Sarah Dohrmann

“Sarah Dohrmann’s nonfiction writing workshop ‘Diving into the Wreck’ is an experience unparalleled to any other kind of class or tutorial I’ve ever done. Through a combination of practical, specific prompts and the intimacy of spending time in a small trusted group, I was able to find my confidence and voice as a writer. I learned that telling and writing our stories is not only a personal journey, but a communal process that is like medicine for the psyche. Doing this work has allowed me to shed light on my past, break through my sense of isolation, and appreciate the magic of the written word in a fundamentally more profound way. This workshop is for those both brave and shy, reticent or outspoken, for anyone who is ready to understand the power of the stories we write ourselves into from the day we are born.” —Liza Buzystky

“DIVING 2.0 is truly an incredible workshop—Sarah creates a safe space to share and work through some very meaningful writing. This workshop gave me the space and mindset to create one of the most difficult pieces I've ever written, and it's also the one that I'm most proud of. Very thankful to Sarah, my DIVING peers, and the structure/accountability that DIVING 2.0 gave me.” —Kaycie Hall

“Within the workshop participants, the range in writing styles was revelatory.”
—Nidhi Malhotra

“I learned how to open up my writing, to choose meaning over beauty, to allow myself to be seen.”
—Erika Anderson

“The incredible mix of women present, the intimate, comfy setting, the day/time, Sarah’s commitment and passion for the writing/feedback process, the call to courageously face those aspects of our lives that may feel difficult or scary—the assumption that this is where we strike gold were for me especially effective!”
—Adjoa Jones de Almeida

“The thing that really stuck with me was learning to be open about uncertainty. I used to think I had to really have something figured out to write an essay about it, but I realized you mostly will never have anything figured out, and if you think you do, you should probably dig deeper and take the reader on that dig with you.” —Emily Smith

“The way we describe our suffering IS ART. I never allowed myself to see my autobiographical writing as art because I felt I was being self-indulgent by telling stories about my life. What if it wasn't 'painful' enough to merit contemplation and all the intellectual work that comes with writing?” —Shivani Manghnani

“More than any other workshop I've done, DIVING 1.0 helped me to quickly get clarity about the next-steps to take with my personal writing. Also, it has the perfect balance I'm always looking for in a writing class—it's a supportive environment, but the workshopping is rigorous, so you don't leave wishing you got more feedback or criticism to work with. It's worth it for the workshops alone, but Sarah also shared a lot about the technical side of personal writing that I could apply right away.” —Randle Browning

“As a result of this workshop I learned that I enjoy my own writing voice. I learned this on day one during a fifteen minute free write, and that knowledge gave me confidence to attempt many subsequent pieces. I also learned to give myself permission to just say it, and then go back and edit, versus editing all the good stuff away and never completing. I also learned to time myself, otherwise completion may never come.”
—Ananda Ambrose

“This workshop helped me find new ways into the story I'm trying to tell. It provided high-level inspiration as well as practical advice—and above all, it made me feel connected even while exploring the most personal of topics.” —Aleksa Brown

“Sarah's class provided a truly safe space for me as a total beginner to share my work for the first time ever. I wouldn't have felt comfortable making that leap just anywhere, so having a supportive and thoughtful group of women to receive my works in progress made all the difference. After completing the workshop, I feel like I have a clear direction for the piece I want to submit.” —Susannah Page-Katz

“Working with Sarah Diving 2.0 helped my writing practice so, so much. With her guidance and the support of the other workshop participants, I was able to dig deeper in my writing and flesh out the themes that had been bubbling beneath the surface. Through this process, I gained a better sense of my own voice as a writer and more tools to translate what is in my brain onto the page. I became so much more comfortable with crafting myself as a character in my own stories. It was also a perfect space for me to explore the revision process - gently guided and bolstered by the other writers. I walked away with several pieces of writing that I'm really excited about and dozens of more ideas for next steps.”—Amelia Johns

“This workshop was an incredible safe space which allowed for major vulnerability. I value spaces like this, especially with women! I really appreciated Sarah's kind of 'hands-off' style. She's a good guide. It's clear that she is supporting you to step into YOUR voice more fully.” —Morgan Cousins

“As primarily a fiction writer, I had been looking for a course that would teach me about the personal nonfiction genre in a space that would be safe and welcoming yet rigorous and generative. Diving Into the Wreck 1.0 was the perfect course for me to accomplish these goals. By the end of the eight weeks, I had written, workshopped, and revised over 15 pages of new work, chunks of a memoir I've always wanted to write that I was struggling to write on my own. The course gave me the structure and teachings to create and the courage to keep writing.” —Agnes P. Bannigan