WRITING, COACHING, CRITIQUE, and COMMUNITY
Join Mary Robinette Kowal for a transformative three-month writing experience, designed to help you learn the craft of short stories while also generating new work. You will join a cohort of six writers through an audition process and journey with them, gaining accountability, support, and camaraderie. Each month, you and your peers will have a critique session with MRK as you work to write three short stories and polish them for submission to markets.
This program is a small group experience, and admission is granted through an application process.
For 2025 Mary Robinette will be offering 3 cohorts that will last for three months that will be through applications and paying attendees. She will also be offering a scholarship cohort for people with disabilities that will be starting in July and offers a slower pace over a longer time period. There is a separate application for this cohort.
(Click here for details about July’s scholarship cohort)
Upcoming Cohort Dates*
January 29th 2025 – April 30th 2025: Wednesdays from 12pm to 2pm Mountain time
June 2025 – August 2025: Wednesdays from 3pm to 5pm Mountain time (Applications Open)
July 2025 – December 2025: Scholarship Cohort – on Tuesdays from 3pm to 5pm Mountain time (Applications Open)
October 2025 – December 2025: Dates & Times not yet determined
*applications currently open for the June -August 2025 cohort
Next Cohort: What to Expect
On June 4th: you will meet the rest of your cohort and take Mary Robinette’s Short Stories Explained. This is an all-day intensive class focused on how short stories work.
Each month, on Sundays from 9:00am – 11:00am Mountain: Make Me Write. During these sessions, you’ll be given a prompt and ninety-minutes to write the first draft of a short story. Some weeks, you will focus on practicing specific skills like dialogue or setting. Mary Robinette will be writing a story from the same prompt and will share her process after the session with you.
Wednesday, June 11th from 1pm – 3pm Mountain Time then every Wednesday, starting June 18th, 3pm – 5pm Mountain Time and ending with September 3rd, you will have a two hour session that will either be a Critique, Revision, Unlocking, or Social time. The Critique sessions are mandatory attendance and the others are highly recommended if you want to get the full experience of the cohort but we understand that on occasion you may have other urgent life things that will make it difficult to attend every Tuesday.
You will pick one of the stories you write each month to develop into a story between 2000-4000 words long and bring to the critique group. Mary Robinette will also be putting stories into the group. So be aware that you are committing to read and critique six stories each month.
Based on feedback, you’ll polish the short story and can ask Mary Robinette follow-up questions about it. The goal by the end of the three months is for you to have three stories ready for submission.
What’s Included?
- MRK’s Short Stories Explained, which is an all-day intensive designed to teach you how to find a short story from any idea.
- Monthly live video critique sessions with MRK and six fellow writers on your short stories.
- Weekly sessions to come together to work on revision, brainstorm story problems, and talk about story elements.
- Monthly writing goal setting to provide accountability for your writing.
- Intimate group of up to 6 total writers; you will be expected to provide critique for your fellow writers each month.
- Weekly two-hour Make Me Write live video session with a short story prompt, during which everyone will write for 90 minutes, then come back together for 30 minutes of show-your-work time where MRK or our guest writer will guide you through their writing process. (Typically at 11:00 AM Eastern on Sundays.)
- MRK’s library of pre-recorded classes on writing craft and career (70 hours of materials and always growing).
- Discord Access to the Lady Astronaut Club, the kindest corner of the internet, and a wonderful community of readers and writers. You’ll have your own private channel within the LAC.
- Monthly large-group Q&A session for any questions you have about your writing journey.
- Monthly live-streamed writing class on craft and career. (Typically at 8:00 PM Eastern on the last Monday of the month.)
Application
The cost of this intimate writing coaching group is $550/month for three months. It is by application only. After the members have been accepted we will ask you to sign up for the Short Story Cohort tier on Patreon (we will tell you the timing of this so you don’t overlap with the current cohort). At the end of the cohort you will be guided through how to leave the tier.
Applications are due on May 9th, by 11:59 pm PST.
Click here to go to the application form.
Schedule
You will be expected to attend the June 4th Intensive, weekly on Wednesdays, and Make Me Write sessions during the three month period. The Make Me Write sessions are to teach you to build time in your schedule for writing, but we can make accommodations for things like vacations, etc.
There will be three critique times during our weekly meeting and the other sessions will either be a chance to co-work for writing or revisions, an unlocking/brainstorming session, or a social time.
If you miss a Make Me Write or Cohort non-critique session Mary Robinette will ask you to give her a timeblock you have carved out at another time in the week to make up the writing or revision time.
The other benefits (Classes, Q&As, etc. are optional attendance).
Please note, schedules can be subject to change due to travel or emergencies; we will give as much advanced warning as possible
FAQ
By May 9th, 11:59 PST.
Yes, the plan for 2025 is to have 3 cohorts that will last 3 months each and one scholarship cohort that will run July through December
My goal is to let people know by mid-May
Not for this one because I’ll be doing a cohort that is entirely scholarship students that is from July to December in 2025.
This course is designed around building up a cohort of individuals along a shared identity axis such that the folks in the group have a community of peers that understand their specific challenges. In the past, I’ve done this with people of color who also had a marginalized gender or sexuality. This scholarship cohort will focus specifically on disabled people. If you identify as disabled, this group is likely to be a good fit for you.
Yes, I am planning to host Short Story Cohorts again next year though my plan is to pick a time and day and have it be the same for the whole year.
Please email [email protected]. This goes to multiple people so the person who knows the answer will respond!