THE FOUNTAIN SUMMER INTENSIVE

No, you don't need a fully formed idea to participate. Many students begin with just a character, a setting, or a general concept. The first week of our curriculum is specifically designed to help you establish strong foundations and develop your initial concept into a workable premise. Our neuroscience-based approach helps you tap into your creative intuition to discover the story that only you can tell, rather than forcing ideas that don't resonate with your authentic creative voice.

Absolutely! The daily prompts and structural guidance work beautifully for memoir projects. Memoir writers will benefit from the same narrative techniques that make fiction compelling—character development, scene-building, thematic exploration, and strong endings. The Fountain's approach to accessing creativity through visualization, depth work, and neural rewiring is especially valuable for memoir writers navigating personal material and developing the self-trust needed to tell their stories.

Not at all! We've designed this Intensive to be accessible to writers at all levels. Beginners will appreciate the clear, step-by-step approach that guides you through each stage of the writing process. The daily structure provides both support and accountability, which is particularly helpful if you're new to creative writing. More experienced writers can adapt the prompts to their existing projects and benefit from our unique integration of neuroscience and creativity principles that will offer new perspectives on their established practice.

Life happens, and we understand that maintaining perfect consistency for 100 days is challenging. The live Tuesday Zoom sessions will help you reconnect with the material and community if you miss days. All Zoom sessions are recorded, so you can catch up if you miss a meeting. The curriculum is designed to be flexible—you can adapt it to your own pace or spend a few days catching up when needed. The Fountain's approach emphasizes self-compassion and building sustainable creative habits, not perfectionism. The curriculum (over 100 pages of instructional content by Chelsea and Kim) is yours to keep forever and revisit whenever you'd like. 

We recommend setting aside 60-90 minutes each day for optimal results. This includes time to read the day's materials, reflect on the Fountain Principles, and complete the writing prompt. However, even 30 focused minutes will yield progress. The Tuesday Zoom meetings require a 2-hour commitment (4-6pm PT), but recordings are available if you can't attend live. Remember that consistency matters more than duration—brief daily engagement will produce better results than occasional marathon sessions, as it helps form neural pathways that make creativity a natural part of your daily life.

Yes, we offer a payment plan to make the Intensive more accessible. You'll find payment options available on the checkout page.

So happy you asked! Hi, we're Chelsea and Kim, bestselling and award-winning authors of five works of fiction. In addition to our writing careers, we have devoted a collective 30+ years to teaching fiction and non-fiction writing in universities, MFA programs, through institutions like Tin House and Catapult, and have worked individually with writers as writing coaches and freelance editors. Many of our clients have gone on to find agents and secure books deals, but we believe our highest purpose is creating space for writers to receive the deeper emotional support necessary to traverse a writing career and also become the attuned noticers of their inner and outer worlds necessary for for great writing. After teaching together since 2023, we knew we each brought something special to the table and that what we created together was greater than what we could create alone. The Fountain was born in March 2025 and we are now thrilled to offer these intensives as a way to continue teaching in the style we have found yields the most dynamic results. We can't wait to meet you!