Reclaim your writing practice and feed your creative fire.
Give yourself permission to go wild on the page.
Do you yearn to write, but hesitate to get your words down? Maybe you’re just stepping out on your creative writing journey, or you’ve run out of steam. You’re not alone. Self-doubt, fear, isolation, or overwhelm can hamper one’s desire to pick up the pen. Sometimes we simply don’t know where to begin (again).
Just start with a few words, a few paragraphs, a few pages. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
Quit pushing those writerly dreams to the sidelines. Let your bursting heart write whatever it wants.
Writing is vulnerable work. Sharing our writing requires courage. Together, let’s tamp down the inner critic and tap into creative wisdom. Rediscover pleasure in the writing process and watch your writing take on a life of its own!
Searching for a nurturing writing community or mentoring support? You’re in the right place.
Here’s what many writers seek:
a creative push to keep my writing going
to write my story for my own benefit
documenting observations & impressions
more writing practice & reflection
trying other styles — something new & different
re-engaging with imagination, focus, & depth
inspiration for memoir/fiction/poetry I'm working on
a non-competitive environment in which to experiment
Experience the power of self-expression while discovering your voice and developing your craft.
Let Pencil & Pen be your word incubator. Join a writing workshop with provocative prompts and positive input, or get personalized feedback on writing-in-progress.
Whether you’re finding your way back to writing after a pause, or looking to recharge your imaginative instincts, I can help you reconnect with artistic inspiration. My creative writing workshops — inclusive of all writing genres, styles, voices, and experience — help writers to establish a regular practice, develop confidence, and gain the momentum to continue.
Using the Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) method as our foundation, we focus on generative, process-oriented writing without the pressure to produce, polish, or publish. You’ll find an encouraging environment that participants call “powerful, affirming, and resonant.”
Ready to get started?
Pencil & Pen offers several options for beginning, emerging, and experienced writers. You don't even need to consider yourself a writer to sign up.
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Writing Workshops
Revitalize the artist within — experimentation encouraged!
Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) workshops use prompts to spark memory, imagination, or observation, with positive group feedback to support our creative practice.
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Manuscript Review
Receive individualized feedback with edits on short works in progress.
AWA-style manuscript reviews include written comments — affirming the strengths in the writing and offering questions or suggestions to consider for revision.
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Office Hours
Discuss the direction of your writing in a phone or Zoom session.
Consultations let you ask questions or share ideas and challenges about the writing process, writing craft, or writing life (including publication), with shared information and resources.
Meet your writing facilitator.
I’m Nicole R. Zimmerman (she/her), a creative guide.
I kept journals and wrote letters for years, but it took eons for me to claim myself as a “writer.” Maybe you can relate. Now I hold an MFA in Writing, with numerous pieces published. As an Amherst Writers & Artists affiliate, I’m certified to lead writing groups using the AWA method. You’ll be welcomed into a “brave space” where you’re free to experiment and grow.
So what’s it like to work with me? Affirming. Validating. Encouraging.
But don’t just take my word for it. See what other writers have to say!
About Pencil & Pen
My business name reflects the basic tools a writer needs.
Pencil & Pen speaks to the physicality of writing and its revisionary stages — from those first pencil strokes to committing ideas to paper with a pen. Pencil & Pen meets you wherever you are in the writing process, with a mutually supportive writing community and mentoring support.