What a weird-ass holiday season this has been, amiright?
Something about this particular year ending is hitting different. It feels like there's a collective energy shift, which is such a woo thing to say but I mean it—a gathering close. A contraction. Pulling back all the resources, emotions, data, and spending that have scattered far and wide, and reevaluating where we want them to go.
I've seen this in the "return to analog," which makes me chuckle because a lot of the people touting that have never had to get anywhere using a huge-ass road atlas, but I have; and the mass exodus from Instagram and Spotify and Paramount and Amazon and whatever else we can think of to boycott...
But boycotting is exhausting, and right now it's honestly not doing much good. We don't have the numbers to make it really hurt, so all it's really doing is making a lot of extra work for those of us who choose to boycott, which depletes our energy and diverts our resources away from the work that actually matters.
It feels like some sort of critical mass is waking up to this lately, and that makes me feel... if not better per se, at least a little less crazy.
Somebody recently told me that The Craft is like a university course—10 weeks! Immersive! Lots of writing!—and at first this bummed me out, because who has time for that shit?
But no. I'm gonna own it.
Because the things that really matter, the things that assert our humanity, affect change, make a difference, get us closer to the careers and lives we want for ourselves?
All of it requires time.
Focus.
Space.
Attention.
Care.
And yes—craft.
You SHOULD invest ten weeks of your life into your writing craft if you are a person who writes. Especially if you're contemplating a shift toward long-form content in 2026.
The Craft 2026 cohort starts the first full week of January. Calls are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:30–3pm Eastern. If you have to miss one or two calls, it's not the end of the world.
If you have questions, hesitations, or financial concerns—email me back and let's talk about it.
It's a great representation of what happens inside The Craft, and even if you don't end up enrolling in this next cohort, you'll still walk away with a deepened understanding of writing craft AND a pretty dope bio you can start using in your work.
What: Sad Sam's Birthday Bio Bash
When: Monday, Dec. 29th, 3-5pm Eastern
Where: Zoom
What We'll Do: Workshop a bio grabs attention, makes you sound as cool as you are IRL, and gets you the gig
In this writing workshop that is also my birthday party (because December 29th is a super lame day to have a birthday), I'll teach you the specific craft elements that make a memorable, standout bio:
- Specificity and detail (the *right* details)
- Psychic distance
- What people really mean when they say "use humor," and how to do that if you aren't funny
Then you'll have dedicated time to write a draft, after which we'll workshop one person's bio together as a group.
And because it's my birthday, and the last opportunity to enroll before the new year, I'll be dropping the cost to $1229 (from $1800), which can be also be paid in three or six installments.
If you can't make it on the 29th, but this all sounds pretty good to you so far, you should still register. You'll get the full replay AND access to the reduced pricing for The Craft.
P.S. Workshopping is better with friends! Forward this email to your bestie or just send them to this page!