I’m really excited about my new collection of 90-minute interactive Zoom workshops, all designed to help you bring greater awareness, compassion, and presence to your writing practice. They are running once a month from next month until the end of the year and have been developed from my decade of mindfulness practice, fifteen years of teaching fiction and memoir writing, and twenty-five years of being a writer myself.
Each workshop stands alone as a complete exploration of its theme, providing practical techniques, mindfulness practices, and writing prompts you can immediately apply to your work. They're also designed to complement each other, creating multiple pathways into mindful writing whether you're crafting fiction, memoir, or something in between.
There will be opportunities to write, reflect, and connect with others who share your commitment to approaching writing with mindfulness and heart.
Whether you're struggling with creative blocks, seeking to deepen the emotional authenticity of your work, or simply wanting to bring greater intention to your writing process, you'll find valuable tools and insights in these focused workshops.
Join me for a single session or immerse yourself in several workshops to transform your relationship with writing and discover how mindfulness can enhance not just what you write, but how you write and why.
Paid members of The Mindful Writer Substack get a discounted rate — just apply the discount code (which appears at the end of this message) at checkout when booking a session and you’ll get £5 off. The cost for non-members is £15 per workshop.
If you can’t make the live sessions then the replays are sent out afterwards.
I’m also excited to have finalised the workshops for the brand new Mindful Flash Fiction Course, which starts in July. There are two with me:
Finding the Stories Inside Us - Saturday 9th August: 15.00-16.30 BST
Sensory Immersion - Saturday 27th September 15.00-16.30 BST
And one with award-winning flash writer and poet, Sarah Freligh, who delivered a fantastic workshop as part of the novella-in-flash festival I ran earlier this year. I’m really looking forward to this!
Beyond What the “I” Can See: Point of View in Very Short Fiction - Saturday 23rd August: 15.00-16.30 BST
Get all the course info here.
Writing Through Transitions: Mindful Approaches to Life's Changes
Sat 14 Jun 2025 15:00 - 16:30 BST
A workshop exploring how mindful writing can help navigate major life transitions (career shifts, relationships, relocations, health challenges). We’ll use specific writing prompts designed to help us process change mindfully and create meaning from these pivotal moments. Includes a guided meditation and transformative writing exercises.
The Compassionate Character: Building Authentic Fictional People
Sat 19 Jul 2025 15:00 - 16:30 BST
We’ll look at ways of developing nuanced, empathetic characters by drawing from mindfulness practices. Learn how to create characters with genuine emotional depth by applying techniques of non-judgment, curiosity, and present-moment awareness to characterisation. Perfect for fiction writers looking to deepen their character work.
Mindful Dialogue: Writing Conversations That Connect
Sat 16 Aug 2025 15:00 - 16:30 BST
Explore how mindful listening in your own life can transform the dialogue you write. This workshop teaches techniques for crafting authentic, meaningful conversations in both fiction and memoir that reveal character and advance story while avoiding common dialogue pitfalls. Includes exercises in mindful listening and dialogue construction.
Writing the Sacred Ordinary: Finding Meaning in Everyday Moments
Sat 13 Sep 2025 15:00 - 16:30 BST
Discover how to transform seemingly mundane experiences into profound writing through mindful observation. Learn techniques to notice and capture the extraordinary within ordinary life, creating resonant scenes that connect with readers on a universal level. Applicable to both fiction and memoir writers.
The Healing Narrative: Transforming Personal Pain Through Story
Sat 11 Oct 2025 15:00 - 16:30 BST
Discover how to write about difficult experiences in ways that promote healing for both you as the writer and for the readers it reaches. This compassionate workshop provides frameworks for approaching challenging material with mindfulness, establishing healthy boundaries, and crafting narratives that transform personal struggles into universal insights.
Sensory Writing: Mindful Approaches to Description
Sat 8 Nov 2025 15:00 - 16:30 GMT
Enhance your descriptive writing by sharpening your sensory awareness. Through guided mindfulness practices focused on each sense, learn to craft vivid, immersive descriptions that engage readers fully. Includes exercises to strengthen your ability to notice and articulate sensory details in both fiction and nonfiction.
The Mindful Revision Process: Compassionate Editing Techniques
Sat 13 Dec 2025 15:00 - 16:30 GMT
Transform your relationship with revision through mindfulness practices. This workshop introduces a more intentional, less stressful approach to editing, teaching techniques for seeing your work clearly without harsh self-judgment. Learn to revise with curiosity rather than criticism, making the editing process more productive and enjoyable.
And I wanted to share with you a post I wrote over at the literary journal I publish, WestWord, which is all about discovering the gold in your writing by coming at a theme from different angles and I have included a Zoom workshop I ran last year all about this too, which has had the paywall removed. I hope you enjoy it! Read and watch here.
I truly believe that we can become the change our world so desperately needs when we transform the stories we tell — both about ourselves and one another. This isn't just a nice idea; it's at the heart of everything I'm doing here at The Mindful Writer. Each workshop, each course, each post, each moment of mindful creativity is designed to support this transformation.
When we write with presence and compassion we're shifting something fundamental about how we are in the world. And these mindful stories ripple outward, inviting our readers to see with fresh eyes, challenging their perceptions and opening hearts to new possibilities. This is where the magic happens and where real change can begin.
If this sounds like the direction you want your writing practice to go in, I look forward to writing mindfully with you!
With love,