A Voice of Your Own

Let the soft animal of your body love what it loves — Mary Oliver

Good writing is about telling the truth. — Anne Lamott

Is there a voice inside you that's been squelched or ridiculed

by others, and maybe even yourself?

Do you feel you have something important to say

but don't know where to start?

Do you look longingly at journals and poems you wrote before

motherhood/career pulled you away from your creative self?

Are you trying to figure out how to write with both

your head and your heart?

Have you longed for a sense of community and inspiration

among women?

In this workshop you’ll learn to listen for your own voice and nurture it, even if you’ve never written before. We’ll look at why Mary Oliver, Anne Lamott, and Terry Tempest Williams, very different writers, have connected with women so deeply.

Using model poems, prose excerpts, playful writing exercises, and lots of discussion, participants will discover what they want to say and how to say it in a way that's uniquely personal. We’ll practice managing internal and external criticism, and discover who we’re really writing for.

My own voice continues to be found wherever I am being present

and responding from my heart. — Terry Tempest Williams

I teach two versions of this workshop: a six-week, on-line class and a one-day, in-person class. Please see the details, below.

ON-LINE WORKSHOP

The on-line workshop is conducted via e-mail, over six weeks, with assignments given out on Mondays and Thursdays. Assignments are always due at midnight in your own time zone. You don't have to be at your computer at any particular time. This class covers about 20% more material than the in-person class, and is more leisurely. Good for people who like time to absorb ideas and revise their writing. Good for introverts who want a sense of community but don't like small talk. Good for people who want to work in their pajamas. This is an easy class to fold into your daily life.

2013 dates:          April 1 - May 10      July 8 - August 16

IN-PERSON WORKSHOP

The in-person workshop is held in a public place (conference room, coffee shop, etc.), usually from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with an hour's lunch break. Class size ranges from 6 to 20. The discussions are more animated than is possible over e-mail and the writing exercises, due to time constraints (20 to 45 minutes), are always first drafts. This version is good for people who like to work fast, can take a day away from their normal life, and want the more immediate feeling of face-to-face interactions and eye contact. A wider range of discussion is possible, and seeing people in person can enable friendships to develop more quickly.

2013 dates:    May 19     August 18     November 10

Molly Fisk's voice is distinctly her own. With her masterful blend of instinct and methodology, she guides students to their specific, individual voices and personal styles. Molly's a National Endowment for the Arts fellow in poetry and the author, most recently, of The More Difficult Beauty. She teaches writing to cancer patients and also leads the workshop Poetry Boot Camp.

It took me a long time to develop a voice. Now that I have it, I’m not going to shut up.

— Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State