What we’re about
Writers collaborating to improve their skills through workshops and learning events...
• WORKSHOPS:
Join with other writers from around the blue planet on Zoom as we discuss and work to perfect our writing every Friday morning, open to any genre: fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, nonfiction, memoir, flash, poetry, or screenplay. Stephen Kastner encourages emerging writers to join the Friday Open Genre Workshop for engaging MFA style discussions with a small, private and select tribe of writers willing to read and review each other's work in a creative test bed. We host the Poetry and Performance workshop with Darlene Witte on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month
• PUBLICATIONS:
The Green Mountain Writers Group (GMWG) publishes a website TO facilitate our workshop events, and an online journal featuring works developed by our workshop participants. In 2023, we released our first print publication, a compilation of GMWB Members' poems, Poetry & Performance – Volume 1.
NOW TWO FLAVORS OF GMWG:
I just acquired the former Burlington Writers Workshop Meetup Group after Peter Bielo recently abandoned it. After more than two years of no activity, I have the chance to rebuild and restore our group. There are 2,734 existing members. I plan to restore live meetings in person, in the city, that we sadly lost when COVID struck three years ago. I changed our Meetup name to Green Mountain Writers Group | LIVE (https://4142298.xyz/burlington-writers).
I also lead the Green Mountain Writers Group | ZOOM that I founded on Meetup in 2021 at https://4142298.xyz/green-mountain-writers/ to host our 760 members from all across the USA and internationally with meetings on Zoom.
About the founder: Stephen Kastner:
Since 1997, I have been an independent consultant at DesignWise Studios. I began a visual artist in painting and photography. In the 80s I worked as a professional photo-journalist for the NYT papers in Florida. In 2006, I lived in Yunnan, China and spent 6 months as a filmmaker while designing the curriculum for what was to became the top-rated Chinese Culture Spa on TripAdvisor, the Linden Centre. Now, I employ writing, digital photography, videography, graphic design, and networked media to create all varieties of digital storytelling and I coach authors on self-publishing.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Memoir Writing Workshop on ZoomLink visible for attendees
THIS SESSION:
"Garden of Vice" Chapter 3 by Edith Mahue
and... "Spoils of War" by Sandi HeimsathFiles will be sent to registered participants via email.
Our Memoir Writing Workshops meet bi-weekly and typically include work (at any stage of development) shared for review by a few of our participants. We may also provide memoir examples from some notable authors, or stream a short, instructional video for discussion.
SUBMISSIONS:
May be up to approximately 20 pages, double-spaced, in 12-point, Times New Roman font, with page numbers please. Your name and email address should be in the header above the title, to facilitate markup.PARTICIPANTS:
Everyone is expected to read the work in advance, mark it up for the author, and be prepared to discuss it in the session. We employ the MFA style where the submitting author is placed in a virtual “isolation booth” while we discuss the work as if they are not there. We try to focus on specific elements of craft and share our reader experiences in an open and constructive manner. The writing is typically available at least a week before each session.NEWCOMERS:
You are always welcome to join us. If this is your first session, you will be sent the files in advance via email. After you have attended your first meeting, you will be eligible to submit your own work for review and discussionZOOM ACCESS:
We employ a waiting room to prevent the occasional Zoom bomber. The link will only become visible to people who RSVP. Look in the right sidebar under the date and time.ABOUT MEMOIR:
Some say there are several types of memoir: autobiographical, experiential, specific event-based, thematic, family, childhood, or travel memoir. We hope you will find a method and an approach that suits your goal in writing a memoir. I encourage you to read this post on Memoir Writing in our website.You might also enjoy our members' published works and poetry reading videos available in the Green Mountain Writers Review.
Write on,
Stephen - Achieving Flow State for Optimal WritingLink visible for attendees
All writers strive for those magical moments when the words seems to flow effortlessly from mind to page, when one loses track of time and enters a trance-like state of creative focus.
In his seminal book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi outlined the conditions and characteristics associated with flow. He described flow as “an almost automatic, effortless, yet highly focused state of consciousness” where people become absorbed in activity, narrowing their focus to the present moment.
Each Thursday at 6pm over Zoom, this 2-hour workshop will guide writers into a focused flow mindset to boost creativity, productivity, and joy. After a brief discussion of flow techniques, we spend 10 minutes in silent meditation to transport writers into that non-judgmental state where words flow freely from mind to page. The bulk of each workshop then consists of a 40-minute stretch of uninterrupted writing time in flow. Participants are encouraged, but not required to share their work afterwards.
LEARN MORE: Achieving Flow State for Optimal Writing
