“Spiritual Writing II, A WORKSHOP: from Personal Quest to Publication”
It’s a combination of content information, discussion, writing & sharing, a workshop experience by …
- Exploring early questions, later questions. We’ll explore our young selves experiences and the present day. All are what bend and shape our spiritual lives. Writing about them helps sort ‘STUFF’ OUT.
- We’ll respect individual differences. When I met with the critically ill and their families in the hospital, it showed how much, how imperative it is to listen. For writers, a must, for in the silence thinking and wisdom blossom.
- We put on paper (or screen) the facts of an experience and then ponder, “what did that mean?”
- And then…write some more
(REMEMBER, Spirituality is each individual’s realm. No one’s an expert, we are all just traveling a road toward a destination we might not see. So, we’ll angle for answers and see what percolates up from the deep come the afternoon.)
Spiritual Writing: From Workshop to Publishing
Texas’ only natural lake, Caddo Lake, named for the Caddo Indians, the earliest population. A thriving port in the 1800’s.
IN WRITING, I FIND new freedom to be myself on this spiritual journey, all because I recognized what I call “new messengers” from Mother Nature herself…one of my favorite teachers.
What’s this Spiritual Writing Workshop II all about?
It’s by and about individuals eager to explore and perhaps find their answers or not, determining what their “quest” is all about. How to write about our quest so others may gain insights and understanding. The first workshop (March 2025) is not a prerequisite, nor will this one be a repeat, just more tips, tricks and strategies for writing in this form or genre.
Who should come?
People who write and those who don’t but want to. Want to write about spiritual matters, yours or others—an academic approach? A lay look at spirituality and theology? Spirituality is a popular subject for writers and readers.
Those who “wrestle” with God or Spirit by any name, writing and reading show we’re not alone. A thirst for a higher power may ignite a quest for putting the story down in black and white. And then, see what happens. Where does it go?To publish or not.
DISCOVERY ARRIVES IN THE WRITING: new ideas, thoughts…a new, perhaps somewhat different understanding than when we began. And so…next question:
Why should I, Carmen, lead this workshop on spirituality?
Audacious, it feels like, but here are some real-world reasons:
After…
50+ years of writing & publishing…
25 + years of teaching writing,
Another few years training and serving as a hospital chaplain,
A passion for sorting out spiritual guideposts and then writing so that others may share and
A lifetime of questioning…these are my “creds” for teaching and facilitating Spiritual Writing II, this workshop.
I’ll teach and guide to help you find your path to the story you’re eager to share.
JOIN US FOR…
SORTING OUT…QUESTIONS such as…
Have you questions about Spirit, not necessarily religious, not a religious doctrine? Or perhaps questions percolate up from earlier experiences with religion?
Perhaps we’re arguing with dogma we’ve embraced since childhood. What’s that about?
Writing often is about questions, those we have, perhaps we discuss them with others, perhaps not. But we can have a “conversation” with ourselves and the pen & paper/keyboard apparatus.
Sometimes, questions and answers pop up amid a hike, a thunderstorm, a roaring wind on water when survival appears threatened, a near miss on a dark and rural highway.
Writing about a question we’ve been mulling over may bring answers, resolve a quandary, or…more questions to pursue or write about.
OFTEN LOSS prods us to examine, “what next?” “How do I cope?” ‘I feel so alone…”
And so many more questions…
I gain a sense of peace when I write and wonder and write and wander through my life’s spiritual journey.
JOIN US Saturday, Sept. 6, 10 AM. Register by 10 pm the night before so that I may send you the link.
IN WRITING I FOUND a new freedom to be myself on this spiritual journey, all because I recognized what I called new “messengers” from Mother Nature herself…one of my favorite teachers.
Why I Write
Everyone who writes arrives at the page with a story.
As a writer, crafting an essay about why write is a good way to sort things out. I’ll do so every 2, 3 or 4 years. Because I change. It’s fun to see that change percolate to the top in what I write afterward. It’s a way to reflect on where I’ve been and where I’m going. As a teacher, I encourage students to write such an essay for their benefit, their sorting out.
But here I am writing about why I write a “why I write” essay. It’s time to get down to the basic question. A shy bookworm as a child, more comfortable with books and adults who liked to talk than kids, I wrote. Sometimes I scrawled stories, fantasies to escape; word pictures to dramatize my dreams; sometimes I wrote about myself. But however the words uncoiled, writing allowed me to express my feelings, what I couldn’t talk about but wanted to.
Today in maturity such expression is shared more in conversation than in younger days. In younger days, I listened. A lot. Sometimes when I pretended to listen, I daydreamed. And then, I’d write.
Today, it’s the stories that propel me to write, beginning early in my journalism career if not before. I loved to watch people, and really listen to them, to learn how they thought and felt and lived. Sometimes it was a measure for me. Sometimes I learned how to do what they did, whether it was tie up a boat or dance the twist. Always the people, though. SO, today I write stories about people, sometimes historical folk I’ve researched, sometimes everyday folk, fiction and nonfiction, and sometimes – as in recently – I write about myself, a somewhat jarring admission for a former journalist. But I like the reflective process it engages. Right now, I’m writing a cross between a journal and an essay about the death of a loved one. It helps select grief from depression and “take the next right step,” even if it’s back to bed for a bit. As I write, I’m more able to talk about it, grief, and best of all, to laugh through memories, though tears may fall on the next breath. Emotions. Feelings. Writing. Maybe, I haven’t changed that much after all. I just talk more.
Why do you write?
***
FAVORITES: There’s a trend now to illuminate “favorites,” so mine are…
BOOKS AND AUTHORS: John Jakes’ Bicentennial series. He got me started on this path toward fiction. Willie Morris’ North Toward Home and Gay Talese’s Kingdom and the Power introduced me to the story fascination of creative nonfiction.
Ralph Waldo Emerson. As a high school student I pondered, “how could an old man reach out and touch me across the generations?” His essays spoke what I wanted to say.
Today, Peter Heller, because of his lyricism, intrigue and humor, the ability to “take me away,” particularly with his novel Celine.
MOVIES: As a teen, James Dean in Rebel without a Cause. As a sort of sappy senior, or maybe it’s the times, “American President.” Laughter may be the most important requirement today.
SINGERS/MUSICIANS: Jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. His notes tapped a tune on my teenage heart…and still do and so do later musicians–Cellist Yo Yo Ma, and Trumpeter Winton Marsalis. Let me not forget C&W story singer and philanthropist, Dolly Parton, her care about people and their stories.
FOOD: “Mama’s home cooking” and then enchiladas! And next, Pad Thai.
HOBBY/SPORT: Sailing, sailing, sailing. Water is my home.
FAVORITE HIKES: Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado; Lost Maples State Park, Texas, for their delicate beauty amid hardy ruggedness.
That’s enough for now. But you see how it’s easy to get carried away with writing? Try it. Ask yourself your favorites…and then the most important question, WHY? And see when/where you stop writing, if you can.