I’ve got an MFA in fiction from the University of Virginia, an MA in Creative Writing from University College Dublin, and a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Three degrees amounting to one qualification: writer. Over the years, I’ve worked as a writer, editor, and teacher in various forms, from running a literary magazine to editing academic books. I’ve taught teenagers at summer camp and brought together groups of moms looking for creative community.
If you’re feeling creatively stuck, lost, or listless, I think I can help you out. There are a few ways we can work together:
Take a writing class with me
“Helen was very open about the learning process. There wasn’t one way of doing things, which was great.”
All in One: A creative writing group for moms
Instructor: Helen Chandler
$90 Members | $100 Nonmembers
Tuesdays, 4/2/24 – 5/21/24 | 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. ET
“You’re a writer and a teacher and mama? All in one?!” – my son, when I told him what I do for a living.
This class is aimed at writers across all genres and in all stages of motherhood. Whether you are in the thick of raising small children or yours have flown the nest, you have probably felt, at some point, a tension between your two identities: writer and mother. Maybe you’re feeling depleted by the demands of caregiving and can’t make time for creativity. Or perhaps you’re feeling inspired by the highs and lows of motherhood and would like to explore that through writing. Each week for eight weeks, we will meet for an hour – we’ll discuss a short piece of writing on a theme, and then we’ll do some writing. I will offer prompts and readings in-class, and there won’t be any homework. By the end of the course, you will have eight new pieces of writing, even if they’re just starts, and a supply of reading material that will inspire you as you continue on your journey as a mother artist. With luck, you will also leave this course with a group of new writer friends who understand your very particular struggle.
In order to make this class as accessible to parents as possible, it will take place online over Zoom. However, if you are based in or near Charlottesville and would like to meet in person to discuss your writing, I will be available outside of class time for ‘office hours’ at Writer House.
*This term is used to include all who identify with it.
“[Helen] was great at providing relevant reading material and discussions. She makes writing fun and enjoyable.”
Book a consultation
I know what it’s like to feel stuck in your writing life. I spent many years believing I would never finish the book I was working on. Fear of failing kept me from writing at all. What I needed was someone to guide me - to read my manuscript, offer me feedback and encouragement, and help me make a plan to get it done. With this experience behind me, I have the power to offer this same service to others. Book a free 30 minute consultation with me to talk through your options, or choose from the following:
One-month Intensive
Designed to help you re-start and sustain your writing practice with practical mentorship and guidance
I am a mom who knows how it feels to forget you were ever a writer. Maybe you started working on a novel, memoir, collection of essays or short stories long ago and then put it aside when life got too busy. Or maybe you only ever had an idea and never got around to executing it. You might look back on the time when you used to write more regularly and think of it as a distant dream, something you’ll never experience again. As someone who has gone through this, I’d love to be your cheerleader as you make your way back to - or it may be better to say towards - a life that includes writing.
In one month, we can work together to get you on track. Our time together will include:
A questionnaire on your writing history, goals, and long-term pie-in-the-sky aspirations
Four weekly one-hour Zoom meetings to discuss your progress
One round of detailed written feedback - a developmental critique plus line edits - on a longer piece of writing.
Guidance on how to set and maintain a creative practice
Relevant reading recommendations to inspire your work
A digital ‘notebook’ to correspond with one another about process and progress - maybe the most important element of all: creative companionship and accountability.
$500 (payment plans available)
Or, if you have a completed manuscript that needs a fresh set of eyes…
Manuscript Review
This could be a short story or essay or a full-length memoir or novel project - whatever it is, you’ve got a draft, and you’d like a fresh set of eyes on it. I will offer an in-depth overview of what I think your piece is trying to do, identify major thematic patterns and narrative preoccupations, and then lay out some questions that will guide your revision or expansion of the work. I can also provide line edits and suggestions on the line level if desired.
Your review includes:
A detailed and thoughtful editorial feedback letter that offers an in-depth read from your ‘ideal reader’, broad developmental suggestions and structural advice, as well as a list of questions to guide you in revising or expanding your work.
Line edits and craft advice
A 90 minute Zoom conference to discuss your manuscript, address your questions, talk through your roadblocks, and make a plan together for your next draft.
Starting at $200 for essays and stories and $900+ for mid- to full-length manuscripts. Contact me for a quote.
Or maybe you don’t know what you want to write, but you’re itching to write something anyway…
Generative coaching
We can work together to get you inspired, writing, and thinking creatively again with a less prescriptive structure that focuses instead on generating new writing. Think of this as like a one-on-one, personalized version of my larger group creative writing classes, with added accountability and feedback. Here’s how our time together might look:
A regular 1-hour Zoom meeting - you decide whether this is something you’d like weekly, monthly, or biweekly.
I’ll provide readings, writing prompts, deadlines, and feedback on shorter writing exercises to try to identify, over time, what story you’re trying to tell. Then I’ll encourage you to write it.
You’ll come away from our time together with a ton of great reading under your belt, a notebook full of new writing and ideas, and a clear long-term writing goal.
$75/hr - book a free consultation with me to begin mapping out a plan for our time together.
Other projects
If none of the above structures is quite what you’re looking for, I can also offer hourly consultations about writing, publishing, MFA applications, or anything else writing-related you need help with.
$75/hr