Leylines & Lifelines
My new Pleasure Catalyst has just started, and I couldn't be more excited!
Writers from around the globe are joining me for six weeks of workshops, activities, and online discussion focusing on the delectable theme of writing with pleasure. Our participant list includes academic, professional, and creative writers in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and all across the United States.
Together we'll be exploring research-based strategies for excavating past pleasures, amplifying existing pleasures, and discovering new sources of pleasure in writing. My goal is to help the course participants become more productive and resilient writers so they can flourish in all aspects of their writing life, both professional and personal.
We'll also cast light on the shadow side of our writing-related emotions, bringing our brightest sources of pleasure into relief against the darkness, as in a chiaroscuro painting.
Our first weekly module, Leylines and Lifelines, opened up multiple lines of inquiry via the sinuous metaphor of lines:
What leylines (invisible lines of energy) run through the landscape of your writing life?
What lifelines can you trace in the palm of your hand and reach for when you need rescuing?
What desire lines (intuitive pathways) and horizon lines (distant destinations) draw you forward?
From there, we'll be moving through a shapeshifting sequence of other resonant writing metaphors:
Module 2: Ground & Sky
(on the pleasures of analog, digital, and hybrid writing tools);Module 3: Wind, River, Stone
(on the pleasures of brainstorming, drafting, and crafting);Module 4: Star Navigation
(on the pleasures of finding your own stars to steer by);Module 5: Chiaroscuro
(on the interplay of light and shadow in your writing-related emotions);Module 6: Island Time
(on the pleasures of diving deep, taking time out, and wading through the wetlands between the sea and the shore of your writing life).
Here's what one of our participants told us about her reasons for enrolling in the course:
I have been so grateful for all the learnings I have taken from the Productivity Catalyst last year – it has really transformed the way I approach academic writing – and had some great life lessons as well. I realised that it is possible to enjoy writing – wow! And that writing more creatively is fun and nourishing. So I am excited to see where this course takes me. (Kate, New Zealand)
The Pleasure Catalyst will run again in 2023. In the meantime, you can read about our full Writing Catalyst series here.
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