Writing Workshops

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=120 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0ec8dfe1esnpes.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Michael Czarnecki</B></FONT><B>     </B><B>|</B><B>     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michael Czarnecki"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Brief Bio"><U>Brief Bio</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Poet"><U>Poet</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id75.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Themed Programs"><U>Themed Programs</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Colleges"><U>Colleges</U></A>   |   <B>Writing Workshops</B>   |   <A HREF="id71.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PoetintheSchools"><U>Poet-in-the-Schools</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Oral Memoirist"><U>Oral Memoirist</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Maine Coast Journey"><U>Maine Coast Journey</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id73.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Community Project"><U>Community Project</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Some of My Writing"><U>Some of My Writing</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Palm of the Hand Writing"><U>Palm of the Hand Writing</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="US 62"><U>US 62</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="US 62 Journal"><U>US 62 Journal</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Schedule"><U>Schedule</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id76.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fliers"><U>Fliers</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Books Available"><U>Books Available</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="References"><U>References</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Me"><U>Contact Me</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=360 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0ec8dfc3.jpg"> <div> <I>Writing Workshops</I></div> <bR> <div> For over 15 years I have facilitated numerous writing workshops for all ages and levels of writing experience. These workshops can be designed for your particular needs or interests. Each workshop is open to all levels of writing ability and experience.</div> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> Palm-of-the Hand Memoir Writing</div> <div> <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Palm of the Hand Writing"><U>(Some of my Palm of the Hand Writing)</U></A></div> <bR> <div> Everyone has stories to share and many people have a desire to write about their life. Wanting to write and doing so are two different things. Often we get stuck on the immensity of such a project. This workshop (one or a series) will help to make that desire a reality. </div> <bR> <div> This workshop series will help participants to decide what to write about their lives using a method I call "palm-of-the-hand" writing, after the "palm-of-the-hand" stories of Japanese writer Yasunari Kawabata. After deciding on story possibilities, the method presented helps focus the writer's energy into completing short individual pieces about their life.</div> <bR> <div> In a series, the first workshop will be focused on getting to know each other and then generating ideas for future writing. Writers will work on stories between workshops and bring them in to be shared and discussed at the sessions. </div> <bR> <div> If a single workshop, the whole process is presented to the group - from generating ideas to describing the actual process of writing a "palm-of-the-hand" memoir. Future follow-up workshops could possibly be scheduled if participants are interested.</div> <bR> <div> These workshops have been very successful in helping people to write extensively about their life experiences - whether for family members or with an aim to someday be published in a book. In fact, my small press, FootHills Publishing, published a book of memoirs from a writer who attended a series of workshops I facilitated in Canastota, NY. </div> <div> <A HREF="http://foothillspublishing.com/pre-2005/id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://foothillspublishing.com/pre-2005/"><U>(Click here for information about the book.)</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> (Preferably a series of 3 - 5 workshops, though a one time workshop would be helpful too.)</div> <div> *****************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> HAIKU</div> <bR> <div> Haiku is one of the shortest poetic forms and yet one of the most profound. So much can be conveyed in these three lines of few words. </div> <bR> <div> I have been writing haiku for years and find it a good discipline that helps in other kinds of writing too. Compactness, sparseness, critical choice of word usage - all of these are beneficial attributes for any form of poetic writing.</div> <bR> <div> Beyond that, haiku is a way of seeing, of experiencing life. These short poems are "of the moment." Ideally they are poems conveying a moment of insight, a moment of enlightenment, a moment of fine-tuned awareness.</div> <bR> <div> In this workshop we'll discuss what haiku is, read samples and then write our own. If possible, a short venture outdoors will be taken. </div> <bR> <div> (One or two workshop sessions)</div> <div> *****************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> HAIBUN</div> <bR> <div> Haibun is a Japanese form that combines condensed prose and haiku. I first learned of haibun in the 1970s when I discovered the Penguin paperback,  "Narrow Road to the Deep North" by Basho. This is a literary masterpiece about a walking journey Basho took in  the 17th Century. From first reading I loved the form, but it took 20 years before I finally used it, in my book <A HREF="http://www.foothillspublishing.com/2006/id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.foothillspublishing.com/2006/"><U>"Twenty Days on Route 20."</U></A> Since then I have written many shorter haibun and it continues to be one of my favorite forms. (Two haibun can be found on the <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Some of My Writing"><U>Some of My Writing</U></A> page.)</div> <bR> <div> In this workshop we will discuss what haibun is, read a sample or two, then work on writing a haibun of our own.</div> <bR> <div> *****************************************************************</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>