TOPICS EXPLORED IN THE first 6-WEEK SESSION INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING

1 THE WOUND – our wounds define us, catapult us and shape us, if we let them. The Wound is really the first stage of a Hero’s Journey.  In this first class we will explore the wounding and where the wounding takes us.being called as writers and storytellers to participate in a fractured world, and it calls for us to adapt to the way we create, the way we love and how we live. We will write about moments in our recent lives when we have had to adapt to abrupt change – through our bodies, our homes, employment, aging, or even emotional disruptions. As writers and storyteller we adapt our language and our rhythms for this rapidly changing world.

#2 HELL or PURGATORY –  Before we are called to change, we are in a world of self protection.  I refer to this as the World of Before, and Chris Vogler refers to it as The Ordinary World – but there is nothing ordinary about it. We become prisoners of our own behaviors that come out of our wounds, and in this place inside a story, we can show the reader a place of comfort before we get up off the sofa, turn off the television and answer the knock on the door. Yup, it’s the universe calling, and it will find a way to get your attention and invite you back into the life you were made to live.

#3 THE CALL & THE DILEMMA- We are called to get up, wake up and walk into life.  This is the Should I Stay or Should I Go moment in a story. From this moment forward, it’s as Henry Miller wrote – “everything remains unsettled forever, depend upon it.” Your story does depend upon you answering the call, though it isn’t easy. 

ANGELS & MENTORS – After everything changes, you can count on the angels and mentors who show up in your life to give you the important answers and messages you are seeking. Angels don’t have wings and mentors are often flawed and can’t get their own life together, but part of their purpose is to guide you when you most need it. Who are the angels and mentors who showed up in your story

GOING THROUGH THE PORTAL – n a world where the economic divide is growing, and we seems to be stripped of so many of our rights, it’s important to write our stories of liberation. For some of us, we were liberated from a country, others our families, and othersating boundaries is how we grow and help others grow beside us. Liberation can be uncomfortable

SYNCHRONICITIES & STORY TIMELINE  – Carl Jung said Socrates, death was a great adventure. For Aristotle, death meant the loss of everything. We die so many times in our life and are reborn over and over.  Letting go of people we love who die is a personal death for the living. All the little deaths and approaching the Big Death are all thresholds, and make compelling, heart expanding stories. In this class we will write near death experiences, death of an old version of ourselves, and how we see our imprint on the world through the art and stories we leave behind.O&&

*Topics in this series are not in order they are taught, and subject to change.

Laura Lentz is the author of  STORYquest, the Writer, the Hero, the Journey and the soon to be published Grace of the World, an anthology to honor earth. Laura is a writing coach and developmental editor, teaching creative writing workshops online and on the north shore of Kauai for ten years. Her workbook helps writers write to every stage of their story inspired by the Hero’s Journey through 12-weeks of writing prompts and examples out of best selling memoirs and poetry. Laura helps writers create content and expand their body of work through unique methods – offering challenging and thought provoking writing prompts inspired by poetry, mythology and segments from literature.

Laura creates the curriculum for the 6-week writing workshops also taught by Guest Teachers.

Laura’s 6-week workshops are online and on the north shore of Kauai. Laura serves on the faculty of The Kauai Writers Conference, Covid willing… and is conducting a Master Class for writers who want to write in sacred places on Kauai and allow Kauai’s beauty to influence their work.

Elizabeth has been writing poetry and personal essays in Laura’s groups since the early days and has taught several series including STORYquest. Her background in marketing and hospitality have fueled her mid-life shift as an Interfaith Chaplain and Spiritual Companion. She convenes groups of many purposes, often using story-telling as a means for transformation. A student of grief and renewal, she designs retreats and workshops. Her writing and film projects are woven into her life in a magical cottage, shared with her children and 98-year-old “uber-elder” father, John Becker.