Symbiose

Virtual Writing Hours

Where writers excavate, share, and reflect in order to find the stories they need to tell.

Weekly schedule

Updated 09.08.26

Monday2–4pm Pacific
Virtual Writing Hours with Carol
Meeting ID: 884 5468 1104
Join Zoom
Tuesday12–2pm Pacific
Virtual Writing Hours with Carmina
Meeting ID: 840 1295 1539
Join Zoom
Wednesday4–6pm Pacific
Alphabet Island — with Domi, for LGBTQ+ folks only
Private
This is a private session. Email Domi at domishoemaker@gmail.com for details — the Zoom link is shared only after we connect.
Thursday8–10am Mountain
Virtual Writing Hours with Melissa
Meeting ID: 839 0785 1883
Join Zoom
Friday2–4pm Pacific
Virtual Writing Hours with Domi
Meeting ID: 843 0845 5185
Join Zoom

Community chat

An open space for the whole community. Say hello, ask a question, or share what you're working on — anyone can jump in and reply.

Join the conversation

A shared space for our community. Drop an article or publication link, a literary or life observation, a bit of humor, a word of support, or a snippet of your own work. Links you share become clickable automatically. Everyone can read and reply, and it all stays here so you can come back anytime. For more private writing, sign up for the Symbiose Private Reading Room on the main page.

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MeaganNov 5, 2026, 5:39 PM
Hello, I am looping back around after months of not coming to Virtual Hours. I'm primarily a nonfiction writer (essays, memoir) and am currently participating in a memoir certificate program that I'm having misgivings about. But lately the spirit has captured me and I'm finally working on a fanfiction that I've sort of dreamed about for years, collaborating with AI. It's nice to have the pressure off, knowing this isn't an "original work" anyway, so I can get support with the parts that are difficult for me (e.g. tracking consistency of world-building details) while focusing on the creative parts I enjoy. You can read some of my previously published newspaper columns and magazine articles about spirituality (of the Pagan and other free-spirited variety) at my website, dialoguedilemmas.com.
No replies yet — be the first to respond
DomiOct 14, 2026, 6:20 PM
I was meeting with a lovely human today, and shared this with them. It is an audio-visual palimpsest dealing with grief, death, sexuality, gender, and domestic violence. It was published years ago, but seems (sadly) timeless and especially relevant now. Thanks for watching: https://visiblemagazine.com/author/domi-shoemaker/
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Stephanie MariaOct 2, 2026, 8:55 AM
Could I join with Carmina weekly? When does this begin? I"m in Ireland so Tuesdays work based with my time zone because Thursdays at that time I work. This is amazing! What a gift! Best, Stepanie Maria
2 replies
- DomiOct 14, 2026, 6:15 PM
  It was so lovely meeting you with you and I look forward to our next 12 weeks of collaborative adventures! As for writing with Carmina, you are welcome to join any time. It starts at noon here, so 8pm your time. I hope some of our Virtual Hours work for you. They are designed to be drop-in, so you can come when you are available! Talk soon, Domi
- CarminaOct 14, 2026, 7:04 PM
  Hi Stephanie! Please join us when you can. We'd love to write with you.
DomiSep 29, 2026, 8:15 PM
For those of you who know me and this whole Virtual Writing Hours thing, hello! And for those of you who don't, WELCOME!. We are a community of writers and artists who started at Corporeal Writing, which started when Lidia Yuknavitch asked me to create a writing thing with her. We were not sure it would work out, but with the help of many, we had an 11 year run, which is just ending and wrapping up at the end of this year (2026). Under the Umbrella of Virtual Writing Hours are 5 days of 2 hour writing sessions with different hosts. Carol on Mondays, Carmina on Tuesdays, Domi on Wednesdays (Alhphabet Island LGBTQ+), Melissa on Thursdays, and me again on Friday afternoons. We have another wonderful volunteer who floats and covers when one of us needs a backup, Christina (Tina), I have encouraged the other hosts to come up with their own names for their Virtual Hours sessions, and I am excited to see that they do! For now, here is what I hare with people about who we are and what we do: Virtual Writing Hours is still here, still full of people showing up exactly as they are. We’ve created new links but our hours remain the same: two hours to write, reflect, listen, and hold space together online. No pressure to perform or explain yourself. Bring your stories, your unfinished thoughts, your exhaustion, your joy, your strange little notebooks and half-formed sentences. We welcome misfits, wanderers, late bloomers, soft hearts, loud hearts, and every kind of becoming. Come write with us. Your words are welcome here. -------------------------------------- We generally open the "doors" a few min early so people can get in and do any tech problem-solving before we get started. At Virtual Writing Hours, we meet and talk for 15-30 min, then the host (either Domi, Carol, Carmina, Melissa, or our wonderful compadre, Christina) gives a writing portal and we write for an hour. Then we come back and each one of us is invited to read for up to 2 min, talk about how the experience was and what was useful, etc. The listeners will offer reflection in the form of short phrases or list of words that stood out or spoke louder to them, We stay away from traditional feedback that looks like critique. This is a place to write and share and find people to write with who can reflect back to you what your writing is saying to them. I am hoping this to be a space where we can share interesting things you have read, fascinating art you have experienced, support for the work of other people, We are all in this together and I intend this space to be a web that can hold us all , I look forward to hearing from you! Domi
2 replies
- NickiSep 30, 2026, 3:41 PM
  yay!
- Heidi MOct 6, 2026, 7:27 PM
  I'm so grateful this is continuing! Thank you 😊
DomiSep 25, 2026, 6:16 PM
Test post
2 replies
- DomiSep 25, 2026, 6:19 PM
  wow! great test
- TinaSep 25, 2026, 6:22 PM
  I'm so excited to be here

Loading the chat…

DomiSep 29, 2026, 8:15 PM

For those of you who know me and this whole Virtual Writing Hours thing, hello! And for those of you who don't, WELCOME!. We are a community of writers and artists who started at Corporeal Writing, which started when Lidia Yuknavitch asked me to create a writing thing with her. We were not sure it would work out, but with the help of many, we had an 11 year run, which is just ending and wrapping up at the end of this year (2026). Under the Umbrella of Virtual Writing Hours are 5 days of 2 hour writing sessions with different hosts. Carol on Mondays, Carmina on Tuesdays, Domi on Wednesdays (Alhphabet Island LGBTQ+), Melissa on Thursdays, and me again on Friday afternoons. We have another wonderful volunteer who floats and covers when one of us needs a backup, Christina (Tina), I have encouraged the other hosts to come up with their own names for their Virtual Hours sessions, and I am excited to see that they do! For now, here is what I hare with people about who we are and what we do: Virtual Writing Hours is still here, still full of people showing up exactly as they are. We’ve created new links but our hours remain the same: two hours to write, reflect, listen, and hold space together online. No pressure to perform or explain yourself. Bring your stories, your unfinished thoughts, your exhaustion, your joy, your strange little notebooks and half-formed sentences. We welcome misfits, wanderers, late bloomers, soft hearts, loud hearts, and every kind of becoming. Come write with us. Your words are welcome here. -------------------------------------- We generally open the "doors" a few min early so people can get in and do any tech problem-solving before we get started. At Virtual Writing Hours, we meet and talk for 15-30 min, then the host (either Domi, Carol, Carmina, Melissa, or our wonderful compadre, Christina) gives a writing portal and we write for an hour. Then we come back and each one of us is invited to read for up to 2 min, talk about how the experience was and what was useful, etc. The listeners will offer reflection in the form of short phrases or list of words that stood out or spoke louder to them, We stay away from traditional feedback that looks like critique. This is a place to write and share and find people to write with who can reflect back to you what your writing is saying to them. I am hoping this to be a space where we can share interesting things you have read, fascinating art you have experienced, support for the work of other people, We are all in this together and I intend this space to be a web that can hold us all , I look forward to hearing from you! Domi

2 replies

NickiSep 30, 2026, 3:41 PM
yay!
Heidi MOct 6, 2026, 7:27 PM
I'm so grateful this is continuing! Thank you 😊