The Story House - Storytelling and the Writers' Workshop

As writers, both new and experienced, we often struggle over how to tell our stories most effectively. We focus on leads and fret over how to inspire, if not compel the reader to stay with us from beginning to end. We craft language to provide our readers with visual and emotional pictures. We revise and polish. Yet more often than not, when a perfect line comes to us, when the shape of an entire novel appears, or when we hear fresh music, poetry or an answer to a problem plaguing us, we say, “It sprang out of nowhere,” it came “unbidden” as we emptied the garbage or settled into sleep. In this workshop, we will tap into that “nowhere” place, that deep inner wellspring of creativity that resides within all. By using meditation, guided visualization, music, and a mindful practice of breathing, we will work to be in the moment and to write out of that moment. Whether writers are composing short stories, essays, novels or books of creative nonfiction, they will find fresh ways of looking at, seeing, and opening up to their characters and their subjects. The weekend schedule will include a Friday night gathering, writing workshops both Saturday and Sunday mornings, and afternoon and evenings improvised as a group with readings, music, dance, drumming, or, possibly, more writing. Class size limited to 10.

Kathryn Watterson, a lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Pennsylvania, is the prize-winning author of eight books, including Not by the Sword (winner of the 1996 Christopher Award); You Must Be Dreaming (basis of the NBC movie, Betrayal of Trust); Growing into Love, and Women in Prison (basis of an ABC documentary, Women in Prison). Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, International Herald Tribune, Fourth Genre, and Triquarterly, among others. She is a singer and drummer with PLP TheUnity, a performance arts ensemble that plays improvisational music utilizing African rhythms, drums, percussion and wind instruments, spoken word and storytelling.

Participants are welcome to arrive at The Story House on Friday, March 26^th any time after 2:00 pm. We will have dinner together on Friday evening. The workshop will end after lunch on Sunday, March 28^th.

Workshop fee will include Friday dinner, Saturday lunch and dinner, and Sunday lunch. Breakfast will also be included for those staying at The Story House.

The Story House can accommodate six participants. All rooms are doubles with twin beds. Additional participants are welcome to stay at local bed and breakfasts. They are listed on The Story House website: http://www.susandanoff.com/StoryHouse/Index.htm

Please mail a nonrefundable deposit of $100 made out to Susan Danoff and mailed to Susan at 121 Main Street, New Ipswich, New Hampshire 03071. The balance will be due on March 1^st. If the workshop is cancelled for any reason, all funds will be promptly refunded.

We will send out a list of participants to enable car-pooling, if possible. You can also fly to Manchester, NH airport which is 45 minutes from The Story House. For an additional fee of $25 each way, Susan will arrange for your pick up from the airport. Southwest has a very reasonable fare from Philadelphia, and US Air and Continental have reasonable flights from Newark.

For more information about logistics, please contact Susan Danoff at susandanoff@aol.com or by calling 603-291-0028.

For more information about the workshop, please contact Kitsi Watterson at kwatters@sas.upenn.edu.

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Deposit of $100 due with registration

Balance due March 1.