In this afternoon workshop, Story Jam will help you generate stories through an array of fun improv games, prompts, and exercises. Guests will enjoy conjuring up new and previously forgotten stories while practicing storytelling on the fly. Casual and fun, Story Bash is an effective tool for storytellers to dig up new material!

Story Bash is led by Story Jam producer/creative director Stephanie Rogers.

BEST SERVES: Anyone who’d like to remember their stories; new and veteran storytellers; and those looking for something very casual and fun.

Story Jam Studio offers this very special all-day workshop, which will feature story generating, crafting, performance, a delicious lunch, and personalized feedback.

Let's work on personal narrative storytelling in a warm, friendly home environment with plenty of writing time, self care, and expert feedback!

OUR MOST POPULAR CLASS RETURNS!

The Writing Room is a six-week online writing workshop which features a rotation of instructors who guide the crafting of personal narratives and essays.

Each week, participants receive prompts, ample writing time, and wisdom on various aspects of memoir writing and personal narrative storytelling. 

Come sharpen your writing and storytelling skills with us! The group is intimate, warm, and welcoming.

BEST SERVES: Writers; aspiring writers; storytellers; aspiring storytellers; anyone who’d like to work on personal narratives and develop skills in a warm, challenging environment; those who’d enjoy a strong college or graduate-level writing class.

OUR MOST POPULAR CLASS STARTS THIS WEEK!
There is also a Friday section.

The Writing Room is an online writing workshop which features a rotation of instructors who guide the crafting of personal narratives and essays.

Each week, participants receive prompts, ample writing time, and wisdom on various aspects of memoir writing and personal narrative storytelling. 

Come sharpen your writing and storytelling skills with us! The group is intimate, warm, and welcoming.

BEST SERVES: Writers; aspiring writers; storytellers; aspiring storytellers; anyone who’d like to work on personal narratives and develop skills in a warm, challenging environment; those who’d enjoy a strong college or graduate-level writing class.

This first-time offering is for those seeking creative flow through the power of guided meditation. Learn techniques to help still the mind, align with your inner spirit, and allow your creativity to flow!

Writers, storytellers, artists, performers, and those who aspire to create are welcome to join this special Story Jam class for four Sundays in October.

Led by storyteller and clairvoyant Maria Kostas, this unique class will help catapult the creative process and bring inspiration to your personal goals and projects. 

OUR MOST POPULAR CLASS RETURNS!

The Writing Room is a six-week online writing workshop which features a rotation of instructors who guide the crafting of personal narratives and essays.

Each week, participants receive prompts, ample writing time, and wisdom on various aspects of memoir writing and personal narrative storytelling. 

Come sharpen your writing and storytelling skills with us! The group is intimate, warm, and welcoming.

BEST SERVES: Writers; aspiring writers; storytellers; aspiring storytellers; anyone who’d like to work on personal narratives and develop skills in a warm, challenging environment; those who’d enjoy a strong college or graduate-level writing class.

OUR MOST POPULAR CLASS RETURNS!

The Writing Room is a six-week online writing workshop which features a rotation of instructors who guide the crafting of personal narratives and essays.

Each week, participants receive prompts, ample writing time, and wisdom on various aspects of memoir writing and personal narrative storytelling. 

Come sharpen your writing and storytelling skills with us! The group is intimate, warm, and welcoming.

BEST SERVES: Writers; aspiring writers; storytellers; aspiring storytellers; anyone who’d like to work on personal narratives and develop skills in a warm, challenging environment; those who’d enjoy a strong college or graduate-level writing class.

OUR MOST POPULAR CLASS RETURNS!

The Writing Room is a six-week online writing workshop which features topnotch instructors who guide the development of personal narratives and essays.

CURRENT class is sold out. JOIN US IN OCTOBER!

Prompts & Prose Just For Five Os!

This online one-day workshop, led by Story Jam’s Stephanie Rogers, will allow participants the chance to develop personal stories in a group setting, with sharing and feedback.

The class will begin with a warm-up write before moving into a series of prompt-based writing. Each participant will have the chance to select from a variety of prompts in timed writing spurts, with ample time given to draft or complete up to five new personal narratives.

This fun class is for those over 50! Come join us!

Our Most Popular Class Continues!

In the spirit of a college or grad-level writing class, The Writing Room features writing and storytelling instructors who focus on various elements of non-fiction narrative and personal essay crafting.

Each week over Zoom, we invite a skilled instructor to offer new techniques and prompts with an intimate group of eager writers and storytellers. Participants are guaranteed to receive wisdom, skills, ample writing time, and specific feedback on their work.

The instructors are college professors, professional writers, veteran coaches, and storytelling superstars.

This is the Friday group. There is also a Wednesday group.

BEST SERVES: Writers; aspiring writers; storytellers; aspiring storytellers; anyone who’d like to work on personal narratives and develop skills in a warm, challenging environment; those who’d enjoy a college or graduate-level writing class. All levels welcome. 

Our most popular class continues!

In the spirit of a college or grad-level writing class, The Writing Room features writing and storytelling instructors who focus on various elements of non-fiction narrative and personal essay crafting for six weeks.

Each week over Zoom, we invite a skilled instructor to offer new techniques and prompts with an intimate group of eager writers and storytellers. Participants are guaranteed to receive wisdom, skills, ample writing time, and specific feedback on their work.

The instructors are college professors, professional writers, veteran coaches, and storytelling superstars.

This is the Wednesday group. There is also a Friday group.

BEST SERVES: Writers; aspiring writers; storytellers; aspiring storytellers; anyone who’d like to work on personal narratives and develop skills in a warm, challenging environment; those who’d enjoy a college or graduate-level writing class. All levels welcome. 

In this afternoon workshop, Story Jam will help you generate stories through an array of fun improv games, prompts, and exercises. Guests will enjoy conjuring up new and previously forgotten stories while practicing storytelling on the fly. Casual, fun, and loose, Story Bash is an effective tool for storytellers to dig up new material!

Story Bash is led by Story Jam producer/creative director Stephanie Rogers.

BEST SERVES: Anyone who’d like to remember their stories; new and veteran storytellers; and those looking for some fun.

In the spirit of a grad-level writing class, The Writing Room features fabulous writing and storytelling instructors who focus on various elements of non-fiction story and essay crafting. This class takes place online on Friday afternoons. Each week, we invite a different instructor to help writers and storytellers develop an array of techniques and receive personal feedback. 

Our instructors are professional writers, college professors, university deans, veteran coaches, and storytelling superstars. Participants are guaranteed to receive wisdom, instruction, writing prompts, individual writing time, and personal feedback.

BEST SERVES: Writers; aspiring writers; storytellers; aspiring storytellers; anyone who’d like to work on narratives and develop skills in a warm, challenging environment; those who’d enjoy a college or graduate-level writing class. All levels welcome. 

This session is full, but January 2023 sign up is open!

This super interactive workshop will inspire its participants to embrace a sense of place in their work, while creating their own private Idaho…or Winesburg, OH. Which is to say, in this workshop we will channel the spirit of Sherwood Anderson, Raymond Carver, Elizabeth Crane, Christine Maul Rice, the B'52s and Gus Van Sant to generate the ideas and foundation needed to build a linked short story collection all your own. Activities will include a series of individual and group exercises that will encourage participants to look within and examine their own experiences, the people and places they know, and where they've lived, both physically and emotionally. We'll also write (and edit) a lot! Full-stop.

A lovely lunch is included with this workshop and guests are welcome to request overnight stay the night before, for a reasonable fee, to fully absorb Ragdale's creative atmosphere. 

Ben Tanzer is an Emmy-award winning trainer, creative strategist, podcaster, writer, teacher and social worker who has been helping nonprofits, publishers, authors, small business and career changers tell their stories for 20 plus years. Ben is also the author of several acclaimed books, including the short story collection Upstate, the science fiction novel Orphans and the essay collections Lost in Space: A Father's Journey, There and Back Again and Be Cool - a memoir (sort of). And he is a lover of all things book, run, Gin and street art.

"Where we write impacts what we write and how we write about it." ~ Arlyn Miller

In Writing for All Genres, acclaimed writer, teacher, and editor Arlyn Miller will offer an array of innovative writing activities, exercises, and prompts with accompanying sample texts specially tailored to harness the inspirational magic of glorious Ragdale.

An intimate group of lucky writers will claim the expansive grounds of Ragdale, a renowned and enchanting artists’ retreat in Lake Forest, Illinois, for one whole day—a rare opportunity!

We'll ease into the morning with a check-in followed by a free-write (also known as "Morning Pages"), with coffee, tea and snacks available. The workshop day will be a well-balanced mix of instruction, prompts, writing time, and optional sharing, along with periodic opportunities for both contemplative stillness and body movement.

A delicious midday lunch prepared by Ragdale's wonderful chef will also be provided.

While this is primarily a generative workshop, there will be opportunity for feedback for participants who would like input on their projects or writing.

For an additional fee, guests may request dinner and overnight stay at Ragdale by emailing: retreat@storyjaminc.com. 

Join the phenomenal Julie Ganey & Arlene Malinowski—who are writing the first comprehensive solo show text book ever!—for a one-day solo intensive in an incredible setting: Ragdale in Lake Forest, IL. 

Solo shows are one-person performances in which the artist writes and tells either true, personal stories, or character-driven stories in long form for the stage. This intensive is for those solo artists who are interested in developing an entire solo show for the stage, or who have already started the process of creating one. 

During this one-day intensive, writer-performers will be guided with prompts and questions to allow for reflection and a comprehensive examination of their work and goals. This will be followed by writing time, instruction, keen advice, and tips and tricks for creating an exceptional performance.

The morning will be spent exploring, discussing, and writing. Then, guests will have a healthful lunch provided by Ragdale's private chef, which will be followed by more writing activities and instruction in the afternoon, along with a walking meditation on the enchanting Ragdale grounds.  

Solo Intensive is one of a series of all-day workshops which precede Story Jam's Write & Tell storytelling retreat at Ragdale. For more information about the entire retreat, and the week prior to the retreat, please visit Story Jam Studio. 

For an additional fee, guests may request dinner and overnight stay at Ragdale. Please email retreat@storyjaminc.com for more information.

Ellen Blum Barish leads this enchanting writers' day devoted to jump-starting, refreshing, and completing one crafted written piece from your life in a most stunning Lake Forest setting. Let's extract a personal story from your memory-body-dreams-psyche and release it into the world! 

We'll fill the day with short and long writing prompts, a variety of readings, deep discussion of personal narratives, and of course, ample feedback. These 360 minutes will be enhanced with inspiring music, a walking meditation on Ragdale's bucolic campus, a delicious lunch provided by a private chef, and, of course, unlimited coffee and tea...all to help keep the writer energy moving forward!

Prompts • Feedback • Writing Time • Lunch

We’ll talk about what makes memoir unique from other genres, along with: ways to structure memoir; elements of personal narrative; marker moments; and voice and style development.

Whether you want to return to a writing practice, write a story for legacy, prepare for publication, or just have a day of writing fun, this workshop will get your creative juices flowing and provide you with concrete steps to inspire your best work. 

For an additional fee, guests may request dinner and overnight stay at Ragdale. Please email: retreat@storyjaminc.com for more information.

In this class, which kicks off a whole week of Story Jam Studio workshops at magical Ragdale, we'll explore the intersection of cultural history and individual experience. These moments carry both personal meaning and universality, and we will work on relaying historical facts from the perspective of the writer’s own experience.

In one of the most inspirational settings for artists, award-winning, internationally published author and instructor Arnie Bernstein leads storytellers and writers of all skill levels and backgrounds to identify a moment in history which has had a profound personal impact. Arnie will discuss writer device and share examples.

Were you alive when 9/11 occurred? Or when your favorite team won the title? These moments—and even more recent events—elicit lasting emotional imprints which are important to recall. These critical milestones in our personal and national development will be crafted into personal stories.

There will be a delicious lunch served for all attendees.

Bernstein teaches writing skills which help participants effectively construct important personal narratives in this one-day workshop.

For an additional fee, guests may request to stay for dinner and overnight at Ragdale. Please email : retreat@storyjaminc.com for details.