Foster presents: Season 3
The Artisan’s Way
The age of average writing is over.
The future belongs to artisans. A five-week journey for writers ready to break free from average. Together we will connect more deeply to ourselves and our craft, and ship the best writing of our lives.
The Artisan’s Way begins on May 30th, 2023 and costs $1,000
Select scholarships available
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Professional Editors
Foster’s collective of 100+ authors, editors, and experts will be with you every step of the way throughout the five weeks. During this time, each draft you post into Foster will receive professional editing
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1:1 Coaching
You’ll be personally matched with a coach to guide you through the experience. They will take you through a 60 min deep-dive call and be with you in DMs all along the way to uncover opportunities and get to the heart of your writing practice
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Expert-Led Workshops
Our team of dozens of the internet's top writers will participate in The Artisan’s Way alongside you, and lead workshops ranging from digging into what’s true for you to refining your story (See facilitators below)
“Working in psychedelic therapy, I’ve had my fair share of transformational and life-changing experiences…So, it’s surprising to people when I say that the most transformational event of my life was Foster Season 2.”
Azalea Montaño-Kemp
“Foster’s Season Two pushed me to be raw, vulnerable, and real with myself and my writing. The first two weeks…did more for my writing than any other writers’ program has before. It pushed me to confront the things that stood in the way of my most creative self.”
Yashmi Adani
“[Season 2] allowed me to heal, to feel and to authentically express myself in a way I'd never done before. My writing became better, more vulnerable and more prolific. Foster was part-therapy, part writing school.”
Tobi Ogunnaike
“Awakening. That word defines Season 2 and my ongoing reflections about it. I feel revived, full of life and vigor and wonder. The world remains the same, but my world appears renewed in my eyes – a prism I can tilt this way and that, revealing a new panoply of dazzling colors in every moment. I feel full and big and filled with promise. I no longer feel small, as if I have to hide myself or my gifts.”
Russell Smith
The Artisan’s Way is for…
Writers who are tired of how the current status quo has made them feel like a content factory with their words on the assembly line. The creator economy has incentivized them to produce consistent mediocrity that feeds the machinery of algorithms, follower counts, and subscriptions.
The proliferation of AI tools such as ChatGPT make creating basic written content easier than ever. As the media world gets noisier and more mediocre, the writers who will win—both economically and culturally—will increasingly be the true artisans. At Foster, we believe that focusing on substance, craft, and voice is the only way to matter in the future, whereas following today's “best practices” will lead to irrelevance.
The era of writing like a machine is coming to an end. The era of being maximally human—and honing your craft—is upon us.
The Modules
Week 1
Uncovering Our Specific Experiences and Stories
The Artisan’s Way begins with the belief that our best writing is born out of our specific experiences and stories.
We create something that matters to others by first digging into ourselves to uncover something real and resonant. Week 1 is about starting with the domain or topic we deeply care about and uncovering insights that we will draft and shape into a written piece in the weeks ahead.
Through an opening ceremony, workshops, small groups, and coworking sessions, we will be supported as we explore our stories and break through any barriers that keep us from fully expressing ourselves.
Week 2
Experimenting and Playing with Our Writing
As we begin to understand the stories and experiences we want to tell, facing the blank page of a first draft can be daunting. We don’t know where to begin, and we resort to frameworks and formulas for guidance. Usually, we end up taking ourselves too seriously and fall into the trap of perfectionism, wondering what’s the point or if we have anything meaningful to say.
Approaching our writing as play, not work, can keep us from the paralysis of writer’s block. This week is about seeing what happens when we dramatically lower the stakes and follow our intuition.
Through workshops and coworking sessions, we will be exposed to different styles of writing and diverse prompts to write from. Our goal is to stumble upon new and surprising ways of expressing our stories that can be used as raw material for our first draft.
Together we’ll put aside our inner critics and allow our inner childlike writers to emerge.
Week 3
Our First Draft
This is where we start to bring our writing to life. We will take the raw material from Week 2 and weave together a cohesive draft.
We will continue to set aside the editor and inner critic and focus on writing something that is real and specific and vulnerable. We will have coworking sessions and small groups throughout the week so we can set aside time together, and stay accountable to each other to finish our first drafts.
Week 4
Honing and Refining Our Work
A writer’s creative practice is how we show up each day to hone our skills and refine our work to be the best it can be. There’s always more to learn and develop because we deeply care about what we do. This week is about showing up together, practicing together, and developing our skills together.
Through workshops led by notable writers and editors, we will further our craft of storytelling and learn how to sculpt a story that is compelling and impactful. Together we will turn our first draft into a beautiful piece of art.
We’ll also learn how to use AI as a tool, and not a replacement for our writing. We are all quickly reckoning with what AI means for us as writers, but we believe the future belongs to artisans, not AI. It is this human work we are doing that can never be replaced by a computer that models the average and mediocre. AI could be a great thought partner and assistant, but never an artisan.
Week 5
Finishing and Publishing Together
The Artisan’s Way is about creating a world where we get to write and share our experiences in a way that creates connection and belonging. And through the use of different platforms and AI tools such as Midjourney, we have the ability to present our work in a way that Kazuo Ishiguro asks with his writing: “This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I’m saying? Does it feel this way to you?”
We get to invite people into our beautiful corner of the internet and see if they feel the same way we do.
This week we will put the finishing touches on our pieces and start to prepare them for the end of the season where we will hit publish together in a celebratory closing ceremony, and support each other in the distribution of our most authentic creative writing work.
Nick deWilde
Foster has been an amazing resource and a critical part of my editing flow. Thanks for all the great work, guys.
Irene
My big moment of truth, here I am sharing my journey of turning the pages of my messy middle. Immense gratitude for the AOMW season 2 @0xFoster ❤️🔥
Jess Sun
Season 2 of @0xFoster is now fin. Before, I didn't consider myself a writer or creative. Now, I'm writing a whole book. Read a little bit about that journey in this piece I just published as part of our closing ceremony.
Art Lapinsch
I can confidently say that I wouldn't be the writer that I am today without this amazing community. Yes, Foster is a workflow but more importantly it's a group of well-intentioned writers who help each other out. If you write online, join Foster and thank me later 🙌
Emilie Kormienko
The future of writing is collaborative and community-based. So so honored to be part of this amazing group of people working to make writing a social activity ✨
Anthony Pica
I'm super excited for this! I've been in the Foster writing community for some time now, and it's been such a rewarding experience. My writing has improved on multiple levels. If you have a story tell, and I know you do, this is a great opportunity!
Charlene Wang
I love the Foster community. The edits are awesome, but the people are what makes a real difference. They make you believe in yourself (and craft!) as you procrastinate and have second thoughts. When you pull the trigger to publish something at midnight - hoping no one will see it - you may get an instant response that shakes you up and makes you remember why you are writing in the first place. That's the magic of Foster!
Syd Connolly
well, @0xFoster season 2 just ended and i'm forever grateful for this beautiful writing community. it gave me the confidence to launch a substack 🙃 and publish my first piece, writing about the experience of growing away from the "corporate me" and toward my truth...
Rick Rollins
Thanks @lylemckeany and thanks @0xFoster! I absolutely loved AOMW! Can't wait to keep working with this awesome team of writers and builders
Derrick Chiu
Thank you so much to the @0xFoster team for creating such a transformative & profound experience w Szn 2. I feel like I can share the most vulnerable parts of my story & truth now. I’ve wanted to share this story for a few years but finally feel ready to:
Lisa Dawson
Foster is completely innovative and a blessing for anyone who writes (or needs to write better). I haven’t seen anything like this product in my writing career and I’ve completely embraced it. I love the community feel, the feedback, sound editing advice and the ease of use. This is really going to change writing for the better. Kudos to the Foster team!!
Danver
I joined @0xFoster #Season2 and something 🪄magical happened, and it's continuing to unfold... I started a 30-second weekly newsletter called EarthLight on @SubstackInc But, it feels like I'm finding my own rhythm. 💜Thank you Foster💜 #Grateful 💜 https://earthlight.substack.com
Adam Delehanty
Season 2 of @0xFoster was astounding. In awe of the community (and product) that @dan2hunt and team are building.
Lyle McKeany
One of the things I love about writing my newsletter is that I don't need anyone's permission to write what feels true to me But it took support from writers, editors, & mentors to get to that point Throughout @0xFoster's Season 2, I kept coming back to that word: permission
Alicia Kenworthy
Still on a high from the @0xFoster's Season 2 Closing Ceremony yesterday. Still grappling with the meaning of "truth" but one of many truths is: y'all are pretty great. I'm honored to be part of this little slice of the internet and meeting like-minded souls through prose.
Amanda Azadian
Permission to show up authentically wearing all the parts and pieces that weave each of us together is the 🧬 of beautiful design. The whole picture, the complexity in all of its layers That invitation reclaimed my writing 🙏 to @0xFoster Season 2. Permission is wild 🙌
Martin Boss
A while ago I took part in @0xFoster Season 2 and it's been one of the best courses, workshops - whatever you wanna call it - I've ever taken. It wasn't just about writing either, a lot more than that. It was about daring to be true to yourself. Lyle here summed it up nicely.
Sara Campbell
Just wrapped @0xFoster Season 2 and am truly blown away with immense gratitude for this experience. It is incredible what humans can do together when they show up in good faith for each other. Thanks to @dan2hunt @0xCaryn @andrewthomas for leading the charge. ♥️🙏♥️🙏
Tom White
Foster is the companion that every writer never knew they needed. Once you try it, there’s no going back!
Meet the Facilitators
Highly trained at storytelling sorcery, our collective of writers, editors, and experts are passionate about helping independent online writers. We’ve helped craft thousands of drafts, from vulnerable personal essays to short stories, viral Twitter threads, and more.
Applications for The Artisan’s way are now open
Frequently Asked Questions
The Artisan’s Way
by Foster