Putting Fun & Flow Back into Writing

Women’s Writing Workshop

NEW DAY, NEW TIME, NEW CONTENT!

Tuesdays: June 30 – August 18, 2020

10 am – 12 pm Pacific / 1 pm – 3 pm Eastern / 6 pm – 8 pm UK

Wherever you are in your relationship with writing, if writing is part of your heart’s yearning and the inner fabric of who you are but you keep stopping yourself or struggling, this workshop will help you move past judgments and into playful, joyful writing.

Some of you have used a journal for a long time and have perhaps taken creative writing classes. Or you may never have written but have a desire to get your voices and ideas on the page.

It’s possible that you used to love writing, but expectations and stress made you stop. (Why would you – or anyone – do something for the long term that’s not fun?)

You don’t have to be an experienced writer, and you may even be a beginner.

Perhaps you write to understand yourself, your world, and because voicing your life experience is an important act (it is!) even if it’s only for yourself.

Maybe you want to publish. There are many ways of doing that, and sometimes it starts with blogs, articles, or a short anthology.

What you write doesn’t have to be big, lofty or intellectual. But you do need to hear your inner voice and pay attention. Once you hear what wants to be written and follow its beckoning, writing gets easier, more adventurous and even intriguing.

Then, writing begins to flow, and flow is natural. You’ve seen it in kids at play who are completely in the moment and in the dance.

Once you understand that flow comes from the intimacy you build with yourself and your writing, it becomes abundant.

As you get closer to your essence, writing leads the way and guides you.

Workshop Format

My intention is for you to connect to the ease, delight and fascination of writing.

You don’t even need to bring a goal. The only goal will be to get out of your own way and listen for what wants to be written through you.

And you get to do it in the company of a safe circle of welcoming women and with me – encouraging you in person and gently.

In the 2 hours, I’ll be teaching for a period of 20 – 30 minutes, you’ll get a chance to experiment with new ideas and then write for 20-25 minutes. If you wish to, you can share your writing, read to the group when you’re done, talk about your experience, or let yourself be silent.

There will be no critiquing, crosstalk or advice-giving during the sharing portion. No comment on your style or content, though you may ask questions if you have any and you’ll definitely feel the openness of your fellow participants.

In this small group of women, we will witness and receive each other’s writing as offerings, as if they were our own.

My intention is that you…

Fall in love with writing as a process
Write easily, full of inspiration
Sense unmistakably what wants to come through you
Discover what you have to say and that saying it matters – even if you never publish a word
Feel the endless and infinite nature of the writing life and creativity in your bones
Know without a doubt that there is nothing to fix about you in order for you to write

This is for you, if you…

Love writing and want to do more of it
Keep stopping yourself before you even begin
Want to relate differently to your writing
Would like to change up your journal writing or to experiment with other forms
Want to write – no explanation or qualifiers needed

This is NOT for you if you…

Want to figure out why you aren’t writing and want a psychological answer to something that was never broken
Think putting pressure on yourself to write, publish, do it right or hurry will work for you – though it hasn’t reliably done so yet and has stressed you out
Want schooling on grammar, punctuation or style. Here, you are free to spell its/it’s and there’s/theirs anyway you want because the objective is flow and connection with your heart rather than perfection

Here’s what you can expect from me:

Gentleness, compassion and realness (authentic is overused, so I’m going for real)
An introduction to many ways of opening doors to writing and to being receptive to intuition, inspiration, and possibility
A safe and gentle environment where you can playfully test out your voice. We will receive you with care and understanding.
The absence of shaming, blaming, criticizing or any other dehumanizing acts
No teachy, preachy or pushy behaviour – and total permission to poke me if I lose my bearings or have an off day

By the end of the 8 weeks, you’ll be able to:

Build a more playful, joyful and sustainable writing life
Engage in a gentle, loving relationship with yourself and your writing as a partner
Allow writing to come through you
Let go of pushing and forcing yourself to write
Relax into the flow of writing

From recent participants:

After 8 weeks of writing guidance that you have gifted me, the negative voices in my head have become quieter. This workshop empowered this ‘lost’ creative to break through the voices in her head that whispered, ‘You are not good enough, you need a writing degree to write, or, you are lofty to even think about writing.’ The conversation has shifted from words of disapproval and self-admonishment, to words of empowerment, joy and enthusiasm for my future writing endeavours. For this I am grateful.”

-K.E.

I was sorry when the workshop ended. I felt encouraged, supported and challenged and was able to appreciate my own writing. I would love to take another writing workshop with Miriam and would recommend it to anyone looking for encouragement and support in a creative, non-threatening and safe way.”

-S. R.

Dates

Tuesdays: June 30, July 7, 14, 21, 28, August 4, 11, 18

Time

10 am – 12 pm Pacific / 1 pm – 3 pm Eastern / 6 pm – 8 pm UK

Cost

$250.00 Canadian (tax included); $250.00 USD (non-Canadians)

Payment

Canadians: e-transfer to miriamlinderman@gmail.com
Non-Canadians: by cheque

Before You Register

Please answer a few questions in the form below. I want to ensure that this workshop will meet your expectations and needs.

Once you do that, I’ll contact you and we’ll move forward.

Copy and paste these questions into the message box below. Include any questions for me.

Your country and time zone and preferred days and times. (Morning, afternoon, evening?)
If this workshop could be exactly what you need, what would that be?
What’s the real challenge with respect to writing for you?

Future Workshops

If you want to be notified about future workshops, let me know in the form below. Use the form to let me know what other times from Monday to Friday would work for you.

If I get enough interest in an early evening (Pacific) weekday class, I will create one.

You’ll find more posts here and more about me on this page.