In this Post:
The AWA Method is a Unique Support for Writers
Upcoming Retreats and Workshops:
- Starts this week! September 2014 – August 2015 – A Novel Approach – Year Long Courses to get your book done
- Starts this week! Autumn 2014 – The Artist’s Way
- Starts this week! Autumn 2014 – Pen In Hand, Ink on Page
- October 19 – A Single day of SoulCollage
- 2 evenings and a full Saturday – Build Your Blog, Build Your Audience
- Autumn 2014 – Writers’ Sanctuaries in Durham Region
- April 2015 – ITALY – Radical Restoration
- 2015 – SoulCollage and Writing in Amherst with Pat Schneider 2015
- Ongoing: Working on my licensing as a Registered Psychotherapist
Upcoming Contests and Submission Deadlines
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The AWA Method of Writing
“Whether your purpose for writing is artistic expression, communication with friends and family, the healing of the inner life, or achieving public recognition for your art – the foundation is the same: the claiming of yourself as an artist/writer and the strengthening of your writing voice through practice, study, and helpful response from other writers.”
Pat Schneider Writing Alone and With Others
I have just returned from Chicago where, once again, I had the privilege of helping with the training of a group of brand new AWA facilitators.
“What is AWA?” you may ask (as so many writers do when I trot out those letters.)
AWA stands for Amherst Writers and Artists, and their philosophy is a simple one: every person is a writer, and every writer deserves a safe environment in which to experiment, learn, and develop craft. The AWA method, which is fully described in founder Pat Schneider’s book Writing Alone and With Others (Oxford University Press, 2003, and available at www.patschneider.com), provides just such an environment.
What I know, after 20 years of leading writing groups and workshops, is that the bedrock that writers need to stand on is belief in their capabilities.
The AWA method is proven to help a writer come to recognize and believe in his or her own unique voice, because of one of the method’s founding practices – when a piece of writing is brand new, we only allow comments on the elements that are already strong and working well in the piece. We don’t offer suggestions or questions or critiques until a writer is ready to ask for that kind of feedback.
Too much critiquing too early can destroy a writer’s confidence and/or make them adopt a voice that will earn them the praise they think they want. But it comes at the cost of their own true voice.
Is the affirmation offered to the writer in those early sessions phony?
Absolutely not. We comment on what’s working – and it is working – already. With enough learning about what they’ve done well, writers come to recognize for themselves what could be stronger in their work.
What I’ve seen over the years is that, with enough validation (and sometimes that takes months or even years), a writer finally comes to solidly believe in his or her own voice from a place of authenticity. And it’s at that moment when the writer says, “Okay, okay. I can write. NOW how can I do it better?”
And then they’re able to hear suggestions for what might make the piece stronger in a spirit of curiosity and interest, and from a place of strength.
There are other essential affirmations and practices of this method, and over the past week I was reminded over and over of how the boat of a workshop, with its crew of creative, tender writers could be steered off the shoals of individual hurt and group disharmony by sticking to the essentials of the method.
Maureen Buchanan Jones, the Executive Director of AWA, was our fearless (and peerless) leader once again, and this time my co-trainer was Aaron Zimmerman, the Executive Director of the New York Writers’ Coalition. I’ve been in awe of Aaron’s work for a long time, and I was absolutely delighted to share the training with him and learn from him.
And, while I’m mentioning Aaron’s work, I also want to mention our own Toronto Writers Collective here in the GTA begun two years ago by founder Susan Turk (another AWA affiliate!). The TWC offers free workshops for marginalized populations and unheard voices in the city.
This weekend, on Sunday, the TWC is having their celebration of the writing contest they do for the homeless. Come out and help us celebrate the diverse group of voices. Click here for more info.
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Upcoming Retreats, Workshops, and Year Long Courses:
A Novel Approach – A Year for your Book-Length Memoir starts TONIGHT September 17th at 7:00 p.m.
I love the work I do with writers in the expanse of a year and I’m always enthralled to see the changes that happen for them both personally and in terms of their craft as writers when they devote themselves to their books steadily for that length of time. Many of our authors have gone on to publication both traditionally or through self-publication after this course.
If you’re longing to commit to a long project, check out the options on ANovelApproach.ca, including the Online version of the 1 year first draft course (which doesn’t start until November).
We have also added A Novel Approach Second Draft to help authors who have finished a book length first draft and now need to craft it into a finished manuscript ready for sending out to agents and publishers or for self-publishing.
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I am so excited to be teaching this 12 week course (over two 6 week sessions).
If you (like me) struggle with claiming time to producing your own art or, even larger than that, if you have trouble creating the life you want for yourself, give yourself the gift of commitment for these 12 weeks this fall. I will be engaging with the work of wrestling with my own artistic anxiety, and am so looking forward to facilitating this group. You can read more about it and register HERE on the Blue Heron website.
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Pen in Hand, Ink on Page STARTS FRIDAY MORNING Sept. 19
I will be facilitating the Pen in Hand, Ink on Page (and bum in seat!) class at Blue Heron Studio again this fall. This course is made for people like me who need scheduled, committed time to produce their own work.
You can read more about it and register HERE.
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Build Your Blog, Build Your Audience
In Three Easy Lessons at the Whitchurch-Stouffville Library
Want to build or enhance your web presence? Want to use social media more effectively? Do you have something you want to explore in writing in interaction with an audience?
I will be leading a 3-part course to help you Build Your Blog – everything from designing and refining the idea/message of your blog to writing the posts and finding the right pictures to enhance the posts’ message, to physically programming the blog and launching it with WordPress.
The course will also touch on marketing and self-promotion including how to effectively build your social media presence to entice your audience. By the end of the last day you will have your blog up and running with content loaded.
This course is also suitable for someone who is interested in building a website.
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SoulCollage at Blue Heron – October 19th – a One Day Workshop
Some of you have asked about SoulCollage this fall. I’m not teaching any long courses, but I will be doing a one day workshop at Blue Heron Studio on October 19th. You can register for it HERE.
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One Day Writers’ Sanctuaries in Durham Region – near Port Perry / Uxbridge
There are still a few spaces in some of the Fall dates. Writers’ Sanctuaries are one day retreats to support creating new material as well as offering silent focus on whatever project you’re engaged in at the moment. They happen in our beautiful wild location 20 minutes north of Whitby. You can see all the dates HERE, and register here as well.
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Radical Restoration Writing and Yoga Retreat – ITALY 2015
In April of this year we did our first Radical Restoration Yoga and Writing Retreat in Italy. It was fantastic. Mornings of gentle and self-compassionate yoga under the superlative facilitation of Esana Lotfy and facilitated writing in a group, magnificent food, and afternoons spent relaxing, hiking, writing, napping and exploring the surrounding towns of Assisi, Gubbio and Perugia.
It was so fantastic we’re going back next year. The dates are already on the website HERE.
And you can read about this year’s adventure in detail HERE if you’re interested, or see a slideshow of the retreat centre HERE.
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Next Spring 2015: SoulCollage and Writing Retreat in Amherst with Sue Reynolds and Pat Schneider
This year the combined SoulCollage and Writing workshop co-led by Pat Schneider was such a success that we’re doing it again next year. Pat has done a blog about it and there are some pictures at this location HERE. Also, there’s a link there to be notified when we decide on next year’s dates.
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Sue Reynolds, Psychotherapist (in the supervision phase of obtaining my license)
As you may or may not know, I have been working on getting my registered Psychotherapist designation for some time. I am currently under supervision, which means that my education is mostly finished but I need to work through a designated number of “currency hours” in practice. I offer therapy sessions, but I have an experienced clinical supervisor that I report to.
Because I am in this phase of getting my license, my hourly rates are very reasonable. If you know of someone who would benefit from therapeutic counselling you are welcome to have them contact me.
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Upcoming Contests and Submission Deadlines
I particularly want to point out the Scugog Council for the Arts Literary Contest. This contest was allowed to lapse for a few years, but it has recently been revived. As with many lesser known contests, however, it’s likely that the quantity of submissions will not be as plentiful this year as they are for some other, more established, contests, and the prize money is decent. Don’t miss this one!
September 30 – Scugog Council for the Arts Literary Contest
Poetry or Short Fiction
September 30 – The Thomas Morton Memorial Prize
Poetry or Short Fiction
October 1 – Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Contest
October 22 - Fabulist Fiction Chapbook Contest
November 1 – Brick Road Poetry Book Contest
November 2 – San Miguel Writers’ Conference 2015 Writing Contest
poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction
November 15th – Call for Submission – Luna Station Quarterly publishes speculative fiction written by women.
January 31, 2015 – 2015 Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry
May 31, 2015 – Willow Springs Literary Magazine
Call for Submissions