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The Perfectionist's Half-Assed Writing Spree

Half-assed effort. 100% more writing.

4-Week Program starting Tuesday January 24th
Meets Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays at
11am PST/ 2pm EST/ 7pm GMT

Every class is recorded. Keep the recordings forever!

Researching for hours.
Making sure everything is just right.  
Second guessing your ideas until any spark of creativity has left your body and the only thought in your head is “this sucks.”  

That’s the work of perfectionism, my forever A+ friend.    

You’ve probably dealt with it for years (I know you had some system of optimal binky usage, if you could only remember back that far).  

You know it hasn't helped your writing.

Sure, it’s great for employers or people who don’t want to do any work and let you shoulder 10 times the tasks you should.    

But when it comes to writing, perfectionism might as well wear little demon horns and go by Lou Cipher. Because it’s the antithesis to creating anything fun or good.  

 It’s time to tell that devil on your shoulder to shut the F up for a minute and give something else a try.  

You’re invited to…  

The Perfectionist's Half-Assed Writing Spree

The 4-Week Live program that gives you accountability, tools to tone down perfectionism, and easy goals to keep you going.

You’ll write. A lot. And it won’t feel terrible!

By the end of the month, you’ll write and share 4 short pieces, pitches, or 1 longer piece (the exact goal is up to you).

No matter what you write, it won’t be hidden in a Google doc to be seen by you and your cat when they hit the keyboard wrong.

It’ll be out in the world, so you can get even closer to your real writing dreams.

In the Perfectionist's Half-Assed Writing Spree, you'll get...

3 Live Classes a Week

New tools, training, and always time for questions and connection during the class. Recording will be available for everything (and you’ll keep access to them forever! These classes will include…

Tuesday & Thursday
Anti- Perfectionist Training

We’ll set an easy goal for the week and work on new tools to beat back perfectionism. Then there’s time for writing and questions.

Why Not Wednesdays

You’ll get a prompt based on current editor pitch requests. Instead of defaulting to “I can’t write for them,” you’ll get a chance to think “why not me?” and give it a try. This has extra co-working time built in, so you don’t have to interrupt your schedule of keeping your kids alive or hate watching Emily in Paris to get your writing done.

Feedback on All Your Pitches...Seriously

Feedback on EVERYTHING.
If you write 1 pitch or 20 pitches, I’ll read them all! You’ll get personalized video notes on all your work. Don’t worry about having to present it to class, I send these notes right to your email, so you can watch when you like. Plus, I’m not a jerk and my notes will give you the best chance of selling your work. Or as student Kathryn Whisler said,
"Amber is able to critique in a positive way that also boosts confidence. Her notes were encouraging and succinctly pinpointed ways to strengthen pitches and pieces."

“Is This Terrible” Writing Critique

When you write, sometimes you honestly can’t tell if your work is great or an abomination. For anything longer than a pitch, I’ll read your work and give you light notes. AKA, I’ll let you know it’s not terrible and give a couple quick ideas.

Accountability & Weekly Goals

When you want to write, time has a way of sliding by. So, “I’ll start on Monday” quickly becomes “sweet god, it’s been 6 months.” That won’t happen here! It’s a writing spree! You’ve heard “done is better than perfect.” This’ll prove “half-assed is actually fine and much more fun than beating myself up for days over a piece someone will read in 2 minutes.” My quote doesn’t fit on a t-shirt just yet, but I’m working on it.

Community of Lovely Writers

My students are always amazing. They’re kind, creative, wonderful people and when they come together, everyone writes with a lot more happiness and ease. Instead of writing alone and assuming you’re the only person to have a hard time writing, you’ll get to meet a group of wonderful new people. And you won’t have to write alone. Or as student Julie Kling said,
"The live calls gave me a sense of community, and provided structure to my writing life."

Focus on Results

This program is not about refining your craft and working on a paragraph for 3 months until it’s Nobel-worthy. This is about getting the ideas out of your head, onto the page, and out into the world. This helps avoid the dreaded “that was my idea!” syndrome, the great rage that comes from seeing your idea get published by someone else to great acclaim. By the end of the month, you’ll have 4 short drafts or pitches done, or one long piece finished (whichever you’d prefer).

Relief from Your Inner Critic

Will this heal your perfectionism forever? No. I’m not magic (sorry). But this will significantly reduce the power of your inner critic, perfectionistic tendencies, and imposter syndrome. Writing will become fun again and after the 30 days are done, you’ll have a whole new box of tools to keep perfectionism at bay.

 “Amber changed my freakin’ life…and I’m not a person who says that sort of thing lightly. I do not arrange crystals and semi-precious rocks in a certain configuration. I am a cynical old bag who believes in nothing. But I believe in Amber.

I had written pretty much nothing in years, and had the deep-rooted belief that nobody wanted to hear anything from me. Whatever magic Amber has in her writing exercises and dulcet voice nudged me toward putting pen to paper until I was actually getting published in a bunch of online magazines, which eventually led to my nabbing of a full-time writing gig (a gig I ALSO found through Amber).

I suppose I worked hard for these things, but I really-truly wouldn’t have done it at all if her advice hadn’t been so inspiring and anxiety-reducing. So listen to everything she says and act accordingly!

Amber is the only semi-precious rock I believe in!"

Joan Kubicek

Perhaps the most important result...
Cross "Write More" from your to-do list and actually write more.

To sum it all up, you'll get..

  • 4 Weeks of tools to stop perfectionism, overthinking, and imposter syndrome (from a perfectionist who's been through it)
  • Personalized notes on every pitch 
  • A community of lovely writers to keep you going 
  • Easy goals, so you're building up a habit that last long after class is over 
  • Light feedback on everything else you write
  • 5-Minute exercises to make writing as easy as possible 
  • Recordings of all classes  
  • Access to recordings forever (in case you want to do the spree again on your own)
  • A newfound confidence in your writing  
  • The ability to face a blank page with zero freak out

Faith Dwight

The only reason I even had the confidence to start pitching again after a lengthy break was because I did your Half-Assed Challenge. So thank you, ya dreamboat.

Join the Perfectionist's Half-Assed Writing Spree
Starts Tuesday January 24th at 11:00am PST/2pm EST/7pm GMT

  • Most popular
    One-Time Payment
  •  

    $399 USD

     

    one-time payment

    Buy Now
  • 3-Pay
  • 3 payments of

    $133 USD

    per month

     

    Buy Now

Hi! I'm a perfectionist.

Also, my name is Amber Petty.

As a kid, I wrote a book of poetry (with  a cover that screamed “she’s only 7 years old!” since people would obviously assume it was the work of a genius adult), a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (inspired by a Wishbone episode, not the Baz Luhrman film), and a full series of adventures of Super Hair Girl. I bet your kid collection has some gems too.  

At the time, I wasn’t bothered by the publishing process or the lack of commitment of the 5th grade Romeo. I wrote things, thought they were great, and assumed the best would happen. Though my poems weren’t published and my plays were only seen by a teacher and kids at recess with fleeting attention spans, I still created all kinds of work. Easily!  

It wasn’t till I got older, the perfectionism that plagued my school work decided to come after my creative side. By the time I was 30, I literally couldn’t send out any work. And I mean literally, literally. I assumed it was all terrible and even if asked for a short piece I couldn’t do it.  

So, I worked to get through my inner critic.

The best thing I did was…therapy. But the second best thing was working on my perfectionism bit by bit until it didn’t have such a tight grasp.  

Since then, I’ve been a freelance writer for 7 years, wrote for The New York Times, Parade, MTV.com, Thrillist, Greatist, and Snooki’s blog, and now help creatives get through their blocks, put their work into the world, and get the creative satisfaction they crave.

In my last 3-day challenge, multiple students sold stories they were working on to Huffington Post, Insider, and others.

 "I wrote more in four minutes than I did in the whole of 2022!" 

- Sathyai

 “I wasn't expecting to feel so empowered by the challenge, but it really helped lift my confidence and shake off my severe imposter syndrome. I also like having Amber's expertise on hand to answer any questions and this has really inspired me to keep going!” 

Alex McCale

 “Perfectionism has stopped me from finishing tons of creative projects. The Challenge helped me start a piece I’d been thinking about for months. I loved the exercises and having the support of the group. Amber’s kind, down to earth approach alleviated any anxiety I felt about producing work.” 

-Elizabeth Reynolds

Just imagine what will happen when you have a whole month.

Join the Perfectionist's Half-Assed Writing Spree
Starts Tuesday January 24th at 11:00am PST/2pm EST/7pm GMT

  • Most popular
    One-Time Payment
  •  

    $399 USD

     

    one-time payment

    Buy Now
  • 3-Pay
  • 3 payments of

    $133 USD

    per month

     

    Buy Now

Frequently Asked Questions

It's Tuesday January 24th - February 16th. We'll meet every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 11am PST/ 2pm EST/ 7pm GMT on Zoom for 45-ish minutes.

No! You'll get a recording shortly after the workshop every day. So, you can tune in whenever you like and email me any time with questions.

The live calls will be about 45 minutes, which will include time to write. Ideally, you'd have time to watch the videos and write for an additional 30 minutes. That's about 2 hours and 40 minutes total each week. So, if you have time to watch Avatar: The Way of Water, you'll have more than enough time for this course!

No! This is a half-assed writing spree. If you can only come once a week and write for 15 minutes, that's fine! As long as you write something every week, you'll feel so much better about your work. If you can come to all three meetings, lovely, but I don't expect you to neglect your children for your writing goals.

No? I added the question mark because my expertise lies in non-fiction and writing for magazines, newspapers, and online publications. But, you can use the time and accountability to work on anything you like. Just don't expect helpful notes on your Game of Thrones-esque pilot. I'd probably just say "sounds like there'll be a bunch of fun wigs. Good job!" and have nothing constructive to add.

Yes! There will be people of all levels, but you don't need any specific experience to get started. Plus, you'll get to learn a bit about freelance writing and pitching, so you might leave the month with a byline and some paid writing work!

It's $399 or 3 payments of $133.

It sounds counterintuitive, I know. But I've seen hundreds of students get a renewed love of writing by purposely being half-assed. This works because I'm not giving this advice to everyone. That guy Derrick at work who always brings paper plates to potlucks and takes credit for your ideas? He needs to start using his whole ass.

Smart, kind perfectionists like you? You need a break from your high standards so you can actually produce some of the brilliant work that's in your brain. By allowing it to be easy, you reset your standards to a more realistic place. Which will help you write more, more often, and send it out to the world. Maybe you'll even get praise, bylines, money, and creative satisfaction.

It's time we stop letting the Derrick's of the world do none of the work and get all of the credit. By giving half-assitry a try, you get to steal his spotlight back and get the satisfaction you deserve.

Yes! Just email me at Amber@AmberPetty.com and I'll answer any question you have!

The Perfectionist's Half-Assed Writing Spree Starts in...

02Days
11Hours
08Minutes
08Seconds

Sign Up Now!

  • Most popular
    One-Time Payment
  •  

    $399 USD

     

    one-time payment

    Buy Now
  • 3-Pay
  • 3 payments of

    $133 USD

    per month

     

    Buy Now