“[The writing circle] helped me immensely as I was able to get feedback on my writing in a safe and supportive way. Being with other writers inspired me and kept me motivated to continue with my writing. Your wonderful quotes, prompts and reference books provided me with resources that I would have never accessed on my own. It was like being given a writer’s toolbox filled with a limitless source of inspiring tools.” – Ginny Sargison
Women’s Writing Circle
Writing Life:
nourish yourself, honour your voice, write your stories
with Mary Ann Moore
A writing circle, whether in person or on Zoom, offers a calm, nurturing, and inspiring space where you can receive encouragement and support from fellow participants on the writing path.
In the Writing Life circle, we apply the ancient wisdom of the circle to a modern application: a sacred ceremony of writing, sharing and listening where each person is respected for their presence and contributions. A flower essence is offered (at the in-person circles) to invite and support inner exploration. No previous writing experience is necessary to embrace the fullness of your stories from life.
Mary Ann’s home, Extension/White Rapids area of Nanaimo, BC
Sept. 11 – Oct. 16, 2024
Six Wednesday mornings 10:30 am to 1 pm, Fee: $360
Theme: Memoir + Mythmaking: Opening to New Discoveries
Every circle has a theme and this time, Maureen Murdock’s book, Mythmaking: Self-Discovery and the Timeless Art of Memoir, has inspired our weekly themes. The writing of many other women authors will offer weekly inspiration as well. And of course, we inspire one another with our stories different from one another yet the same in many aspects. Together, we will support and encourage the sharing while developing one’s own voice. You don’t have to be working on a memoir to join the writing circle – just be curious and open to new discoveries.
Topics Covered
The topics we’ll explore in Memoir + Mythmaking: Once upon a time; the people that are part of your life’s journey; your purpose/calling; writing the body; your home and belonging; and your spiritual practice.
Intent
- To provide a safe place for people to tell their stories.
- To find the still centre of ourselves and of the circle.
- To write what has heart and meaning for us.
- To realize our role as leaders in a circle of leaders.
- To remember the divine feminine and
embrace our female and male teachers. - To become a community of peers
slowing down to a natural rhythm
What Happens in a Writing Life Circle
In the Writing Life Circle we write from our lives and create writing lives. We write for the love of it. I offer inspiring readings, poems and prompts as doorways to our own stories and “your own way of looking at things.” Much of our inspiration and creative stimulation comes from one another as well as from the work of other writers. There’s no critiquing and no previous writing experience is necessary. Responses to one another’s writing is meant to encourage and support.
While some of the writing may be considered “journaling,” it has value as acknowledging an event or an emotion and may offer some fresh insight. Lines from those journaling entries may make their way into future pieces of fiction, a personal essay or a poem. An important aspect of the circle is to claim the fullness of your own life, to write your story for yourself first before you consider the aspect of crafting it to share elsewhere.
what if you don’t have writing experience?
“Writing” can be a frightening word if you’re used to being judged for it. In the Writing Life Circle we transform thoughts into words, memories into insight and new possibilities. Inherited stories become invented stories, recreated by you. As there’s no pressure to perform, you’re free to explore. I follow circle guidelines from Calling the Circle: The First and Future Culture by Christina Baldwin. The guidelines give us structure in the space just as we look for structure in the story.
We follow guidelines in the circle so as to create a safe container. I also offer a flower essence each week as Nature’s support for our safe container, the process of uncovering and the integration of what has been discovered.
Please be in touch with any questions you may have.
The purpose of our writing as it is with writing a memoir is “not merely to record the events of one’s life but to be conscious of how certain events in one’s life have shaped that life and continue to shape and expand it. Memoir is not only a recollection of the past but also a way of defining oneself in the present. Writing memoir shows the writer becoming aware of creating themselves.”
(Maureen Murdock, Mythmaking)
Other Benefits
- An exploration of your relationship to silence and stillness,
- A variety of writing prompts to get you started,
- Guidelines for your own journaling practice and various other forms,
- References for reading and inspiration,
- Support from a circle of women who are also writing,
- Witnesses to your creative journey,
- A creative boost and a reminder that your creativity
makes a healthy impact on your life and on the world.
“The writing circle was meaningful, insightful, moving and also fun. I felt privileged to be included among such wonderful women who shared their unique and precious experiences, feelings and thoughts.” – Rie Okamura
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