Write
Each week for 8 weeks, writers are given an evocative and inspiring writing prompt, as well as a focusing meditation to help them clear their thoughts and prepare to write.
Prompts offer a variety of opportunities for writers to experiment with different types of writing (fiction, essay, poetry, etc).
Freewriting is encouraged, as it enables writers to get their ideas flowing, to get access to their best and strongest ideas, which are often hidden behind other “fluff” they might otherwise disregard.
Unlike a class in which students are taught basic principles but left to apply them on their own, the workshop format allows participants to practice in real time the process of writing without judgment, sharing written pieces in a safe space, and getting feedback on the piece.
Everyone is born with creative genius. If you doubt this, find small children just learning to express themselves – they put language together in a way that is entirely their own, fresh and unusual.
Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.
Sylvia Plath
When we write our truth we are healing the wounds that life gives us.
Share
Participants then have the opportunity every week to practice what, for many writers, is the hardest part of writing: sharing their work with others. All work is treated as fiction, to respect the privacy of the writer and also to focus on the writing rather than the writer.
While sharing what you’ve written is known to be intimidating, it is also an important and rewarding part of the act of writing. This workshop is an excellent way to get comfortable doing this, since everyone (including the leader) shares freshly written work weekly as well, so no one is alone in taking that risk.
Sharing one’s piece with others also gives the writer a glimpse of the variety of ways different people in the world will hear and interpret their writing, which will help the writer as they make decisions of how to effectively get their point across to readers.
Finally, writers receive feedback from other workshop participants, focusing on what is working in the piece, what is strong, and what stays with the listeners.
One of DHW’s basic principles is that everyone is born with creative genius, and workshops are designed to support the uncovering of this genius in each piece. The emphasis on exclusively positive feedback nurtures creativity, offering the writer the best chance to access their strongest ideas, which are often hidden behind self-criticism and anxiety.
“Genius is hidden everywhere; it is in every person, waiting to be
evoked, enabled, supported, celebrated.
It is in you. It is in me.
Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare’s vision. Dickinson wrote Dickinson’s. Who will write yours, if you do not?”
Pat Schneider,
Writing Alone and With Others
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About me
Katie has a BA in English and an MA in Soul Care and Spiritual Formation. She is trained in the AWA method to lead writing workshops. She enjoys swimming, biking, running, and triathlons. She has published multiple poems and essays in Heart, Soul, Pen and other online and print publications. Katie believes that when we unlock our creativity, we soar; and every human person was made to soar in some way. Every voice is precious, even while not every voice has been given the same opportunity to be heard. She cares deeply about helping others to discover their creative voice, and then free it up to find out where it takes them.
