Way of Story Writing Course
“We’ve become lopsided living only in our heads. Writing, in order to serve the soul, must integrate outer craft with the inner world of intuition and feeling.”
– Catherine Ann Jones, New York Times
Our world is made up of stories. If you don't like the one you're in, write a better one. Like your Soul, the soul of story is a combination of craft and magic, a uniting of head and heart. We live in a world of too much separation and pain, which, for many writers, can be ended by illuminating the oneness of life, through creating powerful characters that live in our individual and collective psyche, awaiting release. Writing is a powerful tool of self-exploration.
Every story has a sacred dimension not because of gods but because a man or woman’s sense of self and her world is created through them. These stories orient the life of a people through time, establishing the reality of their world. Thus meaning and purpose are given to people’s lives. Without story, we do not exist. The Way of Story is how we discover who we are.
Create stories that enlighten and empower action
Join master story teller, Catherine Ann Jones as we discover the the how's and why's of writing great stories that have impact and resonance through personal experience and the inspiring insights of other artists, writers, poets and painters. You'll leave this class more prepared than ever to create stories that enlighten and empower action. That's the only thing that can help transform a highly dysfunctional and dangerous world. The writer has that kind of potential power whether writing memoir, short stories, novels, plays, or screenplays. Are you ready to soar into your potential as a writer and help co-create your piece of a new paradigm world? Then join us on our journey to great writing by registering here and now. You'll be very glad you did.
This 16 week course will teach you to develop story, character, & theme into a coherent, emotionally consistent, & marketable story outline. For writers of all levels & all narrative forms including plays, screenplays, stories, novels, & memoir.
- Seven Steps to Story Structure
- Create memorable characters & dialogue
- Balancing craft with intuitive skills
- Access and free your potential story
- Choosing Your Story
- Awakening the Inner Eye
- Creating Character
- Finding Your Voice
- Story Structure
- Writing the Story Outline: From Vision to Marketplace
- Writing Transformational Stories
- Transcending Writers Block
- The Way of Story as a Life Path
Combining solid craft with intuitive skills
The first purpose of writing is to clarify and reveal something in your self, but the only way to do this is to get it out of yourself. The second purpose of writing is to share it with others, providing a mirror for humanity at large, as a modern day shaman. From Shakespeare to Star Wars, from Dante to le Carre, the way of story is a journey of discovery forged by discipline and craft. Though it is craft that transforms the initial raw inspiration into form, storytelling begins within, and is as much as part of our past as our genetic structure.
Craft alone is not enough. The Way of Story Writing Course offers an integrative approach to writing narrative, combining solid craft with experiential inner discovery and intuitive skills, to guarantee a good story along with the intangible inner dimensions of writing. The transformation of good writing depends on making it one’s own from within.
Storytelling is not only the root of film, theatre, literature, and culture, but of the life experience itself. The listener maintains touch with his mythic self and the truths there represented. In losing touch with our myths, there may be a danger of losing touch with ourselves. Today, in modern society, there is a fragmentation which separates most of us from our central core or soul. With all our progress, perhaps something has been lost which earlier cultures knew to value: the soul connection.
"I am often asked by clients and The Way of Story workshop participants, how to choose which story to write. The important guiding line is to choose a story you have a strong emotional connection with. Generally speaking, people go to movies or read in order to feel. Just remember that it is the emotional power of your story that will ultimately determine its success." - Catherine Ann Jones
Stories written by formulas rarely move us, and consequently fail. They are too generic, not about specific people. The challenge is to discover the meaning for your self in the story you have chosen, and then adopt the necessary form that can be meaningful to others. One might say, first, the passion, and only second is craft necessary to birth an authentic and great story.
It is passion in a relationship or marriage that will sustain it for years through thick and thin. Similarly, it is passion in a story that will sustain the writing process through the weeks, months, and sometimes years of completing the work.
It is my belief and personal experience that whenever you follow that inner guide, the world will respond, often magically.
The essence of Art is to use the outer form to convey an inner experience. This sacred thread, your inner most being or Soul, binds you emotionally to what you write, and if given respect, will lead you on to the desired end. Stories written from this center will move mountains -- and even create livelihoods.
