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8 weeks

Sun 19 September 2010 – Fri 12 November 2010 

The Creative Identity Online course is an eight-week long study of the eight constituents of our writing identity, from the creative yearning to the creative abilities, from the creative loss, to the creative DNA and more. This is the expanded version of the workshops I've been running in Manchester (England) since the beginning of this year. Now exclusively online, we shall investigate the products and the reasons of our creative endeavours.

This is a reading-and-writing intensive course for anyone with an interest in the creative process and in writing in particular. Be prepared to be involved at the deep end with your self and others.

Capitalise on fear of expression for your writing to thrive.

Tackle validation, scepticism and excuses: obstacles which prevent us from identifying, and committing to, our writing scopes.

 

The course will begin with a prelude on Sun 19 Sept:  I will send you a small writing exercise and The Creative Identity Map which provides the blueprint for the course  and a snapshot of what will take place week-by-week. Then the real work begins on Mon 20 Sept...

I have one spot left for mentoring in this session: if you have decided to take this course as part of your learning-by-doing self-directed degree course, I will be glad to be your mentor but book quickly! One spot has already been taken up and I cannot effectively mentor more than two people per session.

You'll:

read in preparation for the course

write about your self and your creative output thus far

analyse your creative identity and the one of the group

finish the course with a 12-month development plan

 

ALL OF THIS IN A BEAUTIFUL DEDICATED SITE WITH:

 

• Individual 'My Page' personal showcase of your creative identity – a great networking opportunity. Share your work and advertise your creative endeavours! And if you haven't got any yet, this is the perfect time to stop procrastinating and start!
• Full integration with Facebook, Twitter and Flickr
• Weekly live chat
• Forum
• Video and image upload facilities

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On 2 Sept you will receive the reading list

On 13 Sept you will be able to access the website 

and start creating your page

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THROUGHOUT THE COURSE: 

 

• 2 Q&A sessions about publishing/synopses and proposals
• audio files and podcasts 
• clips from Tootsie and Spider-man as springboards for our exercises
• an exclusive, last-day-of-school giveaway

 

And remember: do not stress about the reading list and the lead time! 

We will not discuss the books immediately!

Want to gift the workshop? Want my postgraduate references? 

Doubtful? Read this!

Any questions at all? 

 

Email me!

 

 

£ 85

 

 

THE 12 WINNERS OF THE SHORT STORY COMPETITION WILL BE NOTIFIED IN AUGUST AND ARE GUARANTEED A PLACE IN THIS SESSION.

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Some of the participants 

who have taken 

The Creative Identity workshop in Manchester say:

 

Steph, I am finally sending you this as I promised! The workshop was great if only over too soon. I wish we had had more time to talk about our worries regarding writing, but when I left I felt that there is nothing to fear as you're right, I can call myself a writer and I will continue to pursue it in order to get better. Also, thanks very much for the appraisal you sent. Wow, there's a lot to do but at least I know what to do next. It's so helpful to see your comments because I've been writing without much of a direction for quite some time.

–Sylvia–

Steph:

Here is your testimonial, put it up on your site! I loved it, loved it, loved it! I think you are spot on with the Identity Map you have created, who knew that there was all this stuff to write about my writing?!

–Anna–

Dear Steph,

I loved it! I cannot believe I didn't even know about your site until I saw you in Mslexia. I am so glad I came along and I cannot thank you enough for what we did on the day. Like others have said, I didn't know what to expect, but what I found was great. Thanks!

–Christine–

Dear Steph, thank you so much for today – you've no idea how much I got out of it.  I feel I've already moved on and will be trying new ways of working. Some of the revelations were quite uncomfortable but useful and necessary, and it was good having so few of us, because we all respected and supported each other, as well as having much more of your time as individuals.

–Pauline–

Steph is passionate about enabling others to fulfil their creative potential. Her ‘Creative Identity’ workshop was both informative and inspiring. Her eight constituents of creative identity challenged us to ask searching questions of ourselves, guided by her focussed support. But this was not the end of the story: Steph’s determination to help us move from insight to action meant we left the workshop with our own personal writing strategy, plus further exercises and points to ponder. As a writer, I feel energised with a new sense of purpose and direction. 

–Julia–

I must admit I had no idea as to what to expect when I booked the workshop, even though I had read every single post on the site. I was very pleasantly surprised as I had never done any introspection to speak of. I wasn't prepared to look at my own writing critically, but not in the publishing sense of the term. I liked the excavating process and found it rewarding and exciting. It was a great day!

–John–

Dear Steph, thanks for your time today! I am so glad I came to the workshop! As I said in class, I had already done The Artist's Way and found the experience quite uncomfortable. As you say, it is much easier to analyse others' writings than our own. But I have to say that I loved your exercises and your practical approach as well. You're right, we all make excuses not to write and yet, writing is so rewarding! I shall tell about The Creative Identity to my fellow writing friends and hope for their sakes that they will come to see you when you next run the workshop. All the best,

–Jane–

Steph, just a few words to let you know that I had a great day at the workshop and that I am so pleased with the results. I re-did the planner at home as you suggested and will stick it in my study to remind me of how good I felt while filling it in. I shall check your site but keep me informed as well. I hope to see you again.

–Pat–

Dear Steph, thanks for the follow-up email and all the links to the resources, that was great. When I arrived at the workshop I didn't know what to expect and now I am so glad that I took my chances and came to see you. The exercises were really powerful. I particularly enjoyed filling in The Creative Identity Map and I've thought about it a lot since the day itself. I've got The Creative Habit on order from Amazon and I am sure I shall enjoy it very much as my problem is always making time to write. It's so odd because I really enjoy it once I sit down. Thanks again, I hope you'll run other workshops in the future!

–Sophie–