My Seminar
Writing Inside Out
Our best stories come from deep within us and deep within the characters who live on the pages we write. Though each one of us comes to see truth, if our hearts are open to it, in our own particular way, all of us recognize truth. We feel it. It is as fixed as the stars above and the firmament below.
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Fiction and non-fiction have three components, a narrative voice, myth, and the basic elements we use to write our stories. Seminar students are offered the opportunity to explore writing from the Reporting Voice the voice that reports what we see, the Critical Voice the voice that expresses what we think, and the Deep Voice the voice that reveals how we feel. Once these voices are recognized in ourselves by extension we are able to create characters who see, think, and feel.
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Myth is also universal. Every hero writ large or small, humble or great, celebrated or spurned is required to answer adventure’s call, to overcome all obstacles encountered, and to return victorious. David answered the call to stand up against Goliath, Prince Siddhartha answered the call of enlightenment to became the Buddha, Jesus Christ was called to preach the Gospel. No matter our color or creed we all recognize the one who steps forward and answers the call. The hero. Myth is the engine that moves our stories. It is the beating heart of drama. Sophocles' King Oedipus is challenged by fate to discover his lineage. Tolstoy's Anna Karenina answers the call of passion, violates the rules of the Russian aristocracy, then finds herself an outcast and ends her life. Fred saves the Minion’s from Scarlet Overkill’s plan of annihilation. Myth, the hero is at the heart of every classic.
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The key elements of fiction, action, description, dialogue, reflection, and character combined give shape to the stories we write.
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Writing Inside – Out is a nonjudgmental, nurturing, and fun seminar that combines voice and myth with the elements of fiction to inform students how to go about writing their stories down. Through the seminar students write the first draft of a story then shape and polish it using the fundamentals taught or they may employ devices of their own creation.