Writing Life: A Reflective Circle for Writers

Description

This course is open to members of the Lewiston-Auburn Senior College and other Maine Senior Colleges. To become a member, click HERE.

INSTRUCTOR: Ariela Zucker
COST: $25
Duration: 6-week course (Mondays, 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM starting on October 5th)
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WHERE: Auburn Public Library Conference Room
**This is an IN-PERSON class

Dates the class will meet 
October 5
October 19
October 26
November 2
November 9
November 16

Registration for this course will end on Sunday, October 4th, 2026.  

COURSE DESCRIPTION: A small in-person writers circle designed for writers who want thoughtful conversation, creative companionship, and support for the ongoing realities of the writing life.

Rather than functioning as a traditional critique workshop, this course will offer a reflective space for writers to explore their relationship to writing, memory, identity, visibility, persistence, and future creative work. Each meeting will center on a broad theme connected to the writing life. Participants will be invited to share experiences, ask questions, listen deeply, and reflect.

A written reflection component will follow each session. These short reflections will allow participants to continue the conversation privately on the page, deepen their thinking, and gradually build a small body of personal writing about their own creative journey.

FORMAT: The course will meet in a small circle of approximately 5–7 participants. Each session will include conversation, optional sharing, and a suggested writing reflection to be completed after the meeting.

**This is not a formal critique class. The emphasis will be on reflection, connection, encouragement, and the lived experience of being a writer.

Proposed Meeting Themes

Meeting 1: How We Became Writers Participants will reflect on early memories of writing, first permissions, first obstacles, and the moments that shaped their sense of themselves as writers.
Written reflection: When did I first begin to think of myself as someone who writes?

Meeting 2: Who Am I on the Page? This meeting will explore voice, subject matter, recurring themes, and the material each writer returns to again and again.
Written reflection: What do I keep writing about, and what might that reveal about me?

Meeting 3: Writing and the Rhythms of Daily Life Participants will discuss how writing fits, or struggles to fit, into ordinary life, including routines, interruptions, discipline, energy, and changing circumstances.
Written reflection: What kind of writing rhythm is possible for me now?

Meeting 4: Being Seen This session will focus on sharing work, recognition, rejection, audience, invisibility, and the longing to be understood as a writer.
Written reflection: What does being seen as a writer mean to me?

Meeting 5: What Still Calls Me to Write? Participants will reflect on internal motivations, unfinished work, the persistence of creative curiosity, and what continues to matter on a deeper level.
Written reflection: What is the specific project or theme that still calls me to the page, and why does it refuse to be left behind?

Meeting 6: Carrying the Work Forward Our final gathering will focus on integration, next steps, personal intentions, and how to maintain the creative momentum and companionship cultivated in the circle.
Written reflection: What is one concrete promise I can make to my writing life as I move forward?

Goals: By the end of the course, participants will have had the opportunity to:
-Reflect on their personal history as writers
-Explore their recurring themes, questions, and creative patterns
-Connect with other writers in a supportive setting
-Develop short written reflections after each session
-Clarify what kind of writing life they want to continue building
-Leave with renewed encouragement and a stronger sense of creative direction 

Audience: This course is intended for writers at any stage who are interested in reflective conversation, creative companionship, and a deeper understanding of their own writing life. Participants do not need to be published writers. They only need curiosity, openness, and a willingness to listen and reflect. 

INSTRUCTOR BIO: Ariela Zucker was born in Israel and now lives in Maine. She writes fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry rooted in memory, identity, place, and the ongoing search for belonging. Her work can be found on Amazon and on her website, www.paperdragon.me. Some of her writing has appeared in Persimmon Tree, Mothers Always Write, Story Circle Network, and several local publications.