Class

Stand by Your Plan: Practices for Sticking with Manuscripts

One of the easiest things to do as a writer is to convince yourself you should give up on a long project that seems to be going nowhere—no new ideas, no new insights into why the middle is so dull or the dialogue falls flat or the arrangement of the pieces feels disjointed. It’s easy to believe that things aren’t working. It's easy to believe the ideas are all wrong or you need to transmogrify into another person — another writer who could write a more interesting book, and who would never get stuck — before you can finish your unwieldy manuscript.

How do you stay yourself and still finish the work? Kelly Foster Lundquist knows those feelings firsthand. Her debut book, Beard: A Memoir of a Marriage, which took her more than 20 years to write, was published in 2025 when she was 48 years old.

In this class, Lundquist will share some gentle practices that will help writers have compassion for themselves, as well as practical writing strategies to help keep the faith with book-length projects (or any projects, for that matter). Writers in this class will have time to connect with each other and reflect on their process.

All classes listed on the Loft website take place in Central Time.

Instructions for Accessing This Online Class

In order to access live class meetings, you must have the Zoom application downloaded to your computer. You will also need a WiFi/Internet connection throughout the duration of your scheduled meeting and a computer with audio and video capability. The information to join your Zoom classroom will be provided in your confirmation email upon registration. Please check spam folders if you do not see this email upon registration. For more information on how to use Zoom, please see our training manual here.

Some classes use a supplemental Google Classroom page. Should your teaching artist use Google Classroom, you will be invited to join the classroom via email at least 24 hours in advance of your class (check spam folders if you are not seeing this invitation). Please note that Google Classroom requires a Gmail address to access the Classroom. If you do not have a Gmail account, the email invitation will be sent to the email address we have on file and will prompt you to create a free account or enter an existing account to join the classroom. If we are unable to send an email invitation to your non-gmail account, you will be contacted by a staff member to provide a Gmail address. If you do not have a Gmail account, you can create a free account here. Should you have concerns about this, please contact a Loft staff member at [email protected] or 612-379-8999. For more information on how to use Google Classroom, please see our training manual here.