Artists work with their entire bodies, calling upon every layer of their beings to power their creativity. Writing is often thought about as a discipline of only the conscious mind. The truth is, language, characters, and plots emerge from the substance of the body and the subterranean depths of the spirit.  This workshop aims to collectively explore and fine-tune ways in which we not only rediscover the macrocosm within the microcosm but also develop tools to identify emotional loci in our subtle body, i.e. the divine body.  

To write well, authors mobilize every aspect of their beings: the rational, the emotional, the spiritual. We typically do this instinctively and haphazardly.  In this workshop, you will learn together  how to intentionally reach into your emotional depths and engage your chakras — emotionally-charged loci — with the craft of writing.

Together we will…

• Engage in sacred chakra meditation to open our hearts and minds.
• Read published stories, engaging with their emotional impact and pleasure to encourage engagement with our own cognitive responses to writing, and consider how that impact is achieved.
• Practice character discovery exercises: What makes a character or person come alive in the reader’s mind? How can we find parts of ourselves and other people that can come together and combine to create life?
• Practice plot construction exercises designed to encourage writers to think about desire.

At the end is the week, we are confident you will have the tools to begin the process of developing your very own maṇḍala which will provide new depths to your craft of writing.