This year, you’re going to make your writing dreams a reality.
This is the year you:
Start - and potentially even finish - the book you’ve had inside you for so long
Commit to the newsletter, the podcast, or the other “big project” that has been clamoring for your attention
Embrace and embody this powerful truth: you are a writer
No matter what your creative vision is, this is the year you finally prioritize your writing and take it from “someday I will” into “in 2025, I am.”
The Authors’ Knot will help you to strengthen your voice, clarify your message, and truly organize your ideas, so that you can bring the fullness of your vision to life.
Writing can be a lonely venture, but, in the Author’s Knot, we do things differently.
When you join us,
You’ll be a member of a small, devoted circle of writers
You’ll have guidance from an experienced writing coach
You’ll have the wisdom of the collective to support you on your journey
What else makes this writing group different?
We’re interested in the craft of writing. You’ll learn the art and practice of moving from a first draft to a finished product.
And, in the Authors’ Knot, we’re also interested in the heart and soul of writing.
This group will tap into your inherent wisdom, nurture your creative spirit, and inspire you to develop the ideas and stories that only you can tell.
Join us in the Authors’ Knot:
an intimate online writing community for thought leaders, memoirists, and heart-led visionaries
I created The Author’s Knot because, as a writing coach for over a decade, I know that we’re most successful when we write (and rewrite) in the company of others.
As a lifelong writer, I know how challenging it can be to sustain a major writing project in the midst of a full life.
Your creative vision can seem fragile and intangible when compared to the work, caregiving, and the myriad responsibilities of the everyday.
But, when you have a circle of peers, and an experienced guide…
You can learn to navigate the inevitable distractions that draw your focus
You can learn to use “the everything” of your full, rich life to create a richer experience on the page
You can rely on the group to help you remember that this project is your priority
Devote Yourself to Your Project
This focused creative container empowers you to put your writing at the top of the to do list. You relationship with writing will transform through your commitment.
Build Skills & Get New Tools
You know a lot about writing already, but you’re still learning how to write this book or sustain this big project. Monthly lessons will teach you about structure, craft, and style.
Share & Receive Feedback
We grow through witnessing and being witnessed. Share your work with the group for compassionate responses and strengths focused suggestions and recommendations to take your writing further.
Interested in the Authors’ Knot? Apply to join us!
The Authors’ Knot is an intimate group of creatives. To ensure that we’re a good fit for one another, you’re invited to apply for membership.
I’lll follow up with a call to talk about your project, your goals, and how the Authors’ Knot can help you achieve them in 2025.
Do you have questions? Email marisa@marisagoudy.com
Is the Authors’ Knot for you?
This is the writing community for you, if:
you know you’re a writer and you want help bringing your vision to the page
you’re excited to build new relationships even as you make powerful progress on your individual work
you want to blend the strategic with the soulful - writing a book is more than consistency and planning, it’s about bringing your fullest self to the page and bringing your creative passions to life
This group is ideal for you if any of the following describe you:
a creative entrepreneur who reaches people through your stories
working on a book, particularly memoir or another form of creative non-fiction
trying to figure out the form of the “big project” - maybe it’s a book, but it might be a podcast, a blog, or another form that requires focus, creativity, and a longterm commitment
Writing coaching client Martha Wright, writer & shamanic practitioner, says…
Marisa has an amazing ability to unearth ideas and connections buried deep within my train-of-thought style of writing. She is not only wise and clever with a discerning eye, she delivers constructive criticism with such sincerity.
My book would never have taken the beautiful shape it has without her - each time we meet, she helps my work expand and improve. While I started this writing journey meek and nervous, working with Marisa has helped me become a confident writer.
All the Program Details
When does the program start?
We begin together on February 14, 2025.* The ten-month program concludes at the start of December, 2025.
* Right now, the weekly meetings are set for noon ET on Fridays. Can’t make that time, but you’re super interested in the group? Please apply and leave me a note about your availability. With a small group like this, I’ll make every efforts to accommodate everyone’s schedules so we have just the right writers in the AK this year.How often do we meet?
We meet four times each month, via Zoom:
Week 1 (2 hr meeting) Training & Discussion Session: a deep dive into the month’s topic plus an “ask me anything” session
Week 2 (1 hr meeting): co-working session with a brief project check in
Week 3 (2 hr meeting): Work Share Session: read your writing aloud (including group reflections response)
Week 4 (1 hr meeting): co-working session with a brief project check in
What’s the time & energy commitment when you join the Authors’ Knot?
Though it’s probably unrealistic to imagine you’ll be working on your project every day, you’ll be writing several days a week. You’re self-motivated and passionate and schedule this time to write on your own.
Each month in our Work Share sessions, you will read your writing aloud or prepare a brief presentation of the ideas you’re working on. This group is for writers who are excited to do the writing and seek feedback from the circle.
This is a community program, and it’s built on the understanding that we all benefit from sharing our work and experiencing the work of others. Our two-hour Work Share sessions are “turn off notifications and give your full attention to all participants” sessions.
While the co-working sessions are optional, they’re an ideal way to build your own practice and strengthen our community.
What happens between meetings?
In addition to our weekly sessions, there will be a private community platform where you can share work, request feedback, or ask questions.
All sessions are recorded and available to members throughout the duration of the program
What’s the cost of the program?
Foundational membership: $399* per month, charged at the start of each month
Add a monthly 1:1 coaching session to your foundational membership: total of $599 per month
*The Authors’ Knot is being offered for the first time and considered a “beta program.” This means that we may adjust meeting duration or group expectations in order to match our evolving experience. It also means I will solicit feedback on the monthly topics and will readjust to meet participants’ needs. It also means that this $399/month price will likely increase in the next round.
This is the year you own the title of writer
and devote yourself fully to your project!
Royce Fitts, author of Geography of the Soul: Dreams, Reality, and the Journey of a Lifetime says:
Marisa is laser focused and gentle. I feel and hear her care and passion for the words I have written. She is a powerful word witch, a gentle and fierce advocate for your truth.
There is an old, old word for someone like her, from a language far away: she is a paraclete, a voice who is called to be alongside you, one who is with you, standing next, inspiring your soul to speak your vital truth, that which only you can speak.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
As outlined above, we meet weekly to keep up the creative momentum and build our community. The twice monthly 120-minute sessions (which include training, Q&A sessions, and work sharing) are considered mandatory. You’ll receive a detailed calendar so you can plan ahead and block the time. The co-working sessions are optional.
Your overall commitment to writing during the program is up to you, but you should plan on setting aside a minimum of five hours each week to writing and research in order to move your project forward. -
Tentatively, we’re set to meet weekly on Fridays at noon ET beginning February 14.
The day and time of our meetings will be set according to the needs and time zones of the group. We’ll discuss your needs and availability during our interview call.I am in New York State in the Eastern Time zone. Calls will be held sometime between 9:00 AM ET and 9:00 PM ET.
-
This is a small, application-only group. When you apply for the Authors’ Knot, you are making a ten month commitment to the group, to yourself, and to your dream of being a writer.
Participants may cancel their registration any time up to one week before the first meeting (the initial payment of $399 is non-refundable). After that point, requests to terminate membership (and any associated refunds) will be considered on a case-by-case basis.Because our community is small and intimate, and because creativity can be a vulnerable area of our lives, if the facilitator feels that a participant is disrupting the safety or harmony of the group, the participant will be asked to leave. Previous payment(s) will not be refunded and cannot be transferred. Subsequent payments will be canceled.
-
Members of the Authors’ Knot will have a chance to stay connected in a private online forum (not on social media) where they can share work and ask questions. This portal will also house all call recordings and additional training material.
-
I founded the Writers’ Knot in 2018, and it is still going strong. It’s had a few different names, but the focus has always been on writing-in-community with new writing prompts for each session.
The Authors’ Knot is focused on helping you make progress on a specific writing project, with an emphasis on building skills and committing to seeing things through to a final product.
-
As this is a beta program, participants will help shape the topics we cover in our monthly training modules. Here’s a sample of what you can expect:
The art of the self-focused first draft and how to transform it into writing that speaks to an audience
How to use mythology and mythic concepts to connect with your real story and to your readers
Why you always write the introduction last
How to balance the universal and the specific and honor them both
Why it’s vital to create the framework in order to dismantle the framework
Caring for yourself when you need to write the hardest parts of the story
We begin together in February, 2025.
If you have questions about the program, please send me an email: marisa@marisagoudy.com.
Meet Your Guide, Marisa Goudy
Image: Olivia Treubig
I invite you to meet me where the magical meets the practical, and where the deepest personal growth is paired with in-the-world progress.
When you join us in the Authors’ Knot, you’re working not just with a writing coach, but a story healer.
It’s important to get the writing done, of course, and I am dedicated to helping you hone your craft, but as I see it, that’s only one aspect of the work we’re setting out to do together.
I’m devoted to helping you uncover the stories and ideas that matter - to you, to the people you wish to serve, to readers who could be changed by your words.
That means that, in addition to offering you my skills as an editor, author, and creative entrepreneur with more than a decade of experience, I’m also showing up as an energy healer who begins each group session with a lit candle and a brief grounding meditation. Eager to help tap into your intuitive and embodied wisdom, I will always encourage you to consider how nature and the entire more-than-human world can support your creative becoming.
What’s my story?
Fifteen years ago, I left my career in academia and started my own business. A sudden loss taught me that I could not spend my life doing work I did not love. I also had a newborn daughter to raise and I wanted the freedom and flexibility to support my family and expand my creativity in my own way.
My best selling book, The Sovereignty Knot: A Woman’s Way to Freedom, Power, Love, and Magic was released in 2020. These days, my creative energies are devoted to the KnotWork Storytelling Podcast where we explore Celtic mythology, Irish folklore, and heroines’ tales from around the world. My Myth Is Medicine newsletter on Substack reaches thousands of readers each week.
In 2018, I founded the Writers’ Knot, a creative incubator and sanctuary for folks who want to make writing part of their lives. The Authors’ Knot is an offshoot of that flourishing community. I have created this new group to provide a focused space where we not only write together, but also focus on building skills and seeing major projects through to completion.
Here’s what I believe…
Creativity - especially writing - can heal the disconnection from the sacred sense of self, from community, and from nature.
When we root into mythology, ancestral stories, and the imaginal realm, we can co-create a culture that honors both human diversity and biodiversity.
Each of us is being called to make a generative contribution to our world through our words and actions. We can - and must - continue to shape our world, one story at a time.
Carmen Shreffler of Wildpreneur & Marketing for Wayfinders
Working with Marisa opens the gateway between the magical and the practical, whether we are talking about business strategy or the fears keeping me from my writing desk. Her insights and wisdom have helped me to open more fully to pathways of abundance, exploration, and courage. She's a treasured companion on my journey as an entrepreneur.
Amber Pena Posey of The Focused Path Integrative Medicine
Marisa is magic in a red-headed body! I met her in a time of deep introspection and career change, and the devoted weekly gathering for story, writing, and conversation was a balm and boon.
I love her passion for storytelling and her ability to bring writing prompts to allow us to explore the heart of the matter.