1: Introductions
Learning Spirals and the Craft of Writing
- Collage by J. Outram
Lesson #7
Consider:
To conclude unit one we will explore the nature of learning. What is learning? How do you define learning? How do you know if you are learning? Is there a difference between the act of learning to write and the act of writing?
For the last fifteen years I have been learning to write and I have been writing. Learning moves through our lives like a spiral. Learning winds its way through our subconscious. Learning spins our thoughts in different directions. Learning tiptoes up the spiral staircase of our beings or flies up into the gravitational pull of a life-changing twister. Learning happens whether we are aware of it or not.
Mary Catherine Bateson introduced me to the idea of learning as a spiral. In Peripheral Visions, Bateson demonstrates how learning moves through themes. We move through lessons, we pick up from them what we need, we move on, and then loop back to the theme in another ring of the spiral to deepen our learning. Continue reading
Space, Place, and Imagination in a Writer’s Home
Lesson #6
Where do you feel most inspired? Is inspiration connected to place?
Listen:
Here is today’s audio clip:
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The Creative Mind, Lesson 6
Consider:
How do the spaces we use for creative work affect us? Do our environments inspire us? Or is inspiration a state of mind that is not grounded in place? Where do you do your best writing? Continue reading
A Writer’s Compass Should Always Point to Truth
- Collage by J. Outram
Lesson #5
Listen:
Here is today’s audio introduction:
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The Creative Mind, Lesson 5
Consider:
Following the success of her novel “Ladykiller,” Charlotte Gill turned to non-fiction, to writing about her life, to re-engage her creative energy. Emily Dickinson reveals her own inner world through her poems. The speakers, although distinct, open the windows to Dickinson’s seclusion and understanding of social relations. Alice Munro’s short stories and novels offer glimpses of small towns in Canada that Munro has lived in or visited. Natalie Goldberg and Anne Lamott weave personal moments of insight with writing advice. Who we are and what we write are closely related. Continue reading
Your Ideas Will Multiply with the Rule of Five
Lesson #4
Listen:
Collage by J. Outram
Please take some time to listen to an audio introduction to today’s lesson:
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Review:
Often I feel more creative when I am around other creative people or things. Whether it is a good movie, an inspired chair, or a musician with a natural cadence in his voice–the arts in all its forms gets my juices flowing. Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, suggests regular artist’s dates, scheduled time to connect to what inspires you.
This online workshop is about the creative mind. It is about connecting to your muse, opening up to good ideas, and finding your voice, your message, your way. This week we have been exploring our relationship with writing and the nature of creativity. We have also tried to come together as an online learning community.
Some of you have joined in the comments and some of you are playing with exercises independently and some of you are curious about this adventure but not quite ready to commit, dipping your toe into this online workshop through quick glances at the day’s topic. As with any course, it will become what you make it.
I have learned that education, like creativity, does not exist in a silo. Learning and creativity are organic and always in motion, changing with each new connection. By sharing our learning on this site or in our circles of influence we add new connections and new possibilities. Continue reading
Creativity is to a Writer Like Water is to a Lilypad
Lesson #3
Listen
Collage by J. Outram
Click here to listen to an audio introduction to today’s lesson:
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The Art of Brainstorming
Ways to Brainstorm:
- Go for quantity. Set a numerical goal.
- Encourage wild ideas. The right idea often flows from the outlandish.
- Be visual. Pictures unlock creativity.
- Defer judgment. There’s no such thing as a bad idea.
- One conversation at a time. Listen, be polite, and build on others’ suggestions. Continue reading
Afraid of the Page But We Show Up and Write Anyway
- Collage by J. Outram
Lesson #2
Listen:
Click here to listen to an audio introduction to today’s lesson:
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Introducing The Creative Mind Online Workshop for Writers
- A Collage by J. Outram
Lesson #1
Overview of Workshop
Writers and artists are creators. The most common interview question posed to any writer or artist is where do your ideas come from? Ideas seem mysterious and selective. At the core of good writing is a good idea. Before we write we must determine what we will write about. Before we spend hours committed to improving our craft we must show up to the page and write. Natalie Goldberg describes this as “free-writing.” W.O. Mitchell calls it “freefall.” Julia Cameron says “writing is like breathing.”
By letting go of the inner critic and the hunger for success, we focus on the page. We focus on flow, entering a state of being where time and place melts away. The ideas rise and splash and play like whales.
This online workshop for writers focuses on The Creative Mind.
Learning Goals:
- To form an online learning community of writers
- To use free writing as an entry point to flow through daily writing practice
- To gain awareness of the nature of creativity
- To understand and utilize the muse Continue reading
