New Year to WRITE NOW! Join master writing instructor and Concord Festival of Authors curator, Lara Wilson, along with esteemed monthly guest authors for this series of Online Mindful Writing Workshops. Engage in craft conversations, experiment with writing exercises and learn techniques that engage your creative flow state. Awaken natural narrative skills as you break through blocks and feel inspired to polish your prose. All genres and levels welcome! 

$33 per workshop or $333 for annual subscription. Thanks to our generous donors, BWBH offers scholarships and subsidized fees to share practice with ALL.

Questions? Email Jen Barlow at info@bewellbehere.org

Questions to consider as we prepare to Write Now!

January Why Does Writing Help Us Be Well?

February What Makes Characters Memorable?

March How Can We Write with More Clarity and Courage?

April Where Do We Source Details?

May Why Is Dialogue About More Than Words?

June Can We Plot Our Way Through This?

July Where Do We Go When Setting a Scene?

August When Do We Spin Secrets and Lies?

September What’s the Shadow Side of Your Story?

October Whose Voice Makes Us Want to Listen?

November How Might We Balance Security and Unpredictability?

December What Inspires Us to Keep Writing?

WRITERLY DELIGHT IN THE MORE-THAN-HUMAN WORLD

“It didn’t take me long to learn that the discipline or practice of writing these essays occasioned a kind of delight radar. Or maybe it was more like the development of a delight muscle. Something that implies that the more you study delight, the more delight there is to study.” (Ross Gay, The Book of Delights)

In this class, we'll read and discuss the works of writers who engage unabashedly with their sense of delight in the natural world. We'll do some exercises designed to help us discover ways in which the more-than-human world offers us invitations into moments of delight and awe--and discuss how to develop a practice of accepting these invitations when they come. Then, we'll practice writing about these delights in fresh, original, and unapologetic ways. Led by mindful creative writing professor, Melissa Jean, Ph.D.

$22 to Be inspired to Write Now! Register to receive your Zoom link. All levels welcome. 

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

Melissa Jean is an Assistant Professor in the Mindfulness Studies masters’ program at Lesley University. She teaches courses in academic writing, creative writing, research methods, and mindfulness and the environment. She received an MFA in Fiction Writing from Lesley, and a PhD in Human Dimensions of Ecosystem Science and Management from Utah State University. She is trained as a mindfulness facilitator and a naturalist, and is currently working toward becoming a forest therapy guide. Her writing has appeared in The Colorado Review and the 2020 Reckoning anthology, as well a variety of online journals, including most recently The Hopper, Waxing and Waning, and Causeway Lit.

Write Now!

Writing About Art

It can be wonderful to visit a museum and contemplate visual art, but we can also rely on this same experience as a jumping-off place for our practice as writers. This online class will explore how to reflect on visual images and create written narratives that open new directions, both as writers and art-lovers. We will look at several different works of art, some modern installations and other more traditional paintings, before delving into our own imaginative realms. This invitation to look again, to absorb an image and its complexities, is a contemplative practice in itself. Writing offers another level of delight to our inquiry and the chance to become dynamic observers of the world around us.

$22 to Be inspired and Write Now! All levels welcome. Register to receive your Zoom link.

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

About Julia

Julia Napier was born in the United States but has spent most of her adult life in Argentina. As a dedicated writer, translator and yoga practitioner, she has worked in the worlds of publishing and contemplative practice. Julia has studied with many senior yoga teachers and is a personal student of Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor. She also studies Tibetan Buddhism with Dr. Jules Levinson and Dr. Robert Thurman. As a writer, Julia edited the successful anthology Mujeres Argentinas in 2012 and again in 2014. In 2014, she co-authored The Ordinary? with the renowned artist Leandro Erlich and has collaborated with him as a writer over a decade. In 2016, she became the founding editor of La Colección Ananta, a collection of books in translation about contemplative traditions, for the distinguished Spanish-language publishing house El Hilo de Ariadna. In addition to her duties as editor, Julia has also translated many of Ananta’s books, including work by Richard Freeman, TKV Desikachar, Dr. Christine Caldwell, Eddie Stern, Tim Parks, Sharon Salzberg and Pattabhi Jois. Her book En la práctica, a collection of essays about the intersection of daily life and yoga practice, was published in Latin America and Spain in 2021. She currently lives Concord with her husband Juan and their two children, Oliverio and Justina.

Flowery Poetics: Creative Writing With and About Flowers

Event Description: Flowers have always been a favorite subject of poets, and it's no wonder--flowers are the epitome of impermanent beauty. Flowers have a mystical relationship to time and seasons, and their unpredictable brilliance shocks us into states of awe. In this online workshop, we will read poems about flowers and discuss what makes these poems feel fresh and surprising. Participants will bring at least one flower with them to the class, and we will do a mindfulness exercise with the flowers to bring us into a state of deeper noticing that can give rise to fresh, original writing about these timeless beauties.

$22 to Be inspired and Write Now! All levels welcome. 

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

Melissa Jean is an Assistant Professor in the Mindfulness Studies masters’ program at Lesley University. She teaches courses in academic writing, creative writing, research methods, and mindfulness and the environment. She received an MFA in Fiction Writing from Lesley, and a PhD in Human Dimensions of Ecosystem Science and Management from Utah State University. She is trained as a mindfulness facilitator and a naturalist, and is currently working toward becoming a forest therapy guide. Her writing has appeared in The Colorado Review and the 2020 Reckoning anthology, as well a variety of online journals, including most recently The Hopper, Waxing and Waning, and Causeway Lit.

Turning Fact into Fiction

Historical novels based on real people or real events abound, but incorporating historical events and figures into a narrative can be complicated and confusing. Writers wonder: how much research do I have to do? How can I successfully write about a place and time that feels utterly different from my own life? What are the rules for fictionalizing the life of a real person? The truth is that there’s no one right way to write fiction about the past, but there are tools and guidelines you can use to be comfortable with your choices. In this interactive talk, we’ll discuss the purpose of historical fiction, take a look at some examples of successful projects, discuss research techniques, and more.

Write Now! is a series of online monthly Mindful Writing Workshop exploring essential elements of craft that lead to memorable storytelling. Experiment with writing exercises that engage your creative flow state and discover new ways to celebrate your storytelling skills.

$22 to Be inspired and Write Now! All levels welcome. 

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

Whitney Scharer (BWBH VP) holds a BA in English Literature from Wesleyan University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington. Her short fiction, essays, and interviews have appeared in numerous publications including Vogue, The Telegraph, The Tatler, and Bellevue Literary Review. Her first novel, The Age of Light, based on the life of pioneering photographer Lee Miller, was published by Little, Brown (US) and Picador (UK) in February, 2019, and was a Boston Globe and IndieNext bestseller and named one of the best books of 2019 by Parade, Glamour Magazine, Real Simple, Refinery 29, Booklist and Yahoo. Internationally, The Age of Light won Le prix Rive Gauche à Paris, was a coups de couer selection from the American Library in Paris, and has been published or is forthcoming from over a dozen other countries. Whitney has been awarded residencies at the Virginia Center for the Arts and Ragdale, a St. Botolph Emerging Artists Grant, and a Somerville Arts Council Artists Fellowship. She teaches fiction in the Boston area and is a co-founder of the Arlington Author Salon, a quarterly reading series.

Strategizing for Publication Success

Ready to find a home for your manuscript and keep writing in the process? Join award-winning author and master writing instructor Virginia Pye for this online clinic-style writing seminar to discover mindful strategies for every stage of the process, including creative ways to:

• share drafts and with whom

• set up a reliable system for magazine submissions

• strategize about and take steps toward getting a literary agent

• learn how and when to apply to writer’s colonies, conferences, and fellowship programs

• generate more than one writing project at a time without undermining your efforts

With these and other concrete suggestions, find your way to set up professional writing practices and increase chances for success - even before receiving that first acceptance letter!

Write Now! is a series of monthly Mindful Writing Workshop exploring essential elements of craft that lead to memorable storytelling. Experiment with writing exercises that engage your creative flow state and discover new ways to celebrate your storytelling skills.

$22 to Be inspired and Write Now! All levels welcome. 

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

Virginia Pye’s collection, Shelf Life of Happiness, won the 2019 IPPY Gold Medal for Short Fiction and her two historical novels, Dreams of the Red Phoenix and River of Dust, also received literary awards. Her essays have appeared in Literary Hub, The New York Times, Huffington Post, Cleveland Plain-Dealer, and elsewhere. She is Fiction Editor of Pangyrus, and a board member of the Women’s National Book Association, Boston Chapter. Virginia holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence, was a Tin House Workshop Scholar, and a repeat fellow at the VCCA. Virginia has taught writing at NYU, and UPenn, and most recently, at GrubStreet’s Muse and Marketplace conference. Her forthcoming novel, The Book Lovers, will be published by Regal House Publishing in the fall of 2023. www.virginiapye.com

Be Well Be Here Presents:

Let’s Begin a Story…or Five

Led ONLINE by acclaimed author and master fiction teacher

Pamela Painter

SOLD OUT! Beginning a story, putting the first words onto a page or the computer screen, is often the most difficult task for any writer. So, the focus of this online workshop will be to get you started on several stories, and then to show you how to follow the language, how to provide telling details for your narrative, and also how to unravel and explore an unstable situation in order to move a story forward toward a satisfying end. We’ll discuss techniques for finding the right character to tell your story, and exploring the ways in which your character will determine their own fate or not. I’ll share some of my favorite quotes from writers, and also suggest sites to explore for further guidance and inspiration.

Register to receive your Zoom link. The $55 fee includes a copy of Pam Painter’s latest short story collection, Fabrications: New and Selected Stories.

Please try our monthly mindful writing workshop series, Write Now!

Be Well Be Here offers scholarships and subsidized fees to share mindful writing practices with ALL.

About Fabrications: New and Selected Stories

Pamela Painter's short stories have been praised by Margot Livesey for their "wicked intelligence and ruthless humor." In Fabrications, which brings together 7 new and 24 selected stories, characters struggle to avoid the chaos in their lives, but--driven by addictions and appetites--often bring on disaster. Nobody is ordinary in Painter's stories. A burglar can't believe what he is asked to do by the woman whose jewelry he is stealing. Hitchhikers, hell-bent on murder, are thwarted by the miracle of story-telling. A wife can make rooms--and her husband--disappear, but saves the family dog. A young woman insists on the romance of being married in an Elvis Presley chapel, but for the wrong reasons. Fabrications is a testament to Painter's lyric skill and psychological insight across her career. - Goodreads

Pamela Painter is the author of five story collections: her latest, Fabrications: New and Selected Stories; Getting to Know the Weather, which won the Great Lakes College Award Award for First Fiction;The Long and Short of It, Wouldn’t You Like to Know; and Ways to Spend the Night.   She is also the co-author with Anne Bernays of the widely-used textbook, now in its third college edition, What If?  Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers. 

She has received grants from The Massachusetts Artists Foundation and the National Endowment of the Arts, has won three Pushcart Prizes and Agni Review’s  John Cheever Award for Fiction.  Painter’s stories have been presented on National Public Radio, and on stage by Stage Turner, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, in Los Angeles and London by Cedering Fox’s Word Theatre Company.  She appeared with writer, Anthong Doerr, at Word Theatre’s Voices in association with NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where her two stories were read by actors Connor Paolo and Michael Zegan.  

Beginning in the late 80s, Painter was perhaps the first writer to teach a workshop entirely devoted to the short short story at Emerson College in Boston. Many of her students have published stories, won flash fiction awards and become publishers themselves of flash fiction—two examples are Rose Metal Press and Quick Fiction.  Painter wrote the Afterword for Rose Metal Press’s Brevity and Echo: An Anthology of Short Short Stories made up of the work of Emerson students whose stories had been published and/or won awards in the real world of flash.  

Ready to revise? Let’s do it anyway! Revision is a mindful part of the writing process that allows us to reflect and reframe our initial narrative. Join master writing instructor and BWBH founder, Lara Wilson, to find more ease on the road to revision. For decades, Lara has helped countless esteemed writers more fully comprehend the essence of their work, write with enthusiasm on the journey to publication and experience literary satisfaction.

Write Now! is a series of monthly Mindful Writing Workshop exploring essential elements of craft that lead to memorable storytelling. Experiment with writing exercises that engage your creative flow state and discover new ways to celebrate your storytelling skills.

$22 to Be inspired and Write Now! All levels welcome. 

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

Lara Wilson, MA, GCMS, founder of Be Well Be Here and curator of the Concord Festival of Authors, devotes her life to exploring the intersection of personal narrative and mindful wellBEing. Her short stories have been published in The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, American Fiction, Confrontation, Indiana Review, and the Chicago Tribune Book Section, among others, as well as anthologized in Printers Row and Hacks: 10 Years on Grub Street. She received an 2010 Massachusetts Cultural Council  Fellowship in Fiction, and scholarships from the Sewanee and BreadLoaf Writers’ Conferences. A recent essay about her breast cancer journey was published on WBUR's Cognoscenti. A lifelong meditator, Lara established 501c3 non-profit Be Well Be Here, a mindful wellness educational collaborative in Concord, MA, whose mission is to equitably build compassionate connection and caring community through creative experiential well-being practices. Lara also serves on the Corporation Board of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. For more information, please visit BeWellBeHere.org

IGNITE YOUR WRITING in 2022! Need some encouragement to streamline the story that only you can tell? Join master writing instructor and BWBH founder, Lara Wilson, for this Mindful Writing Workshop to explore essential elements of craft that lead to memorable storytelling. For decades, Lara has helped countless esteemed writers more fully comprehend the essence of their work, write with enthusiasm on the journey to publication and experience literary satisfaction. Experiment with writing exercises that engage your creative flow state and discover new ways to celebrate your storytelling skills.

$22 to Be inspired and Write Now! All levels welcome. 

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

Lara Wilson, MA, GCMS, founder of Be Well Be Here and curator of the Concord Festival of Authors, devotes her life to exploring the intersection of personal narrative and mindful wellBEing. Her short stories have been published in The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, American Fiction, Confrontation, Indiana Review, and the Chicago Tribune Book Section, among others, as well as anthologized in Printers Row and Hacks: 10 Years on Grub Street. She received an 2010 Massachusetts Cultural Council  Fellowship in Fiction, and scholarships from the Sewanee and BreadLoaf Writers’ Conferences. A recent essay about her breast cancer journey was published on WBUR's Cognoscenti. A lifelong meditator, Lara established 501c3 non-profit Be Well Be Here, a mindful wellness educational collaborative in Concord, MA, whose mission is to equitably build compassionate connection and caring community through creative experiential well-being practices. Lara also serves on the Corporation Board of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. For more information, please visit BeWellBeHere.org

Please note: Our final WRITE NOW meeting on voice will be at 4:00pm! Join master writing instructor Lara Wilson for this series of monthly Mindful Writing Workshops! Engage in craft conversations, experiment with writing exercises and learn techniques that engage your creative flow state. Awaken natural narrative skills as you get that story on the page and polish your prose. All levels welcome!  

$22 for each session

Sun., July 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Place and Scene

Sun., August 1 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Secrets and Lies

Sun., September 12 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Structure

Sun., October 3 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Themes and Meaning

Sun., November 7 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Unpredictability

Sun., December 5 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Voice

Take time to WRITE! Join master writing instructor Lara Wilson for this series of monthly online Mindful Writing Workshops! Engage in craft conversations, experiment with writing exercises and learn techniques that engage your creative flow state. Awaken natural narrative skills as you get that story on the page and polish your prose. All levels welcome!  $22 each.

Sun., July 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Place and Scene

Sun., August 1 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Secrets and Lies

Sun., September 12 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Structure

Sun., October 3 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Themes and Meaning

Sun., November 7 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Unpredictability

Sun., December 5 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Voice

Be Well Be Here in collaboration with the Concord Festival of Authors and

Concord-Carlisle Adult & Community Education present

Write for WellBeing Workshop with WRITE CONCORD!

Develop your innate skills as a storyteller! The CFA Write for WellBeing Workshop invites you to explore your natural instincts as a writer and observer in order to articulate wisdom gleaned from experience. Through mindful writing exercises, you’ll tap into essential elements of how we create compelling narratives and transform ideas into possibility on the page. Discover mindful techniques that allow your creativity to flow and give you confidence to progress with your writing project.

All levels and genres are welcome!

A FREE writing workshop sponsored by the CFA and the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library

Be Well Be Here happily collaborates with the Concord Festival of Authors 2021 to present

Writing Historical Fiction: To Muck and Fudge

Led online by celebrated author Allison Amend

Writing historical fiction requires specificity of time and place, often gathered from authorial research. But how does an author set aside scholarly inquiry to focus on fiction-- character, conflict, voice, etc.? In other words, how do we get out of the books to get into our book? This workshop offers techniques for re-creating historical moments to suit contemporary narratives, and offers suggestions for avoiding historical fiction traps. Explore new ways to turn your story of time and place into a compelling and memorable work of fiction with celebrated author Allison Amend. Learn more about Allison’s fascination with historical fiction and her mindful writing process in her essay, Celebrating Those Whom History Has Forgotten. Discover her wise and witty approach to creating memorable narratives in this entertaining interview with the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Learn more at www.concordfestivalofauthors.org/writing-workshop-historical-fiction

$22 for the session. Register to receive your Zoom link.

Be Well Be Here offers scholarship and subsidies so ALL can be included regardless of ability to pay - simply fill out the BWBH Scholarship Form.

Allison Amend, a Chicago native, graduated from Stanford University and the Iowa Writer's Workshop. She is the author of the IPPY award-winning short story collection Things That Pass for Love and the novels A Nearly Perfect Copy and Stations West, which was a finalist for the 2011 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and the Oklahoma Book Award. Her most recent book, Enchanted Islands, was on the longlist for the International Dublin Award. Allison teaches creative writing at Lehman College, CUNY, in New York City, where she has visited every museum, all 115 of them.

Be Well Be Here happily collaborates with the Concord Festival of Authors 2021 to present:

Your First 100 Words:

Grounding Readers in Your Fiction

Led online by acclaimed short story author Pamela Painter

Most readers will engage with a story if they feel grounded in some aspect of that story’s world. Whether physically grounded in setting, emotionally grounded in character, or logistically grounded in the human situation, it’s crucial to establish for readers early on a world they recognize, and to convey what matters in that world. In this advanced craft seminar, we’ll discuss techniques for grounding your stories, analyze published examples, and provide exercises to help you put it in practice.

Learn more at www.concordfestivalofauthors.org/writing-workshop-short-stories

$22 for the session. Register to receive your Zoom link.

Be Well Be Here offers scholarship and subsidies so ALL can be included regardless of ability to pay - simply fill out the BWBH Scholarship Form.

Pamela Painter is the author of four story collections, Getting to Know the Weather, which won the Great Lakes College Award Award for First Fiction, The Long and Short of It, Wouldn’t You Like to Know and Ways to Spend the Night.   She is also the co-author with Anne Bernays of the widely-used textbook, now in its third college edition, What If?  Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers.  

She has received grants from The Massachusetts Artists Foundation and the National Endowment of the Arts, has won three Pushcart Prizes and Agni Review’s  John Cheever Award for Fiction.  Painter’s stories have been presented on National Public Radio, and on stage by Stage Turner, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, in Los Angeles and London by Cedering Fox’s Word Theatre Company.  She appeared with writer, Anthong Doerr, at Word Theatre’s Voices in association with NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where her two stories were read by actors Connor Paolo and Michael Zegan.  

Beginning in the late 80s, Painter was perhaps the first writer to teach a workshop entirely devoted to the short short story at Emerson College in Boston. Many of her students have published stories, won flash fiction awards and become publishers themselves of flash fiction—two examples are Rose Metal Press and Quick Fiction.  Painter wrote the Afterword for Rose Metal Press’s Brevity and Echo: An Anthology of Short Short Stories made up of the work of Emerson students whose stories had been published and/or won awards in the real world of flash.  

Take time to WRITE! Join master writing instructor Lara Wilson for this series of monthly Mindful Writing Workshops! Engage in craft conversations, experiment with writing exercises and learn techniques that engage your creative flow state. Awaken natural narrative skills as you get that story on the page and polish your prose. All levels welcome!  $22 each.

Sun., January 10 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Authenticity in Action

Sun., February 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Compelling Characters

Sun., March 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Clarity and Courage

Sun., April 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Details, Details

Sun., May 2 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Dialogue that Matters

Sun., June 6 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Plot and Pacing

Sun., July 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Place and Scene

Sun., August 1 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Secrets and Lies

Sun., September 12 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Structure

Sun., October 3 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Themes and Meaning

Sun., November 7 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Unpredictability

Sun., December 5 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Voice

Take time to WRITE! Join master writing instructor Lara Wilson for this series of monthly Mindful Writing Workshops on Zoom! Engage in craft conversations, experiment with writing exercises and learn techniques that engage your creative flow state. Awaken natural narrative skills as you get that story on the page and polish your prose. All levels welcome!  $22 per session.

Sunday, January 10 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Authenticity in Action

Sun., February 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Compelling Characters

Sun., March 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Clarity and Courage

Sun., April 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Details, Details

Sun., May 2 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Dialogue that Matters

Sun., June 6 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Plot and Pacing

Sun., July 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Place and Scene

Sun., August 1 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Secrets and Lies

Sun., September 12 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Structure

Sun., October 3 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Themes and Meaning

Sun., November 7 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Unpredictability

Sun., December 5 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Voice

Take time to WRITE! Join master writing instructor Lara Wilson for this series of monthly Mindful Writing Workshops! Engage in craft conversations, experiment with writing exercises and learn techniques that engage your creative flow state. Awaken natural narrative skills as you get that story on the page and polish your prose. All levels welcome!  $22 each.

Sunday, January 10 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Authenticity in Action

Sun., February 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Compelling Characters

Sun., March 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Clarity and Courage

Sun., April 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Details, Details

Sun., May 2 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Dialogue that Matters

Sun., June 6 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Plot and Pacing

Sun., July 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Place and Scene

Sun., August 1 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Secrets and Lies

Sun., September 12 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Structure

Sun., October 3 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Themes and Meaning

Sun., November 7 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Unpredictability

Sun., December 5 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Voice

Take time to WRITE! Join master writing instructor Lara Wilson for this series of monthly Mindful Writing Workshops! Engage in craft conversations, experiment with writing exercises and learn techniques that engage your creative flow state. Awaken natural narrative skills as you get that story on the page and polish your prose. All levels welcome!  $22 each or $242 for the year.

Sunday, January 10 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Authenticity in Action

Sun., February 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Compelling Characters

Sun., March 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Clarity and Courage

Sun., April 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Details, Details

Sun., May 2 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Dialogue that Matters

Sun., June 6 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Plot and Pacing

Sun., July 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Place and Scene

Sun., August 1 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Secrets and Lies

Sun., September 12 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Structure

Sun., October 3 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Themes and Meaning

Sun., November 7 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Unpredictability

Sun., December 5 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Voice

SOLD OUT! Be Well Be Here offers a 10-month Master Fiction Workshop to a small group of dedicated writers looking for thoughtful feedback, sophisticated literary exploration, and a supportive group of fellow scribes. Led by Be Well Be Here founder Lara Wilson, MA, the workshop will include aspects mindful encouragement that enhance your work and creative process. Prospective participants must have workshop experience and a complete work-in-progress to apply.

This unique program is intentionally kept small to afford a high level of personal attention without having to read an overwhelming amount of manuscript pages each month. In 2021, BWBH’s Master Writing Workshop will meet January - October 20 on the last Sunday of the month at 4:00 - 6:00 pm.

$660 for the 10-month workshop. The workshop is currently full.

Join celebrated YA author, Margo Rabb, after her Concord Free Public Library book event for a virtual writing workshop designed especially for teens. Learn techniques to start a journal writing practice and discover how journaling can help all your writing - from fiction to essays - and even have fun in the process! This workshop will be especially helpful for high school students hoping to enter their work in the new CCHS Concord Young Writers Award contest as part of the Concord Festival of Authors.

Tuesday, June 8 at 8:30 - 9:30 pm 

FREE to and open to all high school students. Register to receive your Zoom link!

Margo Rabb is the author of the novels Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize, Kissing in America, and Cures for Heartbreak. Kissing in America was named a best book of the year by the New York Public Library, the Chicago Public Library, and the American Library Association, and was named to the Amelia Bloomer Project’s List of Recommended Feminist Literature. Her essays, journalism, book reviews, and short stories have been published in The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, The Atlantic, Slate, Salon, Marie Claire, The Rumpus, Zoetrope: All-Story, Seventeen, Best New American Voices, New Stories from the South, One Story, and elsewhere, and have been broadcast on NPR. She received the grand prize in the Zoetrope short story contest, first prize in The Atlantic fiction contest, first prize in the American Fiction contest, and a PEN Syndicated Fiction Project Award. Margo grew up in Queens, New York, and now lives in the Philadelphia area with her family. Visit her online at www.margorabb.com.

Take time to WRITE! Join master writing instructor Lara Wilson for this series of monthly Mindful Writing Workshops! Engage in craft conversations, experiment with writing exercises and learn techniques that engage your creative flow state. Awaken natural narrative skills as you get that story on the page and polish your prose. All levels welcome! Register to receive your Zoom link. $22 each or $242 for the year.

Sunday, January 10 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Authenticity in Action

Sun., February 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Compelling Characters

Sun., March 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Clarity and Courage

Sun., April 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Details, Details

Sun., May 2 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Dialogue that Matters

Sun., June 6 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Plot and Pacing

Sun., July 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Place and Scene

Sun., August 1 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Secrets and Lies

Sun., September 12 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Structure

Sun., October 3 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Themes and Meaning

Sun., November 7 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Unpredictability

Sun., December 5 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Voice

Take time to WRITE! Join master writing instructor Lara Wilson for this series of monthly Mindful Writing Workshops! Engage in craft conversations, experiment with writing exercises and learn techniques that engage your creative flow state. Awaken natural narrative skills as you get that story on the page and polish your prose. All levels welcome!  $22 each or $242 for the year.

Sunday, January 10 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Authenticity in Action

Sun., February 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Compelling Characters

Sun., March 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Clarity and Courage

Sun., April 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Details, Details

Sun., May 2 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Dialogue that Matters

Sun., June 6 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Plot and Pacing

Sun., July 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Place and Scene

Sun., August 1 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Secrets and Lies

Sun., September 12 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Structure

Sun., October 3 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Themes and Meaning

Sun., November 7 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Unpredictability

Sun., December 5 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Voice

Join Be Well Be Here as we honor Earth and our place on it! This meaningful 3-part series celebrates earth’s beauty through mindful wellBEing practices that explore our connection to nature. All offerings led by BWBH founder and executive director, Lara Wilson, MA, GCMS (scroll down for further details).

Earth Day Wonder - experience easy meditation for restful sleep
Thursday, April 22 at 8:30- 9:00 pm EST (30-minute meditation practice on Zoom)

Earth Day Walk - explore wooded paths where Thoreau once wandered
Friday, April 23 at 8:30 am EST (for as long as you like)

Earth Day Witness - engage in writing practices that honor life on earth
Saturday, April 24 at 8:30 - 9:30 am EST (1-hour writing workshop on Zoom)

$33 for any or all three programs - Proceeds will benefit EarthDay.org

Even if you can only attend one session, you’ll be signed up for all three. Your contribution will benefit global education and programming that sustains earth and its inhabitants.

CELEBRATE EARTH DAY WITH BE WELL BE HERE

Earth Day Wonder - Thursday, April 22 at 8:30 - 9 pm EST

Experience this simple 30-minute meditation for restful sleep. This relaxing, mindful practice will help you feel grounded to the earth, aware of your connection to nature and grateful for Being.

Earth Day Walk - Friday, April 23 at 8:30 am EST (for as long as you like)

Explore wooded paths of the peaceful Hapgood-Wright Town Forest in Concord, MA, where Thoreau walked from town to Walden Pond. Join us either virtually through Zoom livestream or in person. Meet at the trail head sign across from 500 Walden Street (the entrance to CCHS Driveway). Covid Note: your guide has been fully vaccinated and will wear a mask for the duration of this walk.

Earth Day Witness - Saturday, April 24 at 8:30 - 9:30 am EST

Experiment with writing exercises that heighten the observational mode, clarify our connection to nature and engage the flow state. Awaken new paths to storytelling and celebrate creativity on earth.

About Lara

Lara Wilson, MA, GMCS is a 35-year meditator, award-winning writer and teacher, who devotes her life to exploring the intersection of personal narrative and mindful well-being. After battling stage III breast cancer for 18 months, she founded the 501c3 non-profit Be Well Be Here, a mindful wellness educational collaborative in Concord, MA that offers trauma-informed wellness practices, inclusive community outreach and creative wellBeing retreats. Lara holds a master's degree in English and American literature from Harvard, a graduate certificate in Mindfulness Studies from Lesley University, and yoga RYT-200 and Reiki Level II certifications. She has been a featured presenter at annual conferences such as the Association of Writers & Writing Programs conference (AWP), the annual GrubStreet Muse and the Marketplace conference, the 2020 Gifted Women’s Summit, and Mind Body Medicine program co-sponsored by the Henry Benson Institute at MGH and Harvard Medical School. Currently, Lara serves on the board of the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library, where she curates the Mindfulness Programming and Authors’ Series. In January 2019, she was appointed curator of the Concord Festival of Authors. Read Lara’s essay on WBUR’s Cognoscenti

Join Be Well Be Here as we honor Earth and our place on it! This meaningful 3-part series celebrates earth’s beauty through mindful wellBEing practices that explore our connection to nature. All offerings led by BWBH founder and executive director, Lara Wilson, MA, GCMS (scroll down for further details).

Earth Day Wonder - experience easy meditation for restful sleep
Thursday, April 22 at 8:30- 9:00 pm EST (30-minute meditation practice on Zoom)

Earth Day Walk - explore wooded paths where Thoreau once wandered
Friday, April 23 at 8:30 am EST (for as long as you like)

Earth Day Witness - engage in writing practices that honor life on earth
Saturday, April 24 at 8:30 - 9:30 am EST (1-hour writing workshop on Zoom)

$33 for any or all three programs - Proceeds will benefit EarthDay.org

Even if you can only attend one session, you’ll be signed up for all three. Your contribution will benefit global education and programming that sustains earth and its inhabitants.

CELEBRATE EARTH DAY WITH BE WELL BE HERE

Earth Day Wonder - Thursday, April 22 at 8:30 - 9 pm EST

Experience this simple 30-minute meditation for restful sleep. This relaxing, mindful practice will help you feel grounded to the earth, aware of your connection to nature and grateful for Being.

Earth Day Walk - Friday, April 23 at 8:30 am EST (for as long as you like)

Explore wooded paths of the peaceful Hapgood-Wright Town Forest in Concord, MA, where Thoreau walked from town to Walden Pond. Join us either virtually through Zoom livestream or in person. Meet at the trail head sign across from 500 Walden Street (the entrance to CCHS Driveway). Covid Note: your guide has been fully vaccinated and will wear a mask for the duration of this walk.

Earth Day Witness - Saturday, April 24 at 8:30 - 9:30 am EST

Experiment with writing exercises that heighten the observational mode, clarify our connection to nature and engage the flow state. Awaken new paths to storytelling and celebrate creativity on earth.

About Lara

Lara Wilson, MA, GMCS is a 35-year meditator, award-winning writer and teacher, who devotes her life to exploring the intersection of personal narrative and mindful well-being. After battling stage III breast cancer for 18 months, she founded the 501c3 non-profit Be Well Be Here, a mindful wellness educational collaborative in Concord, MA that offers trauma-informed wellness practices, inclusive community outreach and creative wellBeing retreats. Lara holds a master's degree in English and American literature from Harvard, a graduate certificate in Mindfulness Studies from Lesley University, and yoga RYT-200 and Reiki Level II certifications. She has been a featured presenter at annual conferences such as the Association of Writers & Writing Programs conference (AWP), the annual GrubStreet Muse and the Marketplace conference, the 2020 Gifted Women’s Summit, and Mind Body Medicine program co-sponsored by the Henry Benson Institute at MGH and Harvard Medical School. Currently, Lara serves on the board of the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library, where she curates the Mindfulness Programming and Authors’ Series. In January 2019, she was appointed curator of the Concord Festival of Authors. Read Lara’s essay on WBUR’s Cognoscenti

Join Be Well Be Here as we honor Earth and our place on it! This meaningful 3-part series celebrates earth’s beauty through mindful wellBEing practices that explore our connection to nature. All offerings led by BWBH founder and executive director, Lara Wilson, MA, GCMS (scroll down for further details).

Earth Day Wonder - experience easy meditation for restful sleep
Thursday, April 22 at 8:30- 9:00 pm EST (30-minute meditation practice on Zoom)

Earth Day Walk - explore wooded paths where Thoreau once wandered
Friday, April 23 at 8:30 am EST (for as long as you like)

Earth Day Witness - engage in writing practices that honor life on earth
Saturday, April 24 at 8:30 - 9:30 am EST (1-hour writing workshop on Zoom)

$33 for any or all three programs - Proceeds will benefit EarthDay.org

Even if you can only attend one session, you’ll be signed up for all three. Your contribution will benefit global education and programming that sustains earth and its inhabitants.

CELEBRATE EARTH DAY WITH BE WELL BE HERE

Earth Day Wonder - Thursday, April 22 at 8:30 - 9 pm EST

Experience this simple 30-minute meditation for restful sleep. This relaxing, mindful practice will help you feel grounded to the earth, aware of your connection to nature and grateful for Being.

Earth Day Walk - Friday, April 23 at 8:30 am EST (for as long as you like)

Explore wooded paths of the peaceful Hapgood-Wright Town Forest in Concord, MA, where Thoreau walked from town to Walden Pond. Join us either virtually through Zoom livestream or in person. Meet at the trail head sign across from 500 Walden Street (the entrance to CCHS Driveway). Covid Note: your guide has been fully vaccinated and will wear a mask for the duration of this walk.

Earth Day Witness - Saturday, April 24 at 8:30 - 9:30 am EST

Experiment with writing exercises that heighten the observational mode, clarify our connection to nature and engage the flow state. Awaken new paths to storytelling and celebrate creativity on earth.

About Lara

Lara Wilson, MA, GMCS is a 35-year meditator, award-winning writer and teacher, who devotes her life to exploring the intersection of personal narrative and mindful well-being. After battling stage III breast cancer for 18 months, she founded the 501c3 non-profit Be Well Be Here, a mindful wellness educational collaborative in Concord, MA that offers trauma-informed wellness practices, inclusive community outreach and creative wellBeing retreats. Lara holds a master's degree in English and American literature from Harvard, a graduate certificate in Mindfulness Studies from Lesley University, and yoga RYT-200 and Reiki Level II certifications. She has been a featured presenter at annual conferences such as the Association of Writers & Writing Programs conference (AWP), the annual GrubStreet Muse and the Marketplace conference, the 2020 Gifted Women’s Summit, and Mind Body Medicine program co-sponsored by the Henry Benson Institute at MGH and Harvard Medical School. Currently, Lara serves on the board of the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library, where she curates the Mindfulness Programming and Authors’ Series. In January 2019, she was appointed curator of the Concord Festival of Authors. Read Lara’s essay on WBUR’s Cognoscenti.

SOLD OUT! Be Well Be Here offers a 10-month Master Fiction Workshop to a small group of dedicated writers looking for thoughtful feedback, sophisticated literary exploration, and a supportive group of fellow scribes. Led by Be Well Be Here founder Lara Wilson, MA, the workshop will include aspects mindful encouragement that enhance your work and creative process. Prospective participants must have workshop experience and a complete work-in-progress to apply.

This unique program is intentionally kept small to afford a high level of personal attention without having to read an overwhelming amount of manuscript pages each month. In 2021, BWBH’s Master Writing Workshop will meet January - October 20 on the last Sunday of the month at 4:00 - 6:00 pm.

$660 for the 10-month workshop. The workshop is currently full.

Take time to WRITE! Join master writing instructor Lara Wilson for this series of monthly Mindful Writing Workshops! Engage in craft conversations, experiment with writing exercises and learn techniques that engage your creative flow state. Awaken natural narrative skills as you get that story on the page and polish your prose. Register to receive your Zoom link. All levels welcome!  $22 each.

Sunday, January 10 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Authenticity in Action

Sun., February 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Compelling Characters

Sun., March 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Clarity and Courage

Sun., April 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Details, Details

Sun., May 2 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Dialogue that Matters

Sun., June 6 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Plot and Pacing

Sun., July 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Place and Scene

Sun., August 1 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Secrets and Lies

Sun., September 12 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Structure

Sun., October 3 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Themes and Meaning

Sun., November 7 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Unpredictability

Sun., December 5 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Voice

SOLD OUT! Be Well Be Here offers a 10-month Master Fiction Workshop to a small group of dedicated writers looking for thoughtful feedback, sophisticated literary exploration, and a supportive group of fellow scribes. Led by Be Well Be Here founder Lara Wilson, MA, the workshop will include aspects mindful encouragement that enhance your work and creative process. Prospective participants must have workshop experience and a complete work-in-progress to apply.

This unique program is intentionally kept small to afford a high level of personal attention without having to read an overwhelming amount of manuscript pages each month. In 2021, BWBH’s Master Writing Workshop will meet January - October 20 on the last Sunday of the month at 4:00 - 6:00 pm.

$660 for the 10-month workshop. The workshop is currently full.

It’s a New Year to WRITE! Join master writing instructor Lara Wilson for this series of monthly Mindful Writing Workshops! Engage in craft conversations, experiment with writing exercises and learn techniques that engage your creative flow state. Awaken natural narrative skills as you get that story on the page and polish your prose. All levels welcome!  $22 per session.

Sun., March 7 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Clarity and Courage

Sun., April 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Details, Details

Sun., May 2 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Dialogue that Matters

Sun., June 6 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Plot and Pacing

Sun., July 11 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Place and Scene

Sun., August 1 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Secrets and Lies

Sun., September 12 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm Structure

Sun., October 3 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Themes and Meaning

Sun., November 7 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Unpredictability

Sun., December 5 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm Voice

Be Well Be Here offers a 10-month Master Fiction Workshop to a small group of dedicated writers looking for thoughtful feedback, sophisticated literary exploration, and a supportive group of fellow scribes. Led by Be Well Be Here founder Lara Wilson, MA, the workshop will include aspects mindful encouragement that enhance your work and creative process. Prospective participants must have workshop experience and a complete work-in-progress to apply.

This unique program is intentionally kept small to afford a high level of personal attention without having to read an overwhelming amount of manuscript pages each month. In 2021, BWBH’s Master Writing Workshop will meet January - October 20 on the last Sunday of the month at 4:00 - 6:00 pm.

$660 for the 10-month workshop. The workshop is currently full.