Writers’ Cafe
online community with support & accountability
Writers’ Cafe is an online community for all writers, offering support, encouragement, and (gentle!) accountability as you work towards your writing goals.
If you join before the end of September, you’ll lock in the price of $10 per month (£8 if you prefer GBP) which gives you full access to our live writing hours, weekly check-ins, writing prompts, feedback on your writing, and more.
Writers’ Cafe
Imagine what you could accomplish with the encouragement of a supportive community of writers …
📗 Begin writing that novel you’ve been dreaming about for years 📗
📝Enter a short story competition with a piece you’re really proud of 📝
🖥️ Get going with your blog again, building an audience and platform 🖥️
⏲️ Carve out writing time to make real progress with a major project ⏲️
💡 Experiment with new ideas and explore your creativity 💡
Whatever your writing dreams look like, you’ll be welcomed and supported inside Writers’ Cafe.
Next Workshop
Our September workshop is on Friday 26th September at 5.30pm UK (12.30pm Eastern; 9.30am Pacific).
We’ll cover:
🔍 How to adjust the “closeness” of your narration (looking at various examples) 🔍
📄 The different options for conveying characters’ thoughts on the page (plus pros & cons of each) 📄
🏃 How the point of view affects everything … including action, description, and even dialogue 🏃
🧩What to do if you feel like the point of view isn’t quite working in your story 🧩
What Members Say
Diane Says...
“The biggest benefit of the Writer’s Cafe community is the accountability. It keeps me focused on what I need to be working on. Even though I can list an array of writing projects for what I want to accomplish each week, when I begin a live writing session or even if I use the chatroom to post that I’m writing, I have to choose one item. And I have to focus on that one item for the allotted time.”
Judy Says...
“[The biggest benefit is] being included and considered part of a writing community – whether I feel like it or not.Excellent gentle and yet powerful litmus test of; are you a writer or really want to be one? Encouragement comes from witnessing the struggles and triumphs of others. The variety of personalities and writing style along with [Ali’s] easy manner and clear and honest encouragement make it ‘a home away from home’.”
What’s Included
Weekly Writing Hours
Our weekly writing hours are a chance to sit and focus on your writing alongside others. This is the best way to make time to write within a busy week: by putting it on your calendar.
We aim to pick writing hours that work across a variety of timezones and we vary these from time to time depending on what works for members.
Currently, our usual writing hours are:
- Mondays, 4-5pm UK (11am Eastern)
- Wednesday, 5-6pm UK (noon-1pm Eastern)
- Thursdays, 7-8pm UK (2-3pm Eastern) [likely to change soon]
- Fridays, 4-5pm Pacific (7-8pm Eastern; midnight-1am UK)
Weekly Writing Prompts
Each week, I give you a new writing prompt (or sometimes more than one to choose from).
The prompts are designed to work for different types of writing, so you can use them for fiction or non-fiction, for short flash pieces or for incorporating into much longer works, and so on.
Weekly Check-Ins
Each week, I post a “check-in” topic in our community, so you can share your progress from the previous week and tell us what you’re planning to work on during the week ahead.
These are great for feeling accountable to others and staying on track, as well as for getting encouragement and support during weeks where things didn’t quite work out.
Monthly Workshops
Most months, we have a live workshop on one aspect of writing. These are recorded and available permanently in Writers’ Cafe afterwards.
The workshops we’ve run so far include:
- Get Your 2025 Back on Track (planning workshop to help you figure out where writing can fit in your schedule)
- ChatGPT for Writers (lots of tips and prompts for creative writers)
You can watch these (and download the worksheets) as soon as you join Writers’ Cafe.
About Ali
I write both fiction and non-fiction, and I’ve been making a living writing since 2008.
Over the years, I’ve written fiction around all kinds of situations: a full-time job, alongside studies, as a full-time freelancer, and while raising kids (they’re now 10 and 12). I know how hard it can be sometimes to find even a few minutes a day to write.
During my writing journey so far, I’ve had plenty of high points, like signing a book deal for Publishing Ebooks for Dummies to publish.
But I also know the challenges involved in things like getting all the way to “The End” of a draft, wrestling a novel into shape, plucking up the courage to self-publish it or send it out to agents, and struggling to prioritise your writing in the midst of a busy life.
Writers’ Cafe is where I can come alongside you and support you, cheering you on and offering encouragement.
Join Us Now
If you join before the end of September, Writers’ Cafe is just $10/month.
That covers everything: all the writing hours, prompts, check-ins, etc.
There’s no minimum commitment: you can leave at any time.
After 30th September, the price is going up to $20/month.
What Could You Achieve?
Even if you just use one part of the cafe, you could achieve some amazing goals. Here are a few ideas for you…
#1: Write Your Novel Just By Attending Writing Hours
You want to write a novel. You’ve got a rough outline or some ideas, but you haven’t written the first sentence of your first draft yet.
If you join two writing hours each week and do absolutely no other writing, you could have a full 70,000+ word draft of your novel by the end of a year. That’s an entire novel or a good-length non-fiction book.
#2: Post Consistently on Your Blog Just By Checking In Weekly
Would you love to publish a blog post every week, without fail?
If you tell us each week that you’re going to write and publish a post, you share the link with us by the end of the week, and do absolutely nothing else … you’ll have thirteen new posts on your blog after three months, or 52 posts after a year.
#3: Build a Body of Work Just By Using the Weekly Prompts
Maybe you don’t even know what you want to write. You’re just tired of waiting for an idea and writing nothing at all.
If you simply spend 20 minutes each week tackling a writing prompt, that’s 52 short pieces by the end of the year. Those could be flash fiction, scenes that add up to a longer story, poems, reflective pieces for a memoir, or anything else you want.
Q & A
How much does Writers’ Cafe cost?
Writers’ Cafe will soon be going up to $20/month (£16/month), but until the end of September, you can still join for $10/month (or £8/month if you prefer to pay in GBP).
You’re not tied into a contract: you can leave at any time.
If you feel the Cafe isn’t right for you, just let me know within your first month and I’ll refund you in full.
Are there any discounts available?
I have a small number of free places available, if you’re a student or on a low income. Drop me an email at ali@aliventures.com if you’d be interested in one of those. (All I ask is that if you find you’re not using Writers’ Cafe for an extended period of time, you let me know so I can give the free place to someone else.)
What types of writers is Writers’ Cafe for?
Writers’ Cafe is primarily aimed at novelists and short story writers … but we also welcome bloggers, freelance writers, poets, memoirists, academics, and anyone else who would like to write – or write more.
You might be totally new to writing or you might have been writing for decades, or something in between. We’d love to have you in the Cafe regardless. 🙂
Do I need to use my legal name for Writers’ Cafe?
No, you can use a pen-name or any name you want. Just set this to whatever you like when you create your profile.
How do I create my profile?
You’ll need to enter your email address and set a password before paying.
After you pay, you’ll see a form to fill out so you can create your profile. You can change any/all of this information at a later point! All you actually need to enter at this stage is a name.
When are the weekly writing hours?
Our weekly writing hours are usually:
- Mondays, 4-5pm UK (11am Eastern)
- Wednesday, 5-6pm UK (noon-1pm Eastern)
- Thursdays, 7-8pm UK (2-3pm Eastern) [this one’s likely to move earlier soon]
- Fridays, 4-5pm Pacific (7-8pm Eastern; midnight-1am UK)
I’m always happy to adjust the timings to suit the majority of members, and we may be able to offer member-hosted writing hours in more timezones too.
What if I can’t make the writing hours?
There’s a topic inside Writers’ Cafe where you can suggest new writing hour times, at any point.
Some members also use the Chatroom for a personal writing hour: they pop in when they’re starting, and say what they’ll be working on, then come back at the end of their writing session to share how they got on. This is a great tool for accountability!
Do I have to join the writing hours on video?
Nope! Our writing hours take place in a private live room within Circle. I’ll be there on video but if you prefer to have your camera off, that’s fine. At the start of each writing hour, you’ll be invited to tell us what you’ll be working on. You don’t have to speak out loud if you prefer not to: there’s a text chat within the live room too. Almost everyone turns off their cameras while actually writing (the bulk of the writing hour).
What if I miss the weekly check-in?
Most of us will miss a week occasionally! There’s no obligation to check in. You can just jump back in the next time you have a chance.
You’ll automatically get a notification when I post the check-in topic (each Monday), though you can turn off this notification if you prefer.
How do I keep up with what’s happening in Writers’ Cafe?
Each Monday, I send out an email to all Writers’ Cafe members (unless you’ve chosen not to receive this). The email includes the weekly writing prompt, reminds you about the check-in thread for the week, highlights the upcoming weekly writing hours, and lets you know about anything else happening in Writers’ Cafe.
On Thursdays, I send a quick reminder email, with a reminder of the writing hours, check-in thread, etc.