A Year of Mindful Writing
Develop your writing practice in meaningful ways
Hello friends,
In 2024, I am offering six writers the opportunity to work with me in an intimate group to develop their writing practice in meaningful ways and deepen the connection they feel to their craft, the world we live in, and all of the people and creatures we share it with.
How does it work?
Once a fortnight, I will share craft development ideas, readings, mindful writing exercises and prompts. Once a month we will meet on Zoom for a 2.5 hour workshop to share work for feedback and dig deep into the craft of writing and the meaning of the work you’re creating. These workshops will be arranged as we go along at a time that suits everyone each month. Please note that they will take place in UK time and will never start before 10am or later than 4pm so if you are in a different time zone, please consider whether the timings will work for you.
You do not have to create new work for all of the exercises and prompts and can use them to develop work you already have in progress. But you can of course use them to write new drafts too. You can write fiction, memoir or creative non-fiction, or a mix of all. We will have a private forum space online where the content will be shared and where we can chat with each other outside of the workshops.
How can you join?
Spaces are by application only and this course is being offered on a dana basis. Dana is a Buddhist concept meaning generosity and mutual support. If accepted for the course you can pay what you feel it is worth. When offering dana, please consider how much you value my knowledge, time and input creating the fortnightly content and facilitating the workshops and providing feedback.
A suggested minimum dana offering is £40 a month. However, if you cannot afford that much please don’t let that stop you from applying as if an application is approved, I will accept whatever people offer. You can pay a lump sum for the entire year in one go, or you can set up a monthly payment. The choice is yours.
The application deadline is 10th December to start in January 2024. However I will be processing applications as they arrive so all of the spaces may be filled before then.
Why work with me?
As an indie publisher at my creative venture, Retreat West, from 2018-2023 I published 24 books. These were novels, memoirs, short story collections and anthologies. Retreat West Books won the 2020 Most Innovative Publisher Prize at the Saboteur Awards and many of the books I published were commended, listed and won awards.
I have been designing and teaching online creative writing courses, and live workshops, for many years and I’ve worked as an editor on hundreds of manuscripts. I’m passionate about helping writers get to the heart of their characters to create memorable narrators that really come alive for the reader. I also help writers who hate plotting to create story outlines that still allow them the freedom to discover as they write.
I’m also a writer myself and the author of two novels, As If I Were A River (2016), which was longlisted for the Guardian Not The Booker Prize, a NetGalley Top 10 Book of the Month and a Book Magnet Blog Top 20 Book of 2016 and Remember Tomorrow (2019). My short stories have been widely published, listed and placed in many international prizes and were nominated for Best Small Fictions 2023. I’ve just completed a novella-in-flash, have almost finished a flash fiction collection, and I’m now working on my third novel.
So I bring experience of both sides of the publishing world to you and your words, as well as many years of experience writing stories of all kinds.
Things to bring with you to the course:
A willingness to work hard, read widely, and give and take constructive feedback
An open mind and a sense of humour
A commitment to developing your writing craft for the writing’s sake
The motivation to experiment and try different things to take your writing in new directions
A commitment to attending all of the live workshops and helping your course mates to develop alongside you
To apply, please complete this form: https://form.responster.com/c65rlH
If you have any questions at all, please reply to the email and I will be happy to answer them.
With love,
If you know of any writers who would be interested, please share this post with them. Thank you!
Good luck Amanda. D
So excited to hear about this! 💜🙏✨