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Summer
2007 I'll be teaching the following
classes at the Loft: The Writing Habit (2 sections) and Improvisational
Fiction. The classes and workshops previously offered
through Imagination Ink are on temporary hiatus. However, if you have a
group of 8 or more people who are interested in the Dancing in the Dragon's
Den class, the Deepen Your Creativity series workshops or another
class/workshop, send me an email
and we'll discuss what can be arranged.
For shorter presentations, take a look at my
speaking schedule.
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The
Writing Habit at The Loft |
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| Talent is a gift we're
all given to one degree or another. Techniques can and must be
learned. But what really makes a writer is the habit of writing. In
this course, you will identify your writing (or non-writing) habits
and adapt them to fit your writing goals. Our weekly check-in will
give you safe and supportive witnesses to help you become
accountable to yourself. We'll use a variety of techniques including
in-class writing, discussions, two-person speak-and-listen, guided
imagery and action mapping to explore the creative process, identify
your priorities, generate plans, cultivate sustainable habits and
develop a support network to help you maintain your momentum.
Participants are encouraged to share the results of their new
writing habits during check-ins, but because this class is focused
on the process, we will not critique each other's writing.
Location and Times:
The Loft or Washington County Library in Woodbury
Section A Meets at the Open Book: Tuesdays, June 5 thru July 31, 2007 (8 weeks)
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (no class the week of July 3).
Section B Meets at the R. H. Stafford branch of the Washington
County Library, Woodbury: Thursdays,
June 7 thru August 2, 2007 (8 weeks) 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. (no class
the week of July 5)
Register: Contact The Loft 612-379-8999 or
www.loft.org
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Improvisational Fiction
at The Loft |
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If you wait for inspiration to strike, you can spend a lot more time
waiting than you do writing. If drive yourself to grind out pages
anyway, you drain your creative energy and not produce the sparkle
you want. This class gives you a third alternative. In
improvisational fiction, writers don’t wait until they know what
happens before they write, they discover what happens as they write.
We will play some improv games to warm up and inspire the writing.
We spend most of our time doing in-class writing, generating energy
and ideas for both new material and stories students are already
working on. You'll share some of your in-class writing and you'll be given
optional homework assignments to further develop what
you start in class.
Location and Times:
The Loft
Thursdays, June 7 thru August 2, 2007 (8 weeks), 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
(no class the week of July 5)
Register: Contact The Loft 612-379-8999 or
www.loft.org
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Writing Our
Way Through the Shadow at The Loft |
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Perhaps we would
rather ignore it, but all writers have their shadow side. Our shadow
will make itself known to us one way or another—a missed deadline,
sudden outburst of inexplicable emotion, a block that won't give
way, or simply a lack of energy and enthusiasm. We'll discover how
and why creativity and shadow are so intimately connected. We’ll use
discussion, brainstorming, freewriting, and 2-person processes to
explore the shadow issues specific to writers, such as Taboo Topics
(the things you don't dare write about), Untapped Genres (the ones
that are either beneath your dignity or beyond your ability),
Blocked Genius (the origins and resolutions of writer's block),
Fear, and the Forbidden Fruits of fame and success. Our weekly
check-ins will give you a safe and supportive place to notice your
own shadow influences your writing and what you can do to embrace
your shadow and accept the gifts it always brings. Location and Times:
The Loft
To be determined
Register: Contact The Loft 612-379-8999 or
www.loft.org
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Around the Writer's
Block: For
Intermediate Level Writers |
| Call it writer's block. Call it
procrastination. Whatever you call it, every writer experiences
resistance at some time. What makes or breaks us is not whether we
experience resistance (we will!), it's how we respond to it. And
most writers respond badly: we criticize ourselves, we push and
drive, we threaten and bully ourselves, we question our ability, our
commitment, our character. Stop doing that! In this intermediate
level class, you'll discover how your old responses have fed the
inner critic, and how to nurture yourself instead. For tools, we'll
use weekly check-ins, discussions, two-person processes,
freewriting, guided imagery, and cutting edge modalities to keep you
moving around the writer's block.
Location and Times:
The Loft
To be determined
Register: Contact The Loft 612-379-8999 or
www.loft.org
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Meditative
Writing at The Loft |
| If you've ever tried Natalie
Goldberg's freewriting or timed writing, you know the value of speed
in eliminating your inner critic. Speed writing fits with our
overbusy, overcommitted lives, but often misses the good ideas that
come slowly. In this class, we'll write slowly, easily and
meditatively. We'll begin each class by entering a quiet state
through guided imagery and meditation, then record the insights,
ideas and images that come to us when we learn to wait with an open
mind. In-class exercises will include doodling, mind-mapping, and
other kinds of brain calming (as opposed to brainstorming). Homework
will include what Brenda Ueland calls "moodling
- long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering." You will
experiment with different styles of meditation to see which are most
productive for you as a writer. We'll even try trance writing, just
to see what happens for you.
Location and Times:
The Loft
To be determined
Register: Contact The Loft 612-379-8999 or
www.loft.org
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Writer's Workout at the
Loft
Why on earth would you
pay money to sit in a classroom and write for two hours when you
could stay home and write for free? Maybe because you can’t remember
the last time you wrote for two hours straight. Maybe because you
can’t think of what to write or how to get started or how to keep
going when you’re writing at home. Maybe because you want new
exercises to energize your writing. Maybe because you’re intrigued
with the idea of a writer’s warm-up that uses creative play to
propel you into the writing. Maybe because you suspect how much
you’ll benefit from immersing yourself in a writer’s aerobics and
conditioning program that emphasizes in-class writing in response to
directed exercises. Maybe because you want to see how you can write
with excitement and joy instead of being pushed away by resistance
and self-doubt. Maybe because you welcome inspiration and
encouragement to move into the Flow where writing is bliss and time
becomes meaningless. Maybe because you can’t pass up an opportunity
to work with two experienced and engaging creative process teachers
like Paula Granquist and Rosanne Bane.
Location and Times:
The Loft
To be determined
Register: Contact The Loft 612-379-8999 or
www.loft.org
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Mastering Your Writing
Habit at The Loft |
| This class is for
anyone who has completed The Writing Habit I and wants to reinforce
their commitment to a habit of writing and receive additional
support in honoring that commitment. Weekly check-ins will give you
safe and supportive witnesses to help you continue to be accountable
to yourself. We'll use a variety of techniques including in-class
writing, discussions, 2-person speak-and-listen, guided imagery, and
mind mapping to further explore your creative process, priorities
and plans. We’ll refine our sustainable habits and deepen our
applications of Action Mapping and other tools to help you maintain
your momentum. Participants are encouraged to share the results of
their new writing habits during check-ins, but because this class is
focused on process, we will not critique each other's writing.
Location and Times:
The Loft
To be determined
Register: Contact The Loft 612-379-8999 or
www.loft.org
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Deepen Your Creativity
workshop series
You have a calling to share your creativity in
meaningful ways. Your desire to express yourself is a message from the
Divine, encoded in emotion. The message is: "Share these gifts I’ve given
you with the rest of the world. Quit worrying about whether you’ll be good
enough. Risk being a fool to show your love to yourself, your community,
your world. I’m telling you to do this, so get moving!"
It’s time to take your creativity to the
next level. The Deepen Your Creativity workshops are designed to help you
do that. They are all are interactive and use a variety of techniques like
guided imagery, brainstorming, partner processes, freewriting, discussion,
etc. |
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#1 Clarify Creative
Purpose and Vision Do you have a crystal
clear sense of what you’re called to do with your creative talents and
desires? You will after completing this workshop! We’ll use guided
imagery, process drawing, freewriting, discussion and Appreciative Inquiry
with a partner to:
- Discover or refine your creative
purpose
- Recognize what works best for you
- Energize your creativity
- Animate your commitment
- Draft a vision statement of your
creative life
- Draft a mission statement for a
specific project
Cost: Only $50 for this half day
workshop. Sign up for more than one of the Deepen Your Creativity
workshops and save! First workshop: Only $50! Any 2 workshops: $93,
Save $7. Any 3 workshops: $136; Save $14. Any 4 workshops:
$179, Save $21. Any 5 workshops: $222, Save $28. All 6
workshops: $265, Save $35!
Location and Times:
To be determined
Twin Cities Metro, Minnesota
Register online
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#2 Move Through
Resistance Half of all
commitments to change are abandoned within three months! This leaves
many of us thinking we're weak-willed or lack discipline. But it's
not about will or discipline; it's about neurology. The human
brain is designed to both seek and resist change. This means
that when we contemplate change, even changes we initiate ourselves,
we are destined to experience a kind of mental standoff that leaves
even the most balanced among us feeling slightly schizophrenic.
You will feel resistant at times to the very thing you want to do.
The resistance, ambivalence or doubt you'll eventually feel about
the changes you need to make to bring your creative projects to
completion is completely normal. And frustrating.
Stop wasting time and energy beating
yourself up about it. Use that energy to move through the resistance
to make the creative changes you really want. This workshop will
give you the tools and support you need to:
- Find out what's going on in your brain
that causes feelings of resistance
- Identify which of the 6 common forms
of resistance you tend to experience (and what to do about that)
- Learn and apply the 4 Step Method to
move through resistance
- Learn how to reduce the frequency,
intensity and duration of the "amygdala hijackings" that give rise to
resistance
- Identify and commit to simple
practices that will keep you moving through resistance to achieve the
results you want!
Cost: Only $50 for this half day
workshop. Sign up for more than one of the Deepen Your Creativity
workshops and save! First workshop: Only $50! Any 2 workshops: $93,
Save $7. Any 3 workshops: $136; Save $14. Any 4 workshops:
$179, Save $21. Any 5 workshops: $222, Save $28. All 6
workshops: $265, Save $35!
Location and Times:
To be determined
Twin Cities Metro, Minnesota
Register online
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#3 Motivate Yourself
With all the demands on your time and
attention, it's all too easy to lose touch with the creative dreams
you yearn to fulfill. Are you really ready, willing and able to move
forward with your creative dreams? When you're feeling distracted or
tired or too busy, ask yourself just how just how ready, willing and
able do you think you need to be. The answer is probably a lot less
than you think. Don't make the
mistake of thinking you have to be completely ready, totally willing
and unquestionably able. And don't make the mistake of over-focusing
on the gap between where you are and where you want to be.
As you'll discover in this workshop, it
is far more motivating to identify why you're as ready, willing and
able as you are than to focus on where you're not "perfect" yet.
We'll use Motivational Interviewing, Appreciative Inquiry, milestone
maps, brainstorming, freewriting and other techniques to:
- Recognize and reinforce what has
prepared you to take the next step
- Translate awareness into
motivation and motivation into action
- Build on your current strengths
and past successes
- Recognize the significance of
rewarding yourself and identify rewards that excite you
- Give you just enough restraint to
reaffirm your desire to move forward
- Jazz you up and focus your energy!
Woe to anyone or anything that
tries to stand in your way after you learn how to motivate
yourself! Cost: Only $50 for this half day
workshop. Sign up for more than one of the Deepen Your Creativity
workshops and save! First workshop: Only $50! Any 2 workshops: $93,
Save $7. Any 3 workshops: $136; Save $14. Any 4 workshops:
$179, Save $21. Any 5 workshops: $222, Save $28. All 6
workshops: $265, Save $35!
Location and Times:
To be determined
Twin Cities Metro, Minnesota
Register online
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#4 Beyond Excuses,
Illusions and Obstacles
Do you know the difference between an
excuse and a genuine obstacle? You have rehearsed your excuses so
often, you may have stopped noticing them. They come in so handy on
a day to day basis. It's only when you look back over the months
since you've done what you really want that you can recognize how
dangerous those excuses are.
When you peel back the excuses, you
come to the illusions, the less-than-conscious, underlying beliefs
that support the excuses and undermine your satisfaction and
success. These are the half-truths and lies that keep you from
recognizing how powerful and wonderful you really are.
When you get beyond the excuses and
illusions, you get to the obstacles that really do stand between you
and your dreams. Compared to excuses and illusions, most obstacles
are easy. What about the obstacles that are hard? After this
workshop, you'll be able to say "So it's hard. So what? I can do
hard!"
We'll use brainstorming, discussion,
two-person processes, role play, freewriting and guided imagery to:
- Discern between excuses, illusions
and real obstacles
- Identify common excuses and how
you've personalized and used them in the past
- Recognize illusions that inhibit
creativity
- Muzzle excuses and illusions
- Develop strategies to eliminate
obstacles
Location and Times:
To be determined
Twin Cities Metro, Minnesota
Register online |
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#5 Please Don't Feed the
Saboteur
You know the
Saboteur – it’s that nasty inner critic that is never satisfied with
your creative efforts and does all it can to keep you from enjoying
and expressing your full creative power. It’s the inner voice that
tells you to stop rocking the boat, to give up your silly and feeble
attempts to write or paint or perform or create, to stop
embarrassing yourself, to maintain the comfortable status quo.
You can’t get rid of the Saboteur and
you can’t control it, so you try to appease it. Giving in to the
Saboteur’s demands gives you temporary relief, but the ultimate cost
is diminished self-esteem, abandoned dreams, spiritual disconnection
and confusion about who you really are and what you really want. You
only wanted to get the Saboteur to stop criticizing you, but
appeasing it has fed it and made it stronger. It’s like a mythical
monster that seems to get bigger and more powerful no matter what
you do to fight it.
But there is hope!
You don’t have to let the Saboteur run (and ruin) your life. We'll
use freewriting, brainstorming, discussion, intentional and playful
destruction and a variety of other techniques to:
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Recognize your Saboteur
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Recognize and respect the connection
between creation and destruction
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Identify the 5 hallmarks of the
Saboteur
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Prepare a mug shot, rap sheet and APB
for your Saboteur
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Respond appropriately to the Saboteur
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Tear into and tear up the Saboteur for
a change
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Develop strategies to feed appropriate
destruction and starve the Saboteur
Location and Times:
To be determined
Twin Cities Metro, Minnesota
Register online
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#6 Resolve Unsolvable
Problems There are some
habits we just can't seem to break, some patterns we just can't
change, no matter how hard we try. We think there must be something
wrong with the technique. So we try harder and when that doesn't
work, we decide there must be something wrong with us.
There is something wrong, but it's
not the technique and it's not lack of willpower or intelligence.
What's wrong is our perspective. As long as we see a problem to
solve in these situations, we will continue to frustrate ourselves.
But when we stop trying to solve unsolvable problems and focus on
managing polarities instead, we open marvelous new possibilities.
We'll use discussion, brainstorming,
polarity mapping, freewriting and other techniques to:
- Distinguish the difference between
a problem to solve and a polarity to manage
- Identify the polarities that often
inhibit creativity
- Create and walk your own
personalized Polarity Map
- Identify the "red flags" that
reveal when a polarity is unbalanced
- Gain insights that transform your
perspective
- Apply new perspective to behavior
that effectively managed the polarities in your life
Location and Times:
To be determined
Twin Cities Metro, Minnesota
Register online |
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Become a Change Master |
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The ability to embrace change is
essential to creativity and personal development. To test your readiness
for change, consider whether the following statements are True or False
for you.
- I enjoy a sense of accomplishment that
comes with trying something new.
- There are creative projects I want to
complete if I can find the time.
- I accept responsibility for my life.
- There are personal changes I want to
make (get physically fit, consume less and save more, volunteer more
often, etc.) that I've postponed.
- Sometimes I get the feeling my
spiritual guides are "kicking me in the astral" to move in a different
direction.
- Sometimes I don't know exactly how to
follow through with a change, so I keep cycling through trying then
giving up then trying again.
If any of these statements are true for
you, you're ready to learn how to make the change process work for you.
The more True responses, the more you can gain from the Become a Change
Master class.
We will apply a simple and effective 7
Step Process of Personal Change to give you the tools, skills and
support you need to:
- Recognize the importance of living the
life you want NOW
- Remove obstacles and take action to
transform your dreams to reality
- Develop habits that support your
creativity and your spiritual and personal growth
- Honor your promises to yourself so
that you can live with authenticity, integrity and power
- Stop procrastinating and start
implementing the changes you want!
Cost:
Click here
Location and Times:
To be determined.
Twin Cities Metro, Minnesota
Register online
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Deeper into the Dragon's Den
Once you've seen how vital shadow
is to expressing the full depth of your creativity, (through
your personal experience, reading my book, or taking one of my
shadow classes: Dancing in the Dragon's Den, Writing Our Way Through
Shadow, or From Procrastinator to Practicing Writer) and if
you're ready to dive deeper to claim more of the creative treasure
that waits for you in your shadow, this is the class for you!
After a brief review of the basic
concepts like ego, shadow, True Self, Creative Center, we'll seek a
deeper understanding and appreciation of the shadow and how to use
it to expand your creativity. We'll create a trusting and open
community where you'll be safe and encouraged to explore how to:
- Develop a working relationship with
the shadow
- Identify and resolve the discrepancy
between your ego's demands and your True Self's creative and spiritual
desires
- Accept the Shadow's Saving Grace
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those gifts you need to keep growing
and creating that only shadow can give
- Use the energy of the Inner Destroyer
to keep your creativity flowing!
This class will guide you on a creative
journey to dive deep to discover your True Self. We'll use a variety of
techniques like two-person sharing, brainstorming, Polarity Management,
self-directed humor at the ego's foibles, guided imagery, process
drawing, and creating symbols of our journey. These diverse approaches
will give you opportunities to experience:
- Profound awareness of and appreciation
for the power you have within your shadow and your True Self
- Deeper access to your creativity and
shadow on many meaningful levels
- Creative breakthroughs and expansion
- Ego-shadow struggles
- Greater willingness to surrender your
ego when that's appropriate
- Intense joy and creative bliss!
Cost:
Click here
Location and Times:
To be determined.
Twin Cities Metro, Minnesota
Register online
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