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Writing as a Tool for Transformation: Part I

 

With Amanda LeRougetel, Writing as a Tool for Transformation comprises a series of four classes offered as part of McNally Robinson’s community classroom initiative.

The first offering was held as four, two-hour, Sunday afternoon sessions held in October and November 2018.

The second, will be held as four, two-hour, Sunday afternoon ZOOM sessions, running from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on October 18, 25, November 1, and November 8, 2020.

This course uses writing as a tool in a process of inquiry and discovery we’ve named turning points. Life holds a series of turning points that are often not seen, chosen or understood clearly. These turning points arise in times of transition, termination, and transformation. They may involve life-changing events such as parenting, partnering, mourning, migration, employment, retirement, and more. Amanda and I have each used writing to help us gain clarity during turning points in our own lives. In these sessions, we use guided writing processes, strategies and activities to help course members open up understandings of themselves, their turning point(s) and path-making decisions. Members will use a daily logbook to record observations over course sessions in relation to classroom activities. The sessions are not therapy; they use the practice of writing to uncover and clarify your own thinking.

Part II of Writing as a Tool for Transformation will be offered as a series of four, on-line workshops through McNally’s community classroom. The course is described in the following way:

Writing with intention can be transformative, especially when it is pursued in a safe and encouraging context. Building on the guided writing process learned in Part I, we will use a range of activities to expand our awareness of voice, perspective, form, and structure. We will continue to explore how shifting these variables can deepen our understanding of points of transition in our lives. Participants will be asked to keep a Daily Log and may choose to share their writing by reading aloud. If desired, they can contribute their writing to a Course Log. The proposed dates include January 17, 24, 31, and February 7, 2021.

Amanda teaches communication at Red River College; her non-fiction writing has been published in anthologies, The Globe and Mail and Herizons magazine.

Part III of Writing as a Tool for Transformation, with Amanda LeRougetel, January 15-16 2022 a post-graduate level exploration into the writing — and, importantly, the reading — of our own writing.  Participants, graduates of Part I and Part II Writing as Tool for Transformation courses, come having completed some pre-work that prepares them for the activities and the sharing planned over the course of this on-line, weekend intensive, a 12-hour session of creative work. 

Part II, Writing as a Tool for Transformation, with Amanda LeRougetel, Sundays, from 1:00 – 3:30 PM, November 7, 14, 21 and 28, 2021, delivered on-line as part of the McNally Robinson’s Community Classroom Program. 

Part I, Writing as a Tool for Transformation, with Amanda LeRougetel, February 22-March 15 (Tuesdays from 10:30 – 12:30 AM), delivered on-line as part of the McNally Robinson Community Classroom Program. 

Spark Your Writing , with Amanda LeRougetel: Weekly prompts intended to spark writing with on-line, weekly, 1:00 – 3:00 PM, Sunday meetings. The Sunday meetings are designed for the sharing of and talking about writing by Spark participants. February 27, March 6, 13, and 20, 2022. 

Writing as a Tool for Transformation with Amanda LeRougetel, delivered to  the Youth and Rec Worker program/RRC, October 13, 2021, February 15, and April 23, 2022.

new  Writing: Principles, process and pleasure

Tuesdays, 7-9pm. January 24, 31 & February 7, 14 + 21, 2023: $150
via McNally/Zoom
 
Experience the joy of becoming the writer you want to be. Join us for an exploration of writing — from elements of style to foundational principles of composition and forms of revision. Much of what makes writing pleasurable is being able to bend language and structure to our command, because we know what we are doing and why we’re doing it. Bring your interest in writing and in reading, your joy of language and your questions, as we dive into the writer’s sandbox of principles and processes. In a creative and generative way, you will respond to existing texts and compose your own. Whether your goal is pleasure or publication, this course is open to writers of any genre or subject matter.
 

new  Spark your Writing II

Sundays, 1-3pm. March 5, 12, 19 + 26, 2023: $60
via Zoom
 
Open to all former Spark I participants, this course will continue with the practice of writing to a weekly spark and reading aloud, and will also include focused teaching.
 

Writing as Tool for Transformation II

Wednesdays, 1-3:30pm. March 8, 15, 22 + 29, 2023: $120
Private classroom/ In person / Small group
 
This course continues the explorations begun in Part I. If you would like to go deeper in your work related to transition and transformation in your life, this course is for you. This course is open to anyone who has completed Part I.
 

new  What’s your Story?

3-hour workshop. Saturday January 14 1-4pm or Tuesday March 28, 2023, 1-4pm. $50
via McNally/Community Classroom
 
This new offering presents some of our foundational ‘writing as tool for transformation’ activities in a one-time 3-hour workshop format. For anyone who wants to tell their story with words and images. Guided activities and creative prompts will encourage participants to uncover and represent the story they hold within themselves.
 
We hope something here appeals to you, because we’d love to see you in one of our courses again!
 
Any questions, please contact us by email. To register for a course, visit our website for the link.
 
Many thanks,
Amanda and Debbie
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