FAQs
Your workshops sound great. How do I sign up?
Email me at dohrmannsarah@gmail.com to touch base. After a short convo, you'll be invited to submit a deposit of at least $100 to secure your spot in the workshop. The full fee of the workshop can be made in increments or in its entirety via Venmo (@Sarah-Dohrmann) or PayPal (paypal.me/Dohrmann113). Receipts are always given!
Can you explain the sliding scale?
If you can’t swing the full fee for the class, reach out to me. My goal is to create a space where all voices are honored. That said, I can only set aside two spots per DIVE session for participants paying on a sliding scale, so if you’re serious about taking this dive, email me today!
I’ve never taken a workshop from you before. Do I have to have taken a DIVING workshop with you before signing up?
No, but contact me at dohrmannsarah@gmail.com before you secure your spot so we can talk about your specific writing needs.
I'm a results-oriented person. I want results! What have yours been?
While this is not a results-oriented workshop, its general outcomes have been excellent. Three former participants are now attending prestigious graduate programs in writing (Bennington, Columbia, and Hunter). Two have come out with highly acclaimed memoirs. Several have landed agents and many are now fully on their way to writing an essay collection or memoir based on the work they generated in DIVING. Participants’ print and online publications have included the New York Times, Longreads, and The Sun, among many others. And, perhaps most importantly, absolutely everyone has found a community for their art practice. Those are pretty good results, I'd say!
I've taken workshops before and have even gotten my MFA, and I gotta say, I'm burned out. I'm sooo tired of people half-assing their comments on my work. Plus I don't like stupid people. But I do need the structure and a kick in the pants to keep writing. This is not really a question as much as a concern. What do you have to say about it?
If there's anything I hated most about grad school, it was when workshop participants "shoulded" on me, and the instructor did nothing to keep dumb comments in check. Those who take this workshop co-create their own agreements at the outset about their participation. Typically agreements include the ways in which individuals in the group would like to help one another elevate one's writing practice. What do you need in a reader? What do you need as a writer? Agreements include participating in discussions that are based in curiosity and openness, not in placing one's paradigm upon the other (no "shoulding" on each other here). It's the "shoulding" that's stupid; but other stupidities are totally allowed and encouraged, like braving new territories in your work and allowing for uncertainty. This is a supportive writing community, but it's also rigorous. As workshop leader, I agree to ensure that participants stick to their agreements.
What makes your workshop different from all of the others?
Based on past participants' feedback, I'd say it's the intimacy that's developed through mindful workshopping and the caring community that comes from that practice. We're intersectional thinkers. But maybe I should let past workshoppers answer this one. To read some testimonials, go here.
I really want to publish something ASAP. Can you help?
Well, I can sure help your work to become publishable. And discussions about publication come up in workshop. But no matter what, if you'd like further one-on-one coaching, we can talk about options. Please note, however, that my workshops, unlike others, are not publishing engines. They go deeper than that. I mean, they’re called DIVING INTO THE WRECK for crying out loud.
I would love to take this workshop, but I'm going to miss a few classes. Is that okay?
I'd love for you to take the workshop, too! But out of respect for those participating and in the interest of creating a trusting community, you can miss only two workshop meetings per cycle (and ideally no more than one). Clear the decks to prioritize your writing!
Okay, I’m almost ready to commit, but I’m still skittish. What’s your refund policy?
If you sign up and then you have to drop the workshop, I ask that you let me know as soon as possible. The last day to get a full refund for whatever you have paid is prior to the start date of the workshop. But after the class has already started and you still need to drop, I’m afraid you are ineligible for a refund.
Who died and made you boss?
No one! I'm not boss. I'm just here to guide you with my special SD dedication, comprised of 50 percent love and 50 percent rigor as you make your writing dive. But if you want someone who's published a lot and taught a ton and been around the block a time or two, I'm that too. You can find my bio here.
Okay, okay. But wait, where does the name of the workshop come from? Why “Diving Into the Wreck”?
The name is inspired by Adrienne Rich’s poem of the same name, which you can read in full here. Most of all, the workshop takes inspiration from the idea that there’s a difference between “the wreck” and “the story of the wreck.” How might you write to the difference?
WANT TO SIGN UP? still GOT QUESTIONS? need a friendly nudge?
Email me at dohrmannsarah@gmail.com.