Finding Your Way Back to Joy with Jenny Tinghui Zhang—March 6

Most of us begin our writing journeys from a place of joy, whether it's the joy of storytelling, joy of connecting with others through writing, or joy of creating something for ourselves.

But the industry and business of writing is not the same as the creative practice of writing, and the former can often overshadow the latter, leaving us staring blankly at the page, joyless.

In this class, we'll navigate ourselves back to a place of joy in our writing and writing practices. Through class discussion, excerpts from essays and interviews with other writers and artists, and generative writing prompts, we will share and learn practical strategies for maintaining a sustainable, joyful writing practice that feels rejuvenating, rather than punitive. This class aims to center writers who may have fallen off from writing, who feel like writing isn't fun or joyful anymore, or who feel deflated by their project or by the business/industry of writing and publishing.

What you will learn

• Tools and resources to navigate writing burnout

• Generative writing prompts aimed at self discovery and artistic integrity

• Generative writing prompts aimed at kickstarting a stalled project or opening doorways into new projects

• How to create and maintain a sustainable writing practice

• Discussions on how writers can center creation, truth, and artistry in a business that prioritizes numbers and performance.

Workshop takeaways

• Writing exercises designed to encourage drafts of new work or new entryways into existing work that has stalled

• An understanding of your own artistic and creative needs, and how to implement those needs into a writing practice that can be sustainable and healthy for you

• A plan for protecting against or tackling artistic burnout

• A reading list of excerpts, essays, and books about writing, creativity, and art

Additional info

This workshop will be recorded for the convenience of those unable to attend live. The recorded session will be emailed to participants the following day.

About the Instructor

Jenny Tinghui Zhang is a Chinese-American writer and author of the internationally bestselling novel Four Treasures of the Sky (Flatiron Books), which has been translated into 12 languages and short and longlisted for the Chautauqua Prize, the Dublin Literary Award, the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Her work has appeared in The Cut, The New York Times, Texas Highways, and The Rumpus, among others. She is a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree and has received support from Yaddo, Kundiman, VONA/Voices, Tin House, and the University of Wyoming, where she completed her MFA. Her second novel Superfan is forthcoming from Flatiron Books in 2026.