So, you want to be a writer?
SUBMERGENCE
A Memoirist’s Chamber
Nuanced individual writing support for neurodivergent and highly sensitive people.
You’re ready to hone your craft, put more words on the page, and be confident in your voice as a writer.
It’s hard to know where you are with your own writing. It’s hard to evaluate; it’s hard to know if it’s any good; it’s hard to know where to go next. It takes a lot of practice, patience, and tools to be able to hit send on that newsletter, polish and publish poems, or do the day-in-day-out work of writing a book.
By combining accountability and coaching, Ash can help you finish your writing projects, feel confident in your voice, and build a thriving writing practice.
Submergence:
A Memoirist’s Chamber
Continuous individual monthly support
for neurodivergent and highly sensitive writers.
PLUNGE
INTRODUCTORY SESSION: $155
Tier 1
Waves
Biweekly Sessions
Monthly Seacove Write Ins
Email Support
off-call writing feedback
Accountability Blocks
$290/month
Tier 2
Tides
Weekly Sessions
Monthly Seacove Write Ins
Email Support
off-call writing feedback
Accountability Blocks
$570/month
Tier 3
Seas
Biweekly Sessions
Monthly Seacove Write Ins
Email Support
30 Feedback Pages
4 Accountability Blocks
$1,440/month
FAQs
-
Great question. The short answer is no, but there is so much more to understand about the world of editing.
There are “line” or “copy” editors (think grammar, punctuation, sentence order, repetition, style, etc.) and developmental editors that help you close the plot threads and complete the story (think plot, story structure, arc, character, etc.).
I do a lot of “developmental editing” with my clients, but we also do so much more than that. As for the line edits, I leave most of that to my perfectionist colleagues. (Perfectionism isn’t always a bad thing. Trust me.)
-
Sure!
Coaching Sessions: One-hour individual coaching sessions with Ash to move your writing forward and take your craft to the next level. These sessions are tailored to the individual and follow trauma-informed and neuroscience-backed processes that help you finish your book without burning out.
Monthly Seacove Write-Ins: Silent cowriting hours with any current Submergence writers. We begin with a quick check-in and prompt, then write silently for an hour together.
Quarterly Seaweed Summons Workshops: Once a season, Ash teaches a workshop on a topic that will help the current Submergence writers move forward. Past workshops include Rewriting for Healing and The Craft of Characters.
Email Support: Ash is available to support you via email Monday - Friday. You can reach out to her when you need a pep talk, are working through a particularly difficult scene, or need to move through writer’s block.
Submitted Pages for Feedback: Each month, you can submit up to 30 pages to Ash for workshopping, critiquing, feedback, and light edits.
Accountability Blocks: These change the productivity of so many clients. One-on-one accountability blocks with Ash are for moving your writing forward by creating a container for your best writing to happen. The first 5-7 minutes are for discussion or working through any blocks in your writing, setting intentions, etc. The rest of the time is silent writing. At the end of the call, Ash supports you in understanding your process a little deeper.
-
Yes! Email Ash (ash@storybreathschool.com) to set it up!
-
I get this question a lot.
Depending on the project, I work with all kinds of writers. I believe in a multidisciplinary approach to writing as a way to resource oneself and develop a sustainable ecosystem of skills. Mostly, I work with memoirists, but I’ve been known to work on a fiction novel, email newsletter project, or poetry chapbook from time to time.
-
You are welcome to book a free 15 minute consultation so that we can chat before you decide whether or not this is the right investment for you. And, if you’d like to experience the process in action, I encourage you to book a Plunge Introductory Session. That 60 minute deep dive into your writing will help you understand if this is the kind of ongoing support that you want.
-
It depends on the level of support you want.
Waves Writers receive two coaching calls per month & email support. ($290 per month)
Tides Writers receive four coaching calls per month & email support. ($570 per month)
Seas Writers receive four coaching calls per month, four accountability calls per month, email support, and can submit up to 30 pages to Ash for feedback and critique. ($1,440 per month)
All Submergence Writers receive access to monthly Seacove Write-Ins and Quarterly Seaweed Summons Workshops.
-
No.
This is an individual coaching program that offers a handful of optional group events per quarter. Think of these group offerings as optional opportunities to congregate with other writers while you silently cowrite in the Submergence Seacove or learn a new craft skill at a Seaweed Summons Workshop.
The main function of the Submergence membership is for you to receive one-on-one, individual support from Ash on an ongoing basis.
-
We can start next week!
When you make your first membership payment, you’ll receive an email with a booking code for the sessions you’ve paid for. You schedule those sessions for times that work on my online calendar, and that’s it! We’ve begun.
-
If you’re a writer with neurodivergence, chronic illness, or high sensitivity, you’ll find my coaching process aligned with what you need regarding support, encouragement, and teaching. I use a trauma-informed and neuroscience-backed coaching process to help my writers move through writer’s block, creative dry spells, and structural problems.
Suppose you’re a writer who wants to break the rules of what your book could look like (perhaps you have a poetry textile project or want to infuse your traditional memoir structure with flash fiction pieces) or are a blogger who needs a different kind of accountability or a fresh perspective. In that case, I can help you.
I have a lot of experience working with a wide variety of writers across many disciplines. I believe in a multidisciplinary approach to writing, especially for neurodivergent folks.
Do you have a different question? I’m not unavailable and mysterious. You can book a chat and get your questions answered here.
DO YOU:
need help with motivation and inspiration?
feel overwhelmed with too many big ideas?
crave a gentle, soul-deep space to follow your creative process and hear your inner intuitive voice?
It doesn’t work to try to fit neurodivergent brains into neurotypical boxes or to tell highly sensitive people to “just get over it,” yet that is what often happens.
Ash offers something different than what academia and traditional writing coaches provide—a neuroscience-backed program for neurodivergent and highly sensitive people. She works with writers who want to build a writing habit that feels more like practice than discipline—even during rewrites. If you long to write from your soul and grow into your mythopoetic identity, then dive in with Submergence.
MEET ASH WYLDER
Ash Wylder is a published author who integrates the cross sections of a deep passion for neuroscience, skill development, and mind-body connection into all of her coursework and uses her history working with team leaders and CEOs to help neurodivergent and highly sensitive writers build creative writing processes that work. She is a life-long lover of language with a run-amok imagination and believes that the art of writing something reader-ready should be a curious and joyful experience. No matter where your blocks come up, she can teach you how to demystify and move beyond them in trauma-sensitive and neuroscience-backed ways.
SUBMERGENCE is for highly sensitive people ready to take their writing to the next level.
If you’re close to burnout and are overwhelmed with your personal essay or memoir project, then it’s time to demystify your problems, reset your nervous system, and move forward with strategic action and a plan that works with your nervous system.
THE NEUROSCIENCE OF INSPIRATION
When we think about creativity, storytelling, writing, and communication, we assume it all lives in our heads, but science shows that connection is a connected experience. As creatives, we know the power of intuition and emotion. As writers, we also see the power of structure and science in intentionally scaffolding connections between language and people. Neuroscience shows which habits move the needle most when merging opposing forces that birth excellent writing (like spontaneity and consistency). This approach is holistic and involves working with the natural cycles of the nervous system.
Testimonials
“Deeply intuitive and caring, heart-centric, wise. Someone who understands how to transmute pain/broken-ness into precious resources for creative expression and strength.”
-Aaron Shori
“I’ve been in awe of Ash’s storytelling for a while now. She always blows me away at the Gorge Speakeasy! When the opportunity came up to do her story workshop, I jumped at it. Thanks to her skills, humor, and easygoing demeanor, she made the experience fun and easy to open up and get creative. She has a real knack for developing stories and building structure, and is incredibly useful in helping you find and tell your own story. Would highly recommend!”
-Jeni Stembridge
“Ash is an unstoppable coach. She is doing the right thing before you want it to happen. Like an expert surgeon, she will ask you contemplative questions yet soothe you with humor which helps you move forward. I love how she holds you accountable as you want and celebrates with you. I recommend working with her.”
-Madhura
You know that you are a writer.
The bone-deep desire to own this identity accompanies you everywhere.
Perhaps you’ve looked at MFA’s and know that yearly tuition averages $13,800 at public schools and $36,300 at private universities.
Maybe the idea of spending weekly hours in a classroom moving through curriculum that isn’t tailored to your needs feels like a waste of time.
If you’ve been stuck for a long time, you know that a five-day writing retreat in Italy won’t help you finish your book. You know that the thing that will change your project is consistent attention to it with the support of someone you trust with your creative process.
There is a better way.
For one-third of an MFA, receive critique, tools, and instruction on writing that matters.
Inexperienced coaches or over-eager cheerleaders are not the people to trust with this soul-deep creation process. You want someone in your corner with years of experience helping people reach their potential. If your dream is to be a writer (paid or not), then you already are a writer–we just need to help you reach the next level on your journey.
IF YOU:
are ready to bridge the gap between your privately creative identity and your outward persona
desire a coach who’s trained in the neuroscience behind habit development and tailors each session to meet your specific needs
agree with this statement: “All people are different people.” Ted Lasso
want to finish your big, beautiful book
