Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.
|
|
Visit our
Articles, essays, tips, & techniques
for writing, editing, & finding your story
|
| Know someone who could use the information in this newsletter? Click "Forward email" at the bottom of the newsletter, or contact me and I'll add their name to the list. |
Coming
in
2014! 
Creating Stories that Make a Difference:
Advice & Guidance for Interpretive Writing and Writers
|
|
Behind the Scenes, part 6:
Creating a Writing Workshop
Here we are at part 6, the final installment in our series about creating a writing workshop and what happens in a good one. Later today, I'll send out a quick last-minute reminder about the Anza Borrego Foundation Nature Writing Workshop--registration closes at midnight tonight--but if you've enjoyed the series and are ready to take the plunge, click the ABF logo button to register.
If you've just arrived or want to take another look at parts 1 through 5, click the links below.
part 1: Where our plucky narrator discovers safe passage in a postcard
part 2: Terrorists, cancer, and writing for my life
part 3: The call of the cowbell
part 3.5: Lessons from the call of the cowbell
part 4: On avoiding flashbacks to eighth-grade English
part 5: The gift of time
Crossing the threshold of the cabin door into my first writing workshop that long-ago day in Moab was like diving off a cliff. I had no clue if I would--or could--soar.
Ray Bradbury says, "Build your wings on the way down," but what if you've never seen a bird, never touched a feather? What if all you know of flight is the story of Icarus, who flew so close to the sun that the wax of his wings melted, and he plummeted?
Icarus, proud son of Daedalus: at least he soared to the sun, maybe even touched it. And the stories don't say, but I like to think there were others ready to catch him when he fell. Others who helped patch his wings, who recommended methods better than wax, who gave him a safe place to figure out how to soar and how to use plummeting to good advantage.
So I dove, and found my wings, built them feather by feather, word by word, with the help of others.
That's how I think of my writing workshops, whether I'm presenting a short session at a conference or the immersive experience of a 4-day retreat. There are certain concepts and favorite writing exercises that I include in almost every workshop. Other ideas, examples, and experiments I include are in response to a particular topic or focus--nature writing and memoir are both types of creative nonfiction, yet each has its own flight dynamics. And on the first day of the workshop, all that can change. Different feathers, a new wind pattern, a steeper cliff, a hotter sun, a shortage of string and sealing wax, the discovery of new worlds, new stories.
Someone's draft triggers an unexpected discussion that takes us in a wholly unplanned and ultimately powerful direction. A writing exercise produces surprising results that beg to be pursued, explored, exploited. Challenges, worries, and frustrations swirl around us and our writing, demanding attention, changes in the itinerary, a shift in the agenda, a new approach.
One of my non-writing friends once asked me why I was so willing to shift and adjust my workshops on the fly. I spent so much time preparing ahead of time; didn't I hate having all that prep time go to waste?
It's about meeting the needs of my participants, I explained. Everything we do in the workshop is for and about writing--getting started, improving craft, expanding our creativity, figuring out ways for each individual to tell his or her stories in ways that will connect with their readers. My prep time is never wasted; it's the storeroom I fill with feathers and flying instructions.
Key takeways I build into my workshop
- Planning is important, preparation even more so.
- Flight paths are infinite in number and direction. You don't have to stay on just one.
- A single feather floats; wings fly.
Build your wings with us at the Anza Borrego Foundation Nature Writing Workshop.
Sign up now--
registration closes at midnight tonight,
Friday, January 17, 2014.
| |
'Til next time--
Judy
back to top |
(with optional group gathering Friday morning,
Jan. 31, before check-out)
(about 2 hours east of San Diego)
Give your writing a boost in 2014!
Join the Anza Borrego Foundation (ABF) and Palm Canyon Resort for a 4-1/2 day writing workshop led by Judy Fort Brenneman. Over the course of the workshop, you'll go on 2 field trips, have daily workshop sessions with different topics of focus, an optional one-on-one session with Judy, and time to write, reflect, and explore.
Unlike conferences where you only talk about writing, at the ABF nature writing workshop,
you'll write.
- Whether you write poetry or prose, nonfiction or fiction--
- Whether you're sure you're a "nature writer" or not sure what "nature writing" really is--
- Whether you're a beginner or a long-time story-maker--
REGISTER HERE
STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?Email Judy or call 970/416-6353.  | | Palm Canyon Resort, Borrego Springs, CA |
About the Instructor: Judy Fort Brenneman is an award-winning author, essayist, and playwright as well as a popular writing workshop leader and writing coach. Through her company, Greenfire Creative, LLC, she helps people, agencies, and organizations tell their stories. To learn more, visit our website or contact Judy
by email: judyb@greenfire-creative.comor by phone: 970/416-6353
back to top
|
|
 | we help you tell the story
|
|
|
|
|
|
