COURSES

Writes of Life Series™
Original ©2004 Word Journeys, Inc. All rights reserved.

Written and Facilitated by Bob Yehling
Edited by Barbara Stahura & Satia Lahi

Overview
IN EVERY SENTENCE WE WRITE, WE HAVE AT OUR FINGERTIPS THE ENTIRETY OF OUR life’s experiences, conversations, travels, readings, observations, dreams, traumas, tragedies, tests and triumphs. It doesn’t matter whether we write letters, journals, poems, essays, short stories, novels, screenplays, lyrics, autobiography or books about others.

The Writes of Life™ Online Course takes us into the greatest and richest story material we possess—our own life experience—then guides us as we apply our stories to our works. The course is designed for writers of all abilities, of all genres. Whether you’re working on a book or other piece of writing for publication, kindling new ideas, switching gears from non-fiction to fiction, or getting your feet wet, the ten sessions meet you on the middle of your road—and take you further than ever into the vast richness of the writing and storytelling experience.

We’ve all heard the well-worn cliché, “Every person has a novel inside them.” What a gross understatement! We all have thousands and thousands of tales within us. Let’s put them to use—and reach the depths of pure, authentic writing in the process!

Each session is designed to take one week for a busy person to complete. It includes six sections: Commentary, Concepts, Discussion Questions, Exercises, Apply & Integrate, and Homework. Participants are strongly encouraged to email the facilitator whenever they have questions during the course, to participate in the discussion questions (we will employ an interactive blackboard for these sessions), and to present homework for review and comments.

Once you have registered, we will provide you to the link on that leads to the online course. This is for your eyes only. Just go to the link, click on, and enjoy the Writes of Life™ experience! To register.

The Sessions
Session One: Our Life Experiences are Our Stories: Cultivating the rich fields of our inner, outer, imaginative, spiritual and emotional lives to uncover ideas and stories—then developing and applying them.

Session Two: The Circle of Life: A study of the facets of ourselves that are available and accessible every moment: Dreams. Intuition. Presence. Observation. Senses. Imagination. How writers use these aspects, and how they work for your material.

Session Three: The Creative Dream: A journey to that sacred writing junction of creativity, skill and intuition where time seems to stand still, ideas and stories flow freely, characters come to life and apparently unrelated concepts connect to form great stories. Meet your Muse.

Session Four: Practice Presence: In any art, the point of power is in the present. Tips and techniques to turn your writing into a celebration of the present moment—whether it be “live” essays or historical fiction.

Session Five: The Perpetual Voyage of Discovery: When we regard every experience in our life as a discovery, adventure, or voyage, we enter into the driving force of all good writing—the journey. All our voices, styles, skills and ideas then fall into place.

Session Six: Microscopes & Telescopes: Emerson said, “The core of nature is in the heart of every man.” The art and craft of inner and outer observation, and how to observe so deeply that your words breathe life into what you are describing.

Session Seven: The 12 Senses of Writing: Famed anthroposophist Rudolf Steiner claimed that we have 12 senses, not five. We explore how the 12 senses enliven and amplify our stories, essays, journals and poems—and put them into immediate action.

Session Eight: Tapping Your Gold Mine: Each of us carries thousands of stories within us. Work with and tap the gold mine of our five layers of memory—ancestral, cultural, personal, cellular and intuitive—and watch the stories emerge, then weave them into your work.

Session Nine: The Art & Craft of Fine Storytelling. Use your life experience, skills and imagination to write true and fiction stories that circle your readers around the fire of your words—and keep them coming back for more.

Session Ten: Finishing Up: The world’s file cabinets, closets and attics are filled with half-completed manuscripts. Why were they never finished? A look at how to keep the motor running strong throughout a book or writing project, and secrets from the best “finishers” in the literary world.

Contents of Each Session

Commentary: A written or spoken lecture on the topic of the week. Spoken lectures last about 15 minutes; written lectures take just a few minutes to read.
Concepts: A breakdown of the key topics and techniques covered in the lecture, along with examples of how they’re used. We look at how you can apply the concepts to your work.

Discussion Questions: An interactive e-mail and bulletin board service on which we “discuss” your questions or thoughts concerning the lecture and concepts.

Exercises: A series of writing exercises to help you integrate and utilize the concepts in your writing every day.

Apply & Integrate: Tips on integrating these concepts into your particular genre or work-in-progress. We will focus on creative nonfiction, memoir, essays, poetry, travelogue, journaling, autobiography/biography, magazine and book journalism, historical fiction, mainstream fiction, teen/young adult and literary fiction.

Homework: Each session there will be a homework assignment—a story, essay or narrative