Exploring the Feminine Heroic

I haven’t yet written about Engaging the Feminine Heroic, the workshop I attended recently. This was intentional. I find it somewhat difficult to describe in words, and I’m still processing all that took place.

Dara Marks and Deb Norton are an extraordinary team of teachers. They guided us on a journey not only of writing but of interior exploration, into our darkest places where we hold long-forgotten experiences and emotions. Our personal Underworld. A truly transformational experience. It would have been a frightening place had we not shared the experience. In a safe and sacred space, we supported and encouraged one another and continue to do so.

I wish I could have tapped into the deep well of creativity within my psyche that some of the others reached. I have never been good at timed writing practice because frankly, I’m a slow study. Once I get an idea, I can run with it, but it takes me longer than most people. (I thought of a great one on the drive home.) The stories these women pulled from their personal experience and crafted into fiction were nothing short of astonishing. I felt like an amateur in their midst. I’m still in awe.

But now that I’ve learned some of the tricks of going deeper into characters, I will practice them and hopefully enrich my stories.

I have long had a few ideas about really strong feminine characters, but now feel better equipped to explore them. I’m also excited to have learned some details about Persephone I hadn’t known before. Someday I will incorporate them into the revised version of my Goddess Connection story related to Persephone.

If you don’t get the chance to take the workshop, I encourage you to read Dara Marks’ Inside Story. 

You can also follow DebNorton on her Part Wild site. Check out the left side for specific writing posts, a virtual mine of writing richness.

Off to Nirvana

I'm outta here! Since last summer, I've waited for this day to arrive. I'm finally headed to writer's nirvana  - a four-day workshop run by Dara Marks and Deb Norton.

I'd hoped to have more written for my next Goddess Connection novel to take along and bounce off other writers. But at least I'll be able to gather ideas and talk shop.

The attention spans of the family grow short in a hurry when I go on (and on) about stories. And writing in general.

It's going to be so great to talk to others who understand the importance of people who don't truly exist except in our imaginations. Other writers get it, this obsession we have. They don't question our enthusiasm and passion, and they understand the process. They feel other writers' pain. And joy!

I'll return Sunday night but it'll take me longer to catch up with real life. It's going to be tough, after living in Nirvana for four days.

Have you hit any conferences this year? Workshops, in real time or virtual? Any on your Bucket List?

Class is dismissed and more congrats!

September is over, which means so is my class, Margie Lawson's Story Structure Safari.

Story structure can be daunting to map out. Maybe because I'm more of a visual learner, maybe because it's a little too much like math (and I have a math phobia) or maybe geometry?

But the Story Structure Safari class was very helpful, and included a few worksheets for mapping out story and character, so I'll use those for new stories.

If you Google "story structure worksheets" you can find plenty available online. Jami Gold has some good ones. Larry Brooks always has excellent pointers, and Jeremy Brown offers printable worksheets based on Brooks' advice. Blake Snyder offers tools for his Save the Cat system.

I had bought Larry Brooks' Story Engineering awhile back, and am about one third through that. Plus, I recently picked up Les Edgerton's Hooked, which focuses on grabbing readers and not letting them go.

As always, learning never stops. There's always room for improvement, so it's a lifelong journey.

It's tough to squeeze it in between life and writing and all the rest. But as Amelia Earhart says, "The more one does, the more one can do."

That's such a fantastic picture of her, isn't it? Supposedly a self-portrait. I see such determination in her eyes. And a bit of a challenge. She never let the impossible stand in her way.

We shouldn't, either.

Congrats to two more winners!

For the Sunset on Summer Fun blog hop, Nay Nay won my giveaway of the ebook of Cinderella Dreams

For Banned Books Week, the print copy of Kite Runner is on its merry way to Bronwyn Haynes



Happy reading! And thanks for visiting my blog.

Back to school

It's not just the kids who are headed back to school this year. In September, I am too. I signed up for Margie Lawson's Story Structure Safari workshop, and I can't wait to hit the books.

Actually I've been doing some advance study. On the advice of a very good author, I bought Dara Marks' Inside Story: The Power of the Transformational Arc. Though aimed at screenwriters, its concepts are great for novelists too. I've never read a better explanation of how theme is tied to plot. Using detailed analyses of several movies, she breaks each down step by step. If you don't send for the book, you should at least explore Ms. Marks' web site.

Her Engaging the Feminine Heroic workshop looked amazing to me when I first read about it, but this year's was only in California. Not doable. While writing this post, I noticed she had a 2014 workshop in Maryland, only a few hours from me. So I signed up! I am so excited! It's an intense, four-day writing workshop. I can't even tell you how much I can't wait to go.

If you're wondering, 'but she's published, why not just write more stories'?

Many reasons.

First, I'm never satisfied. I love the stories I write, and I pour my heart and soul into them. I don't want to follow any formula, but there is always more to learn.

I want to grow and improve. I need this kind of a boost.

I haven't been to a conference in a few years. I love them. I love hanging out with other writers, talking about stories. No one understands a writer like another writer. I was thinking of going to another conference next year, but when I saw Dara Marks', it trumped everything else. It will be intense. Hopefully it will help me break through to the next level.

That's always the goal - onward and upward. :)

I'm more excited than a kid at Christmas! Probably because this will likely encompass my Christmas, birthday and anniversary, but it will be worth it.