Writing Workshops
for more information, contact anamcdonald@corridor.net
How to Journal Your Memoirs - I present classic techniques for developing memories into stories in this class, a favorite among genealogical and senior citizen organizations.
How to Journal Your Dreams - This is the most often requested of my various journaling courses. We explore ways to remember dreams, discover the personal meaning of symbols, and extend dreams through Active Imagination. Where appropriate, it may include an examination of ancient Christian attitudes toward dreams (highy favorable).
How to Publish Your Journal - In this series of workshops, I take students through the process of selecting raw material from their journals and developing it into publishable messages. Depending on the forums in which writers wish to publish, I discuss how to tailor pieces for a specific publication and basic marketing considerations.
Publish It - Professional writing is a business filled with amateurs. This class provides the basic information one must understand in order to get out of the slush pile and into print, including market analysis, tailoring the message to the market, manuscript format and tracking, query conventions and follow-up, copyright, and working with editors.
How to Write and Market a Newspaper Column - Depending upon the type of column each student wants to write, I discuss how that type fits into the overall mix of a newspaper and suggest ways to develop a marketable product, work with editors, and keep the column interesting through the years. Students also learn marketing techniques and the basics of self-syndication.
Free Advertising: How to Write a Press Release - A favorite University of Texas Informal Program, this class also begins with an examination of the product each student wants to market. I then discuss various ways to write copy for the print and broadcasting media.
Editing Workshops - Many of my classes also include an editing component in which students learn to think like editors and thereby improve their own writing.
Imago Dei - One of the earliest and most influential, but now forgotten, understandings of Jesus involves the Imago Dei - the Image of God in which Adam was created - which some primitive Christians believed had been lost at the Fall. Biblical references to the New Adam indicate that Jesus' incarnation was his pivotal act, restrong the Imago Dei and enabling humanity to become what were were created to be.
Prayer: a Lifestyle - Rooted in studies of primitive Christianity, this class introduces primitive Christian and medieval methods of prayer. We cover Origen's allegorical interpretations, Ignatian, Augustinian, and Franciscan prayer, and Lectio Divina. I also explore modern techniques such as letters to Jesus, cathartic confessions, and prayer journaling.
Prayer with a Pen: How to Write a Spiritual Journal - This class teaches the freewriting technique as originally developed by Peter Elbow. Students freewrite to define God's participation in their personal experiences, apply scripture to their daily lives, and see the stories of their own lives as parables describing their participation in the kingdom of God.
Gospel of Thomas We examine the sayings in the order they appear in the Coptic text. I rely on scholarly commentaries and my knowledge of first- through fourth-century history and theology to suggest historically accurate understandings of the text, and on my understanding of modern theology to suggest more creative applications to one's daily life. We focus often on why this text was excluded from the canon and discuss how certain sayings parallel and extend canonical texts.