Just for you!
Writing From The Fitra
for women who love to write
Dec 08, 2016 – Jan 12, 2017
6 weeks + 2 free weeks
online
Writing deeply personal material?
Working on your memoirs?
Or do you just thoroughly enjoy self-discovery through reflective journaling?
Then this Writing From The Fitra workshop is for you!
This workshop will aid you in exploring at a deep level your fitra-self and bring you to a greater awareness of what you write and why. Through pertinent questions and writing prompts, through re-imagining and examination, using various forms of writing: poetics, metaphor, prose, free-writing, narratives and never-to-be-sent letters to the self or others – we will reconnect with ourselves and in sha Allah take steps forward in our personal growth that ultimately help us move closer to the haqq and Allah (subhanahu wa taala). Although the idea of this workshop is not to generate works for publication, of course it may be that something develops from it that you deem publishing worthy. And connecting your writing with a deeper sense of you, leading to self discovery and understanding, should in sha Allah generate a greater connection with your readership.
The sessions will be hosted in a supportive, private, all-women setting. As with all my writing workshops I have structured Writing From the Fitra in a tiered fashion so that you, one extremely busy and dynamic woman, can participate at the very maximum you can give exactly where you are in your life right now.
What that means is:
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The workshop does not have a specific meet time you have to show up for, but in addition to posting the weekly exercises, there is a private group where you can get support and socialize with your peers as much or little as you like whenever you can.
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There is one deadline a week. Unlike my other workshops, because we are doing deeply personal work, there are no required peer reviews for Writing From the Fitra. But…
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You are welcome, encouraged really to share your work and get the sort of feedback you may need in a few different ways: privately send to me (especially if you are aiming for publication, then I will help you clarify and polish your work), anonymously posting portions to the group (I will post for you), and/or directly posting portions of your work which you may want feedback on or that may be insightful to inspire others and so on.
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Similar to my other workshops, I provide a selection of exercises each week that are designed not only to satisfy various interests, but also to meet you at your writing level and needs. This workshop is for women who love to write, not just writers.
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I will provide some best practices to help you work through the six weeks and maximize enjoying and getting as much out of the workshop as you can.
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Then! I have made the last two weeks of the workshop as a bonus for those who can or want to continue on. I know it is hard to commit so much time to ourselves, so if six weeks is as much as you can do, then you will do great! And if you can spare two more… in sha Allah, we’ll keep going!
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Which brings me to the fee. I know how difficult it is for many women to buy things of real value for ourselves, and on top of it you being a woman who may not work full-time and/or have so many other family financial obligations that we put before ourselves… This why I always keep my workshop prices lower than average, and with this workshop being designed for you to work on, better know, and improve your Self in an enjoyable manner (as opposed to the slightly more justifiable working on your writing strictly in a business-like manner), I’ve kept the fee even lower than usual at $150.
So you’re ready to do this for your Self, right???
Some questions:
Can I make payments?
Absolutely. Just email (brookebenoit@hotmail.com) or message me letting me know how much you would like to do as payments, include your email, and I will invoice you. Please be paid in full by November 30th.
Is this going to be an emotionally heavy course? I could really use some self-introspection, but will this be ugly???
Ah, okay I can see how this can look a bit dark and dreary, but NO! No, no, no. This is not going to be about “show your suffering!” unless you want… Really, I have chosen a diverse mix of exercises and prompts so that you can “go” any which way you need, while always keeping the focus on yourself.
This falls under the jurisdiction of writing for pleasure which can be therapeutic but is not therapy itself. And there is loads of FUN built into the workshop! In my opinion self-discovery is fun. Still, I know many of us have experienced trauma, so if you choose to work through some difficult issues in the workshop I am fully here to support, insha Allah. This is why I created this workshop, for us sisters to meet wherever we are and to grow together. Bi ithnillah.
Why are two weeks “free” instead of just being an eight-week workshop?
Because I know how you are! No, seriously, I have worked with I don’t even know how many dozens – hundreds maybe – of women writers through my work with magazines and workshops, and I know how incredibly busy we are, how difficult it is to meet deadlines and especially to make time for ourselves to do things we enjoy – such as this writing workshop which is purely for you. In my other workshops I see some of the attendees struggle to keep making that time for their professional writing after six weeks, so what I have done here is to put the core of the Writing From The Fitra workshop into six weeks, then for those who can keep going we will have two more weeks of introspective, transformational writing.
Now are you ready to do this for yourself? You’re worth it and you’ll love it!
If you need to make payment arrangements or have any questions, please contact me:
THE NOT FINE PRINT: All writing workshop fees to Brooke Benoit for all of her workshops are non-refundable, though they can be transferred on occasion if you work out those pesky details but it’s not guaranteed, so let’s just say not usually transferable.
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