Stream (Sustain) – $4800
Tributary (Participate) – Contact us for Tributary pricing if you are experiencing significant financial hardship. 

Freeflow alumni will receive a small discount.

Register early  |  This course will fill up quickly, so please register early. After we review your registration, we will send you a welcome email with an invitation to secure your spot with payment. Your $35 application fee will be applied toward your balance.

Pay in full or elect a payment plan  |  You may choose to pay in full with a 5% incentive discount. Payment plans are available to everyone. We will ask for a non-refundable $300 deposit and remind you when subsequent payments are due. Full payment is due by December 15, 2025, after which date no refunds will be given. 

Cancellation + refunds  |  While we would love to be able to issue refunds, we are a very small organization and our investment in each of our participants is full and significant. Please understand the following, and let us know if you have any questions.

• A non-refundable $300 deposit is required for both pay-in-full and payment plan options. This deposit is always non-refundable.
• Full payment is due no later than December 15, 2025, and no refunds are available after December 15, 2025.

READY TO REGISTER? Please click the red APPLY NOW button at the top of this page. We can't wait to work with you.