Skip to main content
AI Writers Retreat Logo

Lesson 1: The Writer's Pact

Program: The Writer's Apprenticeship: A Two-Year, Self-Paced MFA

Position: Year 1, Semester 1, Week 1

Estimated Time Commitment: 3-4 hours

Prerequisites: None

1. Learning Objectives

  • Design and commit to a sustainable weekly writing schedule based on your personal goals and intentions.
  • Differentiate between "showing" (conveying information through sensory detail and action) and "telling" (conveying information through exposition and summary).
  • Analyze the difference between active and passive voice and convert passive sentences into their more vigorous active forms.
  • Produce a 1,000-word descriptive scene that utilizes concrete sensory details and the active voice to create an immersive experience for the reader.

2. Written Lecture

The Myth of the Muse and the Power of the Pact

Let us begin by dismantling the most destructive myth in the creative arts: the myth of the muse. This is the romantic notion of the writer as a passive vessel for divine inspiration, waiting patiently for a lightning bolt of genius to strike. When it does, the story pours out, fully formed and perfect.

The truth is that writing is a job. It is a blue-collar trade that requires you to show up, punch the clock, and put in the hours, whether you feel "inspired" or not. The writers whose work you admire did not produce it by waiting. They produced it through discipline, routine, and a workmanlike commitment to their craft.