Writing from Life

What will I learn?

Do you have a story to tell? Do you want to explore your own personal narrative? Perhaps you want to narrate your own life experiences, record family history or explore self awareness through writing. Session 1. The beginning of the journey: Introductions, expectations and ways of working • Set guidelines for the course including how to practice self care • Share reasons for being on the course • Go over course aims and objectives • Discuss why and what we want to write • Introduction to journaling Session 2. Haiku and Mindfulness: Writing from nature • Look at links between mindfulness and writing • Discuss examples of nature writing • Look at Haiku • Use mindfulness and nature as inspiration for writing own Haikus. Session 3. Writing from the senses • Try creative writing exercises that use our senses as a starting point for inspiration- including writing from touch, sound and taste • Start exploring own personal memories as material for writing • Explore poetic forms Session 4. Exploring self: Identity and personal narrative • Explore what makes us unique; identify stories from our own lives, people we know, or our ancestors. • Consider how where and who we come from affects our perspective and our writer’s voice Session 5. Intention/ Audience • How do we want to tell our story, is the story of our own life, another’s or about parts of life itself? • Consider audience- whether writing solely for ourselves, family, or a wider audience • Share and get feedback on ideas, and aims for our story. Session 6. Life chapters: Themes and perspective • Start looking at how to split our story into chapters • Consider any turning points and themes Session 7. Character and story structure • Consider traditional story structure • Explore characters via exercises, looking at fiction and people from our own life • Bring in work for last week’s session on chapters and consider the best way to structure these. S