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OUTLINE OF THE ONE-SESSION COURSE (is adaptable to formats as short as 20 minutes and as extended as 3 hours):
HOW TO BECOME YOUR OWN BOOK:
The Joy of Writing for You and You Alone
(The Significance of Time Capsules and Messages in Bottles)
The importance of recording individual life experiences in the form of journals, diaries, letters, recordings, dictation and storytelling, with emphasis on emotional and internal experiences.
How to add flavor and spice to personal and family histories, narratives, genealogies and chronologies.
Through hands-on examples, the presentation covers:
1. How to determine the kind of story you want to tell.
Prerequisites of the lecture: enthusiasm for wanting to write, a willingness to clear the mind of previous inhibitions and counterproductive rules learned in school and elsewhere, and a desire to get beyond writer's block and other barriers in order to write what needs to be written, in a free and fulfilling style.
--Jim Reed
OUTLINE OF THE SESSION):
THE PASSION AND JOY OF WRITING: The Hidden Skills of the Natural Writer and How to Tap Into Them A brief course for Natural Writers, people who do not yet recognize
themselves as the writers they are, the writers they can become.
PART ONE:
HOW TO BECOME YOUR OWN BOOK:
The Joy of Writing for You and You Alone
(The Significance of Time Capsules and Messages in Bottles) This session introduces the student to the fact that each person, in a
highly individualistic way, is a storyteller and author. No prior or
professional writing skills are required, for each student can learn to recount
and preserve personal experiences in a manner consistent with the talent
that is brought to the classroom. PART TWO: HOW TO FIND YOUR OWN VOICE, YOUR OWN STYLE The importance of recording individual life experiences in
the form of journals, diaries, letters, recordings, dictation,
and storytelling, with emphasis on emotional and internal experiences.
This class is concerned with helping the student determine whether
personal-journal writing will become a joy instead of a chore.
Students are given in-classroom exercises in writing spontaneously and
"from the gut and heart." PART THREE:
HOW TO ADD FLAVOR AND SPICE TO PERSONAL AND
FAMILY
HISTORIES, NARRATIVES, GENEALOGIES AND
CHRONOLOGIES Through hands-on examples, the presentation covers: 1. How to determine the kind of story each student wishes to
tell.
2. Techniques for dealing with "writer's block" and other
barriers to free-flowing writing.
3. How to temporarily "un-learn" everything learned in
school and business, so that the creative process can
commence unhampered. Students are given individualized assignments to perform outside the
classroom and bring back to Class Number Four for sharing and
commentary. PART FOUR:
WHAT CAN STUDENTS TEACH THE TEACHER ABOUT
WRITING? This session provides students a chance to share and provide feedback to
the instructor. Individual assignments are read aloud and discussed. A general discussion is held concerning the healing, therapeutic, and
self-fulfilling aspects of Natural Writing. Students are encouraged to bring more writing samples to the fifth and
final class meeting. PART FIVE: WHAT HAS BEEN LEARNED
AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE LEARNED NEXT This final session provides students with an opportunity to clear up any
misconceptions about the nature of their writing future, and they are
encouraged to bring comments and questions on subjects that they would
like to see discussed. The end results of the class will be evaluated ("Write with joy, passion
and enthusiasm, or don't write at all!" according to instructor Jim Reed).
Guidelines for maintaining spontaneity and clear-headedness in the writing
process are provided. Exercises designed to clear the mind of inhibitions and
counterproductive rules will are covered. THE PASSION AND JOY OF WRITING is a course in personal
self-realization for students. Jim Reed's workbook HOW TO BECOME
YOUR OWN BOOK is utilized by the instructor, and some students may
find it helpful to own a copy. Otherwise, no materials are needed beyond a
willingness to learn new and unorthodox approaches to writing. Many people, having taken the course, will find that they
are satisfied to continue their personal journaling as an end to
itself. Others, once they practice these techniques, find
themselves wanting to develop their writing into publishable
works. This is a course in writing for the sheer, personal pleasure of placing
notes into bottles and producing time capsules. No attention is paid to
"marketing" and "selling your manuscript" and "publicizing yourself," since
many other courses can provide information related to these subjects.
What others have said about Jim Reed's HOW TO BECOME YOUR OWN BOOK presentations:
"Hey--outstanding. A note of appreciation for your valuable contribution to the Baldwin Writers Group annual Wordsmiths' Workshop. Thanks again for your insightful and entertaining discources for the would-be writers of Lower Alabama."
--R. Reilly Maginn
"I personally think that having the 'chutzpah' to do what you did was inspiring to any of us who have just 'thought about it.' Your challenge to compile our personal histories, one thought at a time, one day at a time will perhaps get some of us to do just that."
"I thoroughly enjoyed the class...have begun to fill the journal with some of the stories that have been rambling around in my head...I appreciate the freedom to just be a writer."
"Thank you so much for inspiring me!! Now, when our teacher gives us a writing project, I am the first to start and finish."
"Thank you for coming to our school. Your speech made me want to be a writer."
"I thought it was beautiful. I do hope you come again, and I loved your diary (DAD'S TWEED COAT). It was so touching. It encouraged me to buy a diary and I did."
"Your visit inspired me to write a book dedicated to you!"
"We appreciate your excellent presentation, and we certainly hope that we have the opportunity to work together again in the near future."
NOTE:
For many more comments from Jim Reed admirers, go to home page and click on "what others have to say."
Jim Reed travels the country, inspiring people to write! Click on "events" icon to see where Jim will be teaching and speaking next!
2. How to get started, regardless of background, experience and skills.
3. How never to have "writer's block."
4. The difference between genealogies and personal journals--and how each may co-exist.
5. How fiction and nonfiction can be utilized interchangeably to tell personal stories.
6. How to temporarily "un-learn" everything learned in school, so that the creative process can commence. What teachers of writing and English often fail to stress.
7. Learning how big the Little Things are.
8. Samples of great writing in unpublished diaries.
9. The importance of never throwing anything away.
10. How to write from the heart and from the gut, rather than from the "head."
11. The therapeutic and self-fulfilling results of writing.
No attention is paid to "marketing" and "selling manuscripts" and "publicizing" oneself, since many other courses can provide such information.
This is a course in writing for the sheer, personal pleasure of placing notes into bottles and producing time capsules. Many students, having taken the course, find that they are satisfied to continue the personal journaling as an end to itself. Other students, once they practice these techniques, find themselves wanting to develop their writing into publishable works.
"This is a course for people who do not yet realize that they are writers, that there is a 'writer' inside each and every person."
-- Bert Brosowsky
-- Debbie Patterson
-- Seth Nei
-- Kyle McGee
-- Precious Leslie
-- Autumn Morgan
--Scott Morris, executive director, National League of Cities