Writing Club Facilitator

The ALS Association is in search of a knowledgeable co-facilitator to run the Creative Pursuits Writing Club. The club is offered to people living with ALS who are enthusiastic about writing with any level of experience. During meetings we create a warm, caring community of writers that are going to make you laugh and have fun and talk about writing. The facilitator is expected to plan a theme or focus for each meeting or month and prepare a writing activity/ prompt to do in class together. Work from the activity/prompt is shared in class, and the leader facilitates discussion and feedback. At the end of our meeting, the facilitator will provide an additional prompt to leave the writers with. And a third prompt will be posted by the facilitator two weeks later to continue challenging and inspiring our participants. What makes this class special is its flexibility and understanding of the difficulties that come with writing while living with ALS. This is a no pressure environment. Our online forum keeps the dialogue going beyond meetings, fostering a supportive community of writers. The facilitator will be able to check in on the forum each week to provide feedback on shared written work. The facilitator will be supported by the director of the Creative Pursuits program in preparation and throughout the meetings.

Required:

• Attend the meeting once per month for 1.5 hours - This club meets on the 4th Thursday every month at 1-2:30pm CT
• Provide feedback once per week on the online forum, which may take about an hour per week
• Knowledge in various writing genres (preferably including memoir, fiction and poetry), methods to inspire writing and ability to share this knowledge and feedback in a kind and flexible way
• Plan one in meeting activity and two additional related or unrelated prompts or activities to work on throughout the month

Preferred:

• Comfortable on Zoom calls and sharing their screen
• Experience with people using AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) devices. This would be a bonus and is not necessary
• Kind, warm, and able to create a safe feeling space where everyone feels their voice is heard and welcomed
• Open to various communication methods
• Some knowledge of ALS is helpful