We recently connected with Ellen Weeren and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ellen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Most writers can’t live solely on their writing income. That’s certainly been true for me. While I build my career as a short story writer and novelist, I’ve created a business that does two things: it supports me financially and it supports other writers in doing the work. It’s a nice balance that keeps me active in the writing community, yet still engaged in my own work and ambitions.
Early in my career, some pretty remarkable writers generously shared their talents and knowledge with me. I felt so supported. Nancy Zafris and Bob Bausch called me a writer before I allowed myself to do the same. Their affirmations changed something in me and planted a seed about what writers actually need—someone in their corner and quiet spaces to disappear into their work.
My home sits on a West Virginia mountainside and backs to the Shenandoah River. The moment I walked into the backyard, I knew this space demanded to be shared. I’d stayed at retreats myself, my favorite being Trudy Hale’s Porches near Charlottesville. Those retreats showed me what was possible. Coupled with my own sense of what worked and what didn’t, A Reason to Write was born.
I started small by opening the writers’ apartment as an Airbnb as a dry run to understand what was needed and what wasn’t. Then I invited writers to test the space through fellowships. When writers come, I give each one a personalized journal, a tumbler, and stickers declaring their writerhood as a way to celebrate the dedication they have made to the work. I want them to feel from the moment they arrive that they are worthy of this time. About halfway through their stay, I invite them up for a happy hour or cup of coffee to hear about their project. Listening to writers describe everything they’ve accomplished in just a few days is genuinely magical.
The journey hasn’t been without detours. I was married when I moved here, and pretty quickly we separated and then divorced. I kept tripping over the realization that my life wasn’t at all what I thought it was and got stuck a few times on how to move forward in a more productive way. It took some time to catch my breath and find the way back to my dream. I wish I’d given myself more grace during that period, but I also think the retreat benefited from the slower pace. The spaces were crafted carefully, and that can’t be rushed. The feedback has been tremendous. Several writers have found new energy. Many stories have found homes.
I expanded my offerings to include workshops. Kathy Fish, Sarah Freligh, Tommy Dean, and several other well-known instructors believed in me and have taught here. But meeting spaces proved expensive to rent, so I closed in a covered side porch to create a workshop room. When I’m not using it for writing workshops, I rent it to local businesses for their meetings. Entrepreneurial coaching has become part of the mix as well.
Would I have sped any of this up? I don’t think I could have and I’m not sure I’d want to. I’m not yet making a full living, but what I’ve built is real, it’s growing, and writing thrives here. That feels like exactly the right foundation.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

A Reason to Write started as a handmade stationery business. I sold notecards at craft shows and took personalized orders for invitations of all kinds when my kids were little and I was a stay-at-home mom. I had no idea then that I’d picked a name I’d spend the next two decades growing into.
In 2008, my family moved to India, and that business wilted. So I pivoted to blog writing about our daily life in a world entirely different from anything we’d known. TripBase recognized the blog with an honorable mention for best expat blog, and twice named it one of the top ten expat blogs in the world. That was the first nudge I had toward becoming a real writer.
When we moved back to the United States, daily life proved less interesting to write about, so I made the interesting stuff up and started submitting those short stories to literary journals and writing contests. When the nos were more frequent than the yeses, I joined writers’ groups, attended workshops, and eventually earned an MFA from George Mason. Writing became my life. It also, at times, became a little isolating. That tension is something most writers know well.
Along the way, I met remarkable writers and instructors who graciously shared their talents and energy with me. I wanted to pass that forward. What started as a small online community has grown to over 830 writers from across the world. And when I found my home on a West Virginia mountainside backing to the Shenandoah River, I knew exactly how the next chapter would practically write itself.
Today, A Reason to Write is a retreat and workshop space where writers come to do serious work in a setting that makes it easy. I’ve been fortunate to have Kathy Fish, Sarah Freligh, Tommy Dean, and other well-regarded instructors teach here. I offer fellowships for writers who need the space and can’t yet afford it, and I work with college applicants on the essays that open doors for them. My reach now touches writers at every level, from emerging voices to bestselling authors.
What sets this apart, I think, is that I built what I needed. I’m not just a retreat host who stumbled into the writing world. I’m a working short story writer and novelist who understands from the inside what it costs to show up for the work, and what it means when someone makes that easier. Every choice here, from the welcome gifts writers receive when they arrive to the happy hour where writers share what they’ve accomplished, comes from knowing what writers actually need.
What am I most proud of? The 830 writers who found their way to this community. The stories that have found homes. The writers who arrived uncertain and left calling themselves writers. The name I picked by accident and have spent twenty years earning.
I believe everyone has a reason to write, and not just notecards but stories. That belief and seeing it in action means everything to me.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

The customers for my two main verticals, essay coaching (www.MakeMyEssayBetter.com ) and writing retreats and workshops (www.AReasontoWrite.com ), come to me largely through word of mouth. I’ll admit it made me cringe a little to use the word “customers” because many of the people I work with have become genuine friends and colleagues.
That kind of relationship doesn’t happen by accident. Alex Hormozi says you have to give stuff away to earn those early adopters and I’ve taken that to heart. I offer fellowships to writers who need retreat space and can’t yet afford it and I sponsor free workshops for the 830+ members of our Facebook community. I pay the instructor, which allows me to support some remarkable writers who are also terrific teachers. Community members attend for free. It’s also a genuine draw for new members to join the Facebook community (https://www.facebook.com/groups/996367410394228). At the start of each workshop, I mention the full range of offerings, including those that require fees, so people know what’s available when they’re ready.
The Facebook community is where a lot of the ongoing relationship lives. I celebrate every win, including anyone who publishes a story, essay, or book, which means they also get a room full of fellow writers who might just become their next readers. I share educational opportunities, grants, and contest openings regularly, so the community knows they can count on me as a useful resource, not just a place to spend money.
On LinkedIn, I write articles about the college essay process and the role of AI in applications, which puts me in front of exactly the right audience for my essay coaching work, including the parents making those decisions, and earns trust that I give tremendous care to the process. Instagram and Bluesky round out the picture for the broader writing community.
This past April, I also attended the Association of Writing Programs annual conference. It was an amazing opportunity to host a reading of some of my favorite writers and meet people from every tangent of the industry. Attending offered a level of networking I could not have found anywhere else.
The goal across all of it is to be someone worth following whether or not you’re currently a paying client.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

A lot of creatives don’t consider themselves entrepreneurs. That was certainly true for me, and it slowed me down more than I realized. It wasn’t until I moved to Jefferson County, West Virginia, that I realized what I do constitutes a real business. That realization, thankfully, changed everything.
I joined the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce and eventually became a board member. I also entered the Jefferson County Development Authority’s Jumpstart pitch competition, which forced me to define my business clearly, build a plan, understand my finances, and think seriously about marketing. I got a coach. I learned about taxes and accounting and all the things that feel overwhelming when you try to figure them out alone. That foundational work paid off in a number of ways. One being that I won the People’s Choice Award, which came with a cash prize.
Winning led to an invitation to judge the Spark Competition at Bridging Innovations, West Virginia’s annual conference for entrepreneurs. That led to giving a storytelling workshop at the same conference the following year, which put me in front of people I would never have met otherwise. One thing led to another, the way good things tend to when you finally show up in the right rooms.
The same has been true of attending the Association of Writers and Writing Programs annual conference. The writing world has its own ecosystem, and being present in person creates connections that no amount of social media can replicate.
My alma mater, George Mason University, has also been a huge support system. The English Department’s magazine ran a feature on A Reason to Write and spotlighted all I’m doing on their social media channels.
The biggest lesson I have learned is that it matters where you show up.
If you’re a creative reading this and you make something and sell it, you’re running a business. Finding your local entrepreneurial community might be the most useful thing you do this year.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.AReasontoWrite.com, www.MakeMyEssayBetter.com, www.EllenWeeren.com
• Instagram: @EllenWeeren1
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/996367410394228, https://www.facebook.com/ellen.weeren/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-weeren-b14a2029/
• Twitter: @EllenWeeren

Image Credits

Suzanne Bowers (woman at computer)
Elliott Donovan (headshots)
all others Ellen Weeren