UPCOMING OFFERINGS
Inlet Write-Alongs
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october SESSION: THURSDAY the 8TH
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november SESSION: WEDNESDAY the 4TH
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DECEMBER SESSION: MONDAY THE 7TH
We meet about once every month to open an inlet into our work and write in shared solitude.
Connection with the creative process can feel tenuous even on our best days. As we navigate our craft, it’s natural to gaze upon the horizon and feel everything from hope to confidence to monumental overwhelm. Some days we reach “x” marks the spot; other days, drift off course. Workshopping can help; so can studying technique. But the most important skill we can cultivate is the habit of return. Approximately once a month, write alongside me and other Inlet writers in shared solitude. Bring your writing project, find an inlet into your work, and carry your craft forward. You may be surprised how much distance you cover.
Fee: $199
Metaphorestry for Writers: The Nature of Your Themes
NEXT DATES November 10, 17, 24, Dec 1, from 6-7:30pm CT
Inhabit the natural world with imaginative play, even awe, and find deep connection to themes of a personal nature–the themes that matter to you and underly your writing. Discover how a fascination with near nature—or nature anywhere—can be cultivated through metaphor, and find creative ways to entangle metaphor and nature with your writing practice. For writers of all genres.
Themes, big ideas, what we really want to say, can evaporate into atmosphere when we try putting them into words. Metaphors help make sense of the unsayable–and connect the unknown to the know, theme to your work. They’re more down to earth, nature metaphors in particular–the roots of trees and deep foundations, rocks and solidity, squirrel holes and productivity. Rather than than strain for the answer to what your writing’s about, look out a window. Or go outside, “in the wild” of the sidewalk or a neighborhood park, your backyard, the boonies, and ask, what metaphors of nature or for nature speak to you.
What is metaphorestry? Put your hand on the bark of a tree and feel your own thick skin. Push a boulder and experience steadfastness in the face of pressure. Feel the wind blow and sense change in your life. Metaphorestry asks you to make a connection with nature (sit, push, feel—interact) and through that connection point, keep going deeper by extending, developing, pondering and playing with metaphor. Join us to awaken your natural capacity for metaphor. Be more present in nature—and your creative life.
Sliding Scale Fee: $35-$50
Inlet Mindful Writing Retreat
DATES TBD; 12:30-4:45pm ct on zoom
Write with ease. Write with dis-ease. Invite kindness towards your inner critic. Be present with whatever arises. Make room for it all.
We’ll cultivate a gentle attention to our writing processes through practices that include simple breath awareness, patient inquiry around difficulties, and metaphor-based mindfulness (using helpful metaphors to frame our writing practice and contemplate our progress without judgement). Reflective writing prompts, group discussion, practical takeaway tips, and short meditations will help you tap into the wisdom within.