“An essential guidebook for anyone working at the intersection of the ordinary and the sacred.”
—Jamie Quatro, author of Two-Step Devil and Fire Sermon

Drawing on her experience as a spiritual director working primarily with writers and the Spiritual Direction for Writers® framework she created and developed, Charlotte Donlon offers something rare: a book that honors both the craft of writing and the care of the soul.

Structured around five essential movements—“Begin,” “Belong,” “Become,” “Behold,” “Bestow”—this book offers practical rituals and gentle companionship for the real conditions of your life. Whether you’re navigating resistance, recovering from burnout, or simply longing for a more sustainable practice, you’ll find permission to write from exactly where you are.

Writers of all backgrounds are welcome here. People of deep faith and profound doubt. Those who write every day and those who write in stolen moments. Published authors and private journalers.

Spiritual Direction for Writers doesn’t promise to make you more productive. It promises something better: to help you become more fully yourself, on and off the page. Because when writing helps make you a kinder, wiser, and more generous human being—when it opens you to what matters most—you’ve already succeeded.

Buy The Great Belonging

Buy Take More Retreats: Volume One

Buy The Great Belonging Project

A Christian in the Episcopal church who believes the tenets of the Nicene Creed, Charlotte employs a universal framework of belonging and connection in her spiritual direction work. She fosters meaningful, soulful conversations and gatherings that are welcoming to all—regardless of faith tradition or spiritual inclinations.

In 2020, Broadleaf Books published Charlotte's first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life is slated for release by Here Below Books in September 2026. Three volumes of Charlotte's "Guidebooks for the Soul"—Take More Retreats, The Great Belonging Project, and Belonging Through Art—will also be published in 2026.

As the founder of several initiatives—including Spiritual Direction for Writers®, Parenting with Art®, Belonging Through Art™, and Spiritual Direction for Creative Souls™—Charlotte has established herself as a thought leader and an authentic presence at the intersection of creativity and spirituality. Her essays have been featured in publications such as The Washington Post, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, and The Millions, among others. A new essay about art conservation, Joan Mitchell, and mystery is forthcoming with Image journal.

For those interested in staying updated on Charlotte's latest work, news, and insights, subscribe here and visit Flourish Anyway®, Charlotte’s online hub for all of her writing, spiritual direction, small press, gatherings, and other offerings.