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) of all genres. 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. Click on the website below for more information.