Hi writer, and welcome to Fledgling.

I’m Sammi. While everyone can (and in my opinion should) write creatively there are a myriad of obstacles that get in our way—both things that are a bother (our thankless day job, our fear of rejection, our social media and news feeds) and things that we love (our precious but interrupting children, our desire to sleep, even our friends).

Fledgling is a generative writing community that aims to combat the obstacles that inhibit us from beginning a writing practice or beginning again—which for many writers, may be necessary on a daily basis. Whether through a workshop, one to one coaching, or the online community we’ve built here—we write!

Here you’ll find prompts, words of inspiration, craft tools, and opportunities to write with other folks with a story on their hearts or a poem growing in them just like you.

I have led nearly 5,000 writers to the page through this newsletter, the generative workshops Fledgling has hosted since 2016, and my craft book WORDS IN PROGRESS, the creative writers guided journal. Now, I want to write with you.

Why pay to subscribe?

An annual paid subscription costs a fraction of the price of a writing workshop that might last only a couple of months.

With a paid subscription to this newsletter I hope to offer more than what words alone can a build: a community to belong to.

I want you in that community. In 2025, the paid subscription will include:

Lunch Break - our beloved weekly writing hour, Tuesdays at noon EST over Zoom

Writing Meditations - monthly 15 minute guided writing videos (free example and intro video here!)

Friends of Fledgling Podcast - monthly interviews with industry professionals

Diaries - occasional mini-essays on the more personal aspects of my writing life

Also, annual subscribers get $50 off all workshops, just like past Fledglings.

Schedule for Fledgling Writers Nest -- July & August 2025

The Fledgling Nest will take a two month break this summer. Stay tuned for more in September.

Fledgling has been committed to accessibility and affordability from the beginning, and I love that this platform allows me to provide more for less. I dream that this Substack will become the Fledgling Nest—a safe space and creative community to return to and get some writing done.

Thank you for considering joining the flock.

Happy writing,

Sammi