Telling our stories of trauma can be excruciating, and the process—if not undertaken carefully—can further damage our nervous systems. But for some of us the task is spiritually mandatory, demanding that we lean forward into a process not just of drafting, but of transforming. In this two-day workshop hosted on Zoom, we’ll explore what it looks like to surrender to a writing process that is operating on multiple planes, while digging into the specifics of crafting inventive and powerful art from difficult stories.
This workshop begins with an overview of how the physiological processes of trauma and shame interact with a writing practice. Over the sessions that follow, we’ll focus on the craft problems specific to trauma, including the fragmentation of memory, the tendency toward black and white character-building, the temptation of melodrama, and the stigmatization of telling these brutal true stories. We’ll also steer into some of the embodied problems of trauma writing, including “writer’s block,” procrastination, and the boundary-setting and presence required to move forward on difficult sections. Through two days of powerful interactive lectures and exercises that help participants generate, organize, and more deeply understand their material, writers will see new possibilities for their own work— and the self they might become in the process.
For more important information and to register, click here.
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