JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE’S LOSSES by Alice J. Wisler
START DATE: CLOSED
DURATION: 4 weeks
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Journey through Life’s Losses symbolizes a road trip we will embark on together and individually. Coupled with writing prompts, wisdom from well-known authors’ works, encouragement and instruction, students will have ample time to silently reflect and write from their life experiences for healing, health, and hope. They will also learn how their journey can help others as they perfect their work to be published in magazines or newsletters. Students who have suffered the loss of a broken relationship, childhood trauma, the death of a loved one, loss of finances or career or health, will benefit from writing about their situations.
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This workshop is for anyone who wants to write from pain and sorrow. I learned how to cope with the loss of divorce and relationships. ~ Kay M.
This course got me writing more often, and as I did, a lot of heartache was uncovered and dealt with. I was so pleased. I recommend Alice's workshop for all who have lost loved ones. ~ Anna L.
I highly suggest this course to anyone who has lost a child and going through the grief process. I have found this to be a great way to make contact with some hidden emotion. Write my friends, it is healing. ~ George K. |
WEEKS AT A GLANCE:
Week One: Preparing for the Journey: A Lesson in Getting to Know You
Participants will discover the many health benefits of a writing journey and how effective truthful writing can be as we venture through our grief and losses. Uncovering hidden memories or feelings, either from the past or present, we’ll prepare ourselves for the emotions that may come (anger, sadness, regret, guilt) as we travel.
Assignments: Write a few sentences about what you hope to get out of this course. Then compose a 300-word description of yourself—your likes, your weaknesses, your strengths, and fears. Include emotions that you deal with. Plot a timeline of significant events you have faced in your lifetime. Choosing one event, write a few lines about it.
Then ask yourself: What would I have changed about this incident? How did I feel about this event at the time? How does what happened then affect me now?
Week Two: The Scenic Route: A Lesson in Poetry
We’ll read various styles of poetry and learn about creating poetry of our own.
Assignments: Using a personal memento or object, describe the object in simple non-emotional words, explaining its value or significance and then add emotions to the description, freely writing what the object means to you. From the description, pull out words to create a list of nouns, verbs and adjectives—vibrant words to enhance your work, attempting to get rid of words that take up space but don’t convey much. Next describe a photograph that has significance to you. Using what you have learned about words and emotions, create two pieces of poetry—a poem of sorrow and a poem of beauty.
Week Three: Charting our Progress: A Lesson in Essays
Making lists helps us get our thoughts onto paper quickly. We'll discuss the value of them and how to freely jot things down as words come to us, letting our thoughts flow onto paper. We’ll learn the key points to a well-written essay as well as spend time on tips for forming the beginning, middle, and end.
Assignment: Picking out a theme that may come from the lists, construct an essay (four to five paragraphs).
Week Four: Seeking the Travel Experiences of Others: A Lesson in Publicizing Our Works
We have been through an adventure. Our words heal us and can heal others. We’ll read what other authors have written about their childhood, their traumas (even their humor) and life-changing experiences, while focusing on three popular memoirs: Rick Bragg’s All Over But the Shoutin’ Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie and Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes. As we relate to these accounts, we’ll discover how certain techniques can be mirrored in our writing to strengthen it.
Assignment: We’ll write another essay or refine the one we wrote during lesson three. We’ll set a goal to submit our poetry or essay to magazines.
We’ll write about how the writing exercises in this course have changed us, how journaling has or has not worked, and what we hope for our continuing writing journey.
Resources used for instruction:
Well-known authors we’ll gain insight from: Professor James Pennabaker, author of Opening Up; Kathleen Adams, author of Journal to the Self; Stephanie Ericsson, author of Companion Through the Darkness; and Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird.
Materials needed: None needed but writing in a journal is encouraged. Instructor provides all lessons via email attachments and online resources.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Author and speaker Alice J. Wisler has facilitated writing courses both online and at seminars since 2001. When her son Daniel died at the age of four in 1997, writing became instrumental to Alice’s health and healing. She travels the country speaking on coping with grief and loss and how writing plays a vital role in healing. She’s the author of award-winning novels, including—Rain Song, How Sweet It Is, Hatteras Girl, A Wedding Invitation, Still Life in Shadows, and her most recent, Under the Silk Hibiscus. Her devotional, Getting Out of Bed in the Morning: Reflections of Comfort in Heartache, focuses on life’s many losses.
COST: $125, which includes weekly lessons sent by e-mail and feedback from the instructor.
BUY NOW: JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE’S LOSSES, by Alice J. Wisler (4 weeks, starting 9/14/2015) Limit: 10 students. Early registration is recommended.
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Notes: Upon successful completion of payment, your name, email address, and contact info will be submitted to your instructor. She will contact you and invite you to a private classroom blog.
Questions? Email Marcia & Angela at:
classroom[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com
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