What is your underlying philosophy?
Forget about being clever or educated or persuasive or having a great vocabulary. Quit trying to look so cheerful, so victorious, so worthy. Become a humble servant of your own truth, and your writing will become a vital force for healing, because once our truths are known and witnessed and no one in the room faints or screams, muscles in the mother ship relax. Muscles in your co-students ALSO relax, allowing them to dig deeper, to become more truthful themselves. The literary wealth is shared. The healing starts to spread. As intimate and subjective as it is, your truth is a facet of the human condition, and it will resonate with others.
One of the ironies here is that the MORE subjective and intimate your writing becomes, the more universal it becomes. It’s mysterious but it’s true. Even scientists are finding that writing is good for our bodies and our souls (read more about that here.) Read on if you have questions about my classes!
What happens in class? What’s the format?
This is NOT a class in composition — structure, plot, grammar — or getting an agent. I am happy to leave those aspects of writing to other teachers. But we DO talk a lot about what makes good writing.
A class usually looks like this:
I offer two in-class prompts. We usually write for 20 to 30 minutes per prompt. Then, 99 percent of the time, everyone reads what they’ve written out loud. In the spirit of the class being an invitation to truth-telling, I keep feedback to short, positive comments, especially in the early weeks. When emotions come up, I do my very best to provide people a safe space to have those emotions.
The small group of writers often get to know each other really well. Once in a blue moon, someone will pass on reading out loud — and that is totally fine. But I’ve noticed that people who pass consistently don’t tend to stick with the class.
This sounds kind of intimidating! Is it?
Well, airing all your dirty laundry in the first (or eighth) class isn’t required! And during our first meeting, everyone agrees that what is written and shared in the class will be confidential. The confidentiality agreement is key. Of course, if you see another student outside of class and want to discuss your own writing with them, that’s fine — it’s the other students, those who aren’t present, whose writing is off limits.
What is begotten in the workshop, stays in the workshop. Again, safety and
intimacy are so important that we all contribute in kind.
Okay, I’m up for it, but how do I know it will improve my writing?
Well, I know that students have used these prompts to write MFA theses in writing, and have also used them in memoir proposals — really, truth makes for
better writing. And so, mysteriously, does writing in a group. I do all of the exercises along with my students, and I get some of my best writing done
during class.
How much of a “writer” do I have to be to take a class with you?
With the exception of The Map to Better Writing class, you don’t have to be a writer at all. (And even then, all you really need is a some volition and adventure around your writing.) Former circus acrobats have rubbed elbows with award-winning authors in my class; sex educators have shared their writing with climatologists; motorcycle mamas have sat next to retired Danish ladies. It’s a mixed bag, and it works. I think that’s because we all have access to the truth, whether we are professional writers or occasional journalers.
Famed memoirists Elizabeth Gilbert or Mary Karr could sit right next to you at my table and all they would have access to is their own story. Which means we’re all equals here, when it comes to knowing and owning our own experiences. The class is designed as a big fat invitation to commit your own pile of subjective truths to the page, in good company.
Is the Map to Better Writing classes for only published or expert writers? What’s the difference between that class and the others?
The format and atmosphere of the class is more or less the same in all of my classes. But while each Heroine’s Journey class covers one step of the journey, and Some Light Over Here, Please? does one prompt at a time and moves on, the Map to Better Writing is a bit more of literary stretch, and we often work the same piece for two or three classes in a row.
Put as simply as possible, the Heroine’s Journey and Some Light Over Here, Please? classes get your material on the page, and the Map to Better Writing is to structure and polish your writing. The Heroine’s Journey class is open to all comers every time, but the Map to Better Writing classes requires an application.
Will there be homework?
No one is required to do homework, but for students who want to polish their in-class work at home, there are a couple of options: they may take 5 minutes at the beginning of class to read how they’ve developed their class work from the week before; and some classes take this farther by signing up to have their work formally critiqued in class. But most classes don’t do that. I occasionally hand out a reading that’s relevant to the next week’s exercises for people to peruse at home.
Can I plan a group class for co-workers or friends?
Yes! I do intensives for groups of coworkers, friends, or others. I can facilitate classes from 2 1/2 hours to four days in length.
Use the button below to schedule a date to talk about setting up your own intensive.
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