Writing Workshops for Women
Writing renews, refreshes, refills and rekindles the spirit. So why don’t more women do it?
Too little time…too much to do, to have, to be…
Stop and listen to you. You’re one WISE woman!
You have many stories to tell. Write your truth and share it in the supportive environment of a Wise Women Write writing workshop.
What Are Wise Women Write Writing Workshops?
Wise Women Write is a creative, supportive environment for women to share their truth with other writing women. Wise Women Write writing groups are facilitated by Phoenix author and writing teacher Diane Amento Owens and by Wise Women Write alum and writing facilitator Trish Dolasinski.
Through group discussion, free writing, journaling, reading assignments, and writing prompts, women produce their own creative non-fiction work. Then each writer brings her writing back to the group to share in a supportive environment.
Groups can be as small as three or four writers to as many as eight.
A Wise Women Write group meets for two to three hours typically on an every-other-week basis. During this time we socialize, share writing news, receive a new writing assignment, and then workshop work written based on the prior assignment.
Groups meet in coffee shops or in writers’ homes.
A writing series consists of four to six meetings built around a single topic such as memoir writing, writing about the holidays, and writing about the wisdom of our mid-life experiences. Each meeting is $20, and a writer pays for the series in advance as a commitment to participate in the group.
Through the process of Wise Women Write, you’ll connect with other women, support women’s writing, begin to share your stories, and discover a wiser new you! Through this writing process, you will grow as a writer.
Wise Women Write is appropriate for writers of all levels.
| “Keeping even a small group of women focused and on task is a delicate maneuver. Diane is great at facilitating!” Betsy M. |
Why Should I Join a Wise Women Write Group?
- Your mother or your English teacher told you that you have a flair for creative writing.
- You’ve always wanted to write a book and want to become a better writer.
- You’ve been successful at business writing and want to try writing just for yourself.
- You’ve kept a journal for years and want to go “public” with your writing voice.
- You’re interested in sharing stories that could eventually become a memoir.
If you want to connect with a group of women in a way you’ve never done before, you’re invited to try a Wise Women Write group.
New groups will be beginning in the fall.
| “Diane leads the group with endless support and enthusiasm. I’ve improved my writing skills through critiquing while making some great new friends.” Windy Lynn Harris Windylynnharris.com |
What Happens During a Wise Women Write Workshop?
Topic Discussion – This begins every meeting during which each member shares during the topic ice-breaker discussion.
Free Writing – For five to 10 minutes, each member writes in her journal using a structured prompt related to the topic. Group members often share an insight or a sentence or two that they wrote, but sharing is optional.
The Assignment – Writing examples of well-known women writers are presented, and writers are encouraged to read the larger work. A detailed description of the assignment is presented. Several different suggestions and questions are posed as food for thought. Writers will produce work that is typically two pages in length, but the page length is dictated by the number of people in the group.
Workshopping – As soon as the assignment sheets are put away, out comes the work! Members bring enough copies for each group member to read from. Then members take turns reading their work out loud as the listening members make notations on their copies. When the reader has finished, she sits quietly while the members reread her work and begin to react further to it. What worked? What didn’t? What really touched the group member? After a few minutes of silence, the group begins to give verbal feedback to the writer. They sign the work with their name and pass the papers back to the owner. Then the next person takes her turn until all members have finished presenting their work.
Having the time and opportunity to share work with the group is the valuable part of Wise Women Write. This type of workshopping experience is the bulk of what many people refer to as a “critique group.” But Wise Women Write is more than a critique group because of the commonality of the group’s process and assignment.
Don’t let the idea of critique stop you. Workshopping involves sharing and receiving supportive feedback. Feedback implies receiving comments like “This ending really worked well” and “I didn’t understand what you meant here.”
After each workshop, the writer is free to rework a piece based on the feedback received that day. When a writer is ready, she can hit “send” and get her work out there, or share it with family and friends.
At the end of every topic set, we hold a revision session during which each writer brings in a revision of one piece they’ve written during this set.
Many Wise Women Writers have had work they created for Wise Women Write published in print media and in online publications.
It is a risk to share one’s story, one’s work, and one’s truth in writing. It is a risk to come out of the bud and bloom. But the supportive environment of Wise Women Write is the perfect place!
Listen to the words of Diane Amento Owens’ writing guru, Julia Cameron, from the book that started her on the writing road, The Right to Write:
| “Kabir tells us, ‘Wherever you are is the entry point,’ and this is always true with writing. Wherever you are is always the right place. There is never a need to fix anything, to hitch up the bootstraps of the soul and start at some higher place. Start right where you are…There is something very right about simply letting yourself write. And the way to do that is to begin, to begin where you are.” |