📝 THE FOUNTAIN FLOW 📝

May 29, 2025 Edition

👋 HELLO, WRITERS!

Can you believe it's almost June? This week marks a pivotal moment in our community—the final days before our Summer Intensive begins, and the energy is palpable. The cohort that's forming is shaping up beautifully—writers at every stage of their journey, all united by one powerful intention: to write a full draft of their books. We're beyond excited to witness the magic that happens when this particular group comes together.

⏰ FINAL CALL: SUMMER INTENSIVE BEGINS THIS SUNDAY!

Registration closes Saturday, May 31st—only 2 days left.

Register Now! 

If you've been sitting with the possibility of joining us for the Summer Intensive this is your moment! The next 100 days will pass regardless—the question is whether you'll use them to finally write your book.

This intensive emerged from a simple question: What if we approached book-writing not as a test of endurance, but as an act of devotion? What if, instead of pushing against resistance, we learned to dissolve it at the neurological level? Here's what makes this experience unique:

• 14 Live Zoom Coaching/Craft Sessions with Chelsea and Kim (Tuesdays, 4-6pm PT, all recorded)
• 14 Weekly Accountability Group Check-ins
• A Dedicated Virtual Community to keep you connected to your cohort
• 100 Days of Targeted Daily Curriculum specifically designed to guide you to completion
• 14 Custom Craft Clearings created exclusively for this intensive

100 days is the optimal timeframe for creating lasting neural changes. Through consistent practice, you'll literally rewire your brain's approach to writing, moving from resistance to flow, from self-doubt to self-trust.

Chelsea and Kim are both running their own book projects through the intensive alongside you! After months of creating this container, we're thrilled to finally get to use it ourselves.

Space is limited by design, and we're nearly at capacity. Join an incredible, dedicated group of writers. If you've been waiting for the right moment to commit to your book, this is it.

Register Now Before Saturday's Deadline →

🎙️ DIVE DEEPER WITH CONNECTED: OUR PODCAST FOR THE WHOLE WRITER

As our members have been getting deeper into The Fountain's practices, we found ourselves wanting a companion to the platform. We're in the very early days of our journey into podcast-land, but we're already so thrilled about CONNECTED—a space where we explore our philosophy, answer your questions, and offer another layer of support as you navigate your creative journey. 

Our first two episodes are available now on Apple Podcasts, and through the Podcast tab on The Fountain website. Fountain Members can also watch videos of these talks in the Classes tab. We think these are perfect companions for your writing this summer:

Episode 1: Why Craft Isn't Enough: The Missing Piece for Writers In our inaugural episode, we reveal why traditional writing instruction often falls short and how The Fountain bridges that gap. We explore the roots of creative resistance and introduce our unique approach to unlocking authentic creative flow. This episode also offers a deep dive into what makes our Summer Intensive different from any other writing program.

Episode 2: Taking Imperfect Swings on the Page and in Life Our second episode tackles the neuroscience of perfectionism and why embracing "imperfect swings" leads to greater creative output. We also answer burning questions from our community about handling unsupportive friends, protecting your work, and balancing writing with a busy life.

✨ CLEARINGS SPOTLIGHT: THE SCIENCE BEHIND OUR SIGNATURE PRACTICE

If you've been wondering what makes The Fountain different from every other writing program out there, the answer lies in our Clearings—tools for creativity that simply don't exist anywhere else in the writing world. These signature guided audio experiences are the key to why members report such profound shifts in their creative process.

What Are Clearings? Clearings are custom-created audio journeys that combine guided visualization, meditation, and binaural frequencies to help you access deeper states of creativity and self-trust. Each Clearing is specifically designed to address common creative blocks and rewire limiting beliefs at the neurological level.

The Science Behind Clearings:

• Binaural Frequencies: We make our frequency tracks in-house with a binaural synthesizer. By playing slightly different frequencies in each ear, we create a third frequency that your brain naturally synchronizes with, inducing states optimal for creativity and relaxation
• Neuroplasticity Activation: Visualization engages the same neural networks as actual experience, allowing you to literally rewire your brain's response to creative challenges
• Nervous System Regulation: By activating your parasympathetic nervous system—your body's natural relaxation response—we create the optimal internal conditions for creative expression to flow 

How Writers Use Clearings:

• As a pre-writing ritual to drop into flow state
• During breaks to reset and refocus
• When facing specific blocks or resistance
• For processing emotions that arise during deep creative work
• To strengthen self-trust and quiet the inner critic

Curious? Try a free Clearing now.

🧠 NEUROSCIENCE NUGGET

As you prepare for sustained creative work this summer—whether in our Summer Intensive or your regular practice—it's helpful to understand the concept of "cognitive load." Your brain has limited processing capacity at any given moment. When we try to simultaneously manage our inner critic, craft decisions, and the emotional weight of our stories, we often hit creative paralysis.

This is why The Fountain's approach works: by using Clearings to process emotional blocks and rewire limiting beliefs before you sit down to write, you free up cognitive resources for the actual creative work. It's like clearing your desk before starting a project—except you're clearing neural pathways instead of physical space.

👩‍💼👩‍💼 FOUNDERS' CORNER

Chelsea: As I prep my own novel for the Summer Intensive, I've been noticing how my body literally vibrates with a different frequency when I know I'm about to enter deep creative work. It's like every cell remembers what's possible when we commit fully. I've been using our new Connecting to your Book Clearing on repeat this week, and each time I'm amazed by how it quiets the noise and brings me back to why this story matters. The fact that I get to do this work alongside all of you—in the very container we built—feels like the ultimate creative dream come true. If you're on the fence about joining us, ask yourself: What would it feel like to hold your completed manuscript 100 days from now?

Kim: I've been thinking a lot about the difference in mindset between writing short fiction and writing a novel. I spent more than a decade exclusively writing short stories, so when it came time to write We Were the Universe, something fundamental shifted in my perception. Short stories showed me how to focus deeply and work with precision and compression, but a novel required those same attributes plus a completely different mindset—learning to see the big picture, to trust the long arc, to hold multiple threads without immediate resolution, to sit in the uncertainty of not knowing how it would all come together. The practices we've built into the Summer Intensive specifically support this kind of challenging, sustained, expansive thinking. I absoutely can't wait to take this pile of pages I've been screwing around with and plug them into this program!

📅 UPCOMING EVENTS

Tomorrow! The Fountain Monthly Meetup: The Connective Query Letter Friday, May 30th at 10 AM PT (Members Only) Our final meetup before the Summer Intensive focuses on approaching the query process from a place of connection rather than desperation. Even if you're not ready to query yet, this session will help you understand how to build authentic relationships in the publishing world. RSVP in the Vision Holders Community.

Note: This meetup is exclusively for current Fountain members. Not a member yet? Join today to access this session, all recordings, and a growing library of our many resources.

✍️ FEATURED PRACTICE: ONE-DAY DEEP WORK PREPARATION RITUAL

As we move into summer writing, this one-day practice will help prepare your entire system—body, mind, and creative spirit—for the journey ahead. Set aside 2-3 hours to move through this complete ritual.

Morning: Building Awareness (30 minutes)

1. Sit comfortably with a notebook and timer
2. Set timer for 10 minutes: Close your eyes and scan your body from head to toe, noticing any areas of tension or holding
3. Set timer for 10 minutes: Write continuously about this prompt: "What stories am I telling myself about my ability to complete this project?" Don't edit—let everything pour out
4. Set timer for 10 minutes: Write about what genuinely excites you about your project. What scenes, moments, or ideas make your heart race?

Midday: Creating Sacred Space (45 minutes)

1. Choose and clear your writing space—even if it's just a corner of a table
2. As you organize, repeat: "I'm making room for my creative work"
3. Place one meaningful object in this space to represent your project
4. Sit in your cleared space for 10 minutes doing nothing but breathing and feeling the possibility
5. Write a commitment on a card and place it where you'll see it daily: not a commitment to perfection, but to showing up

Afternoon: Nervous System Reset (45 minutes)

1. Lie down with one hand on heart, one on belly
2. Take 10 deep breaths: inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 8 counts (this activates your rest-and-create response)
3. With each exhale, release one specific fear about your project
4. Spend 20 minutes in visualization:
   • See yourself sitting down to write with ease
   • Feel the words flowing onto the page
   • Experience the satisfaction at the end of each session
   • Hold your completed manuscript in your hands
5. Before rising, place both hands on your heart: "I trust my creative instincts. My unique voice matters."

Evening: Integration Letter (30 minutes) Write a letter to your creative self:

• Acknowledge three times you've completed something that once felt impossible
• List the strengths you bring to this project
• Promise yourself one thing: that you'll meet yourself with compassion on the hard days
• End with: "Tomorrow, we begin."

This practice addresses all three centers of knowing: your thinking mind, your emotional body, and your physical system. By tomorrow, you'll have cleared the path for your deep work to begin.

Remember: Saturday is the absolute last day to register for our Summer Intensive. After months of preparation, we're thrilled to guide you through this experience. If you've been waiting for a sign to finally write your book, this is it. Your future self—and your future readers—will thank you. Join us!

Warmly,
Chelsea and Kim