Course Overview

Overview

This course assumes you’re afraid. It does not try to talk you out of it. Most courses on fear try to dismantle the fear, which is the wrong project — the fear is information, not malfunction. Instead, we build a writing practice ON TOP OF the fear, so the fear stops being the boss without having to be evicted. Five weeks. Twenty-five lessons. Daily exercises, a Scared-But-Moved log, and a weekly self-administered hot-seat review of your own work. By the end you will not be unafraid. You will be writing anyway, on purpose, with structure underneath you. That’s the better outcome.

What’s inside

• 5 modules, 25 lessons + audio walkthroughs — the most embodied course in the catalog
• Mindset Maven Test that names YOUR specific fear flavor (most writers think they have ‘general fear’ — there are seven sub-flavors and you have one)
• 5 guided meditations averaging 11 minutes — longer, deeper, designed for nervous system work
• Toolkit: the Scared-But-Moved Log + the Hot-Seat Review Protocol
• Lifetime access, unlimited retakes — fear returns; the field manual stays
• Companion blog post per module — public, the closest thing the Book Maven has to a hand on your shoulder

Who this is for

• The poet who hasn’t shown anyone a poem since the bad workshop in 2018
• The memoirist writing about a thing they’re afraid to write about (because it’s the thing they need to write about)
• The songwriter who can play other people’s songs in front of crowds but freezes on their own
• The comedian sitting on a bit they’re scared is too true to tell

FAQs

Is this course going to make me unafraid?
No. That’s not the project. The project is writing alongside fear without letting fear set the agenda. By week five you’ll be moving and scared at the same time — and the moving will matter more than the scared.

Is this trauma-informed?
Yes, and that’s an important distinction. The course is trauma-informed (gentle pacing, opt-in exercises, no forced disclosure). It is NOT trauma therapy. If your fear is rooted in active trauma, work with a clinician alongside the course.

What if my fear is rational?
Most fear that stops writers IS rational. The course doesn’t argue with the fear’s validity. It argues with the fear’s authority to decide whether you write today. Different fight.

I’m a comedian — does this apply to comedy?
Yes. Comedy fear is one of the seven sub-flavors covered in module 1. The fear of being unfunny is its own animal and we have a chapter for it.

What’s the Scared-But-Moved Log?
A daily five-line log: what you were scared of, what you did anyway, what happened. After 30 entries the log becomes evidence. After 90 the log becomes proof. The log is the slowest tool in the course and the most permanent.

Can I retake?
Yes. Unlimited. Fear returns in new shapes. The course re-reads differently each time you re-take it.

What one student said

★★★★★

“I’m in module three. I won’t finish for another two months because I’m taking it slowly on purpose — the work this course asks for is real work and I will not speedrun it. What I’ll say so far: the Embodied Prep Ritual sounded dumb to me. I’m not a ‘body person.’ I did it anyway because the course asks you to commit for two weeks before you opt out. Two weeks in, the ritual was reflex. I wrote three songs I would have abandoned before. I’ll write a longer review when I finish. This is the placeholder review and it’s still five stars.”

— Tomas H., songwriter (mid-course, refusing to speedrun)