Writing Toward Joy Workshop—Starts Monday!

A special creative writing workshop with author and editor Megan Willome.

Begins February 4. Limit 10 participants. Sign up by January 25 to avoid a late registration fee.

My secret talent —
home-brewed below a basement
— is writing toward joy

I wrote that poem in response to a prompt to haiku about your secret talent. But anyone can write toward joy.

That’s because joy is not a destination. It’s a direction. Writing toward Joy is like writing toward North; we’ll never reach North, nor will we ever reach Joy, but when we write ourselves in that direction, a bit of Joy happens.

In this workshop we will haiku — a lot, especially the first eight weeks, as we engage in joyous observation. We will gently pile up jealous poem stacks and write from them. The last four weeks we’ll play around with sonnets, following the lead of Madeleine L’Engle, who dared us to write our lives using form poems. In L’Engle’s classic Newbery award-winning novel A Wrinkle in Time, Calvin asks Mrs. Whatsit,

“You mean you’re comparing our lives to a sonnet? A strict form, but freedom within it?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Whatsit said. “You’re given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you.”

In this workshop we’ll also read A Wrinkle in Time using the ancient practices of floralegium and lectio divina, to help us unpack the wisdom of a single sentence (or two) each week.

Florilegia will be practiced as partners; each person will choose one sentence from the week’s chapter, something that sparkles for them. Then, as partners, we’ll put our sentences together and see what happens from pairing two sentences that were not grouped in the text.

Lectio divina will be practiced as a class, where we’ll explore one sentence from the text each week and do a 4-step process of Narrative, Allegory, Contemplation, and Invitation.

(Note: While we’re borrowing techniques from established spiritual practices, this is not meant to be religious. We got the idea from Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. Instruction on the practices, as applied to popular literature, will be provided.)

Additionally, part of each group discussion will be dedicated to sharing something we’ve written during the previous week.

So grab a late night cup of Charles Wallace’s cozy cocoa and join us as we tesser through time and write toward Joy.

$350 • 8-Week Course Includes

• Weekly servings of poetry, podcasts, and music, along a chapter each week of A Wrinkle in Time

• Poem prompts and jealous poem stacks to help you write toward joy

• Six asynchronous discussions you can participate in at your convenience and two live Zoom video chats (recorded, in case you need to miss)

• Weekly pairing with a peer to share sentences from reading and writing prompts

Basic 8-Week Material

Week 1: “It was a dark and stormy night.” (writing about weather)

Week 1: “I do face facts.” (writing about facts)

Week 3: “Are you upset?” (writing about feelings)

Week 4: “This was more than silence.” (writing about sound)

Week 5: “Now, you see.” (writing about art)

Week 6: “Let’s do something!” (writing about movement)

Week 7: “Eat.” (writing about food)

Week 8: “I merely rearranged the atoms.” (writing about social media)

$420 • 12-week Course Also Includes

• Four more weeks of lessons and hand-selected poetry, podcasts, music and A Wrinkle In Time chapters related to writing toward joy

• Four more weeks of prompts to help you grow as a writer

• Three more asynchronous discussions you can participate in at your convenience and one more live Zoom video chat (recorded, in case you need to miss)

• Professional critique of one piece or poem you hope to get published

• Continued access to the private classroom space after the course is completed

Additional 12-Week Material

Week 9: “Then they were outside.” (writing about nature)

Week 10: “We must not be afraid to take time.” (writing about time)

Week 11: “What is acquaintance?” (writing about friends)

Week 12: “He dashed across the lawn to join in the joy.” (writing about love)

For You

Private online group setting that includes a free digital copy of one of T. S. Poetry Press’s colorful books for children: A is for Azure.

Note to Teachers

You may be able to get professional development units for our courses. We recommend this service offered by Courses4Teachers (and that you check with your district beforehand).

You Will Need

A computer or mobile device with an internet connection capable of accessing our interactive online space, clicking on documents, and participating in Zoom chats. And you’ll need your favorite writing devices: computer, tablet, pencil, pen, crayon, notebook paper, Moleskine, spiral, or other creative tool. We also recommend a library card because this workshop includes many children’s books.

Your Workshop Leader

Megan Willome is the author of The Joy of Poetry: How to Keep, Save & Make Your Life With Poems and is a contributing writer to the Wacoan magazine, the Fredericksburg Standard Radio Post, and Tweetspeak Poetry. She still reads children’s books and has written about them too.

Register Now

8 Week • BUY NOW • $350 + $10 late registration fee = $360

12 Week • BUY NOW • $420 + $10 late registration fee = $430

From Past Tweetspeak Workshop Participants

Sharon Gibbs: Thank you for making Tweetspeak Poetry such a rich area of living and learning. The workshops are not only life-changing, but they have blessed me with friendships and community outside the classroom(s).

Laura Lapins Willis: The writing workshop I’m taking with Tweetspeak Poetry has been transformational. I’ve had a great teacher/mentor who has encouraged our group with interesting readings and assignments. My classmates have broadened my perspective and challenged me to be a better reader and writer.

Brad Grout: I am personally getting so much out of this memoir workshop…you people are AMAZING!

Lane Arnold: I struck gold. An afternoon session of writing poetry is good for the soul. The poetry workshop is a catalyst for creativity.

Lexanne Leonard: The most important step I’ve taken is to join Tweetspeak’s Poetry Workshop with Anne Doe Overstreet. I cannot begin to thank Tweetspeak, Anne, and my fellow students for this journey.

Darlene S.: I don’t think I can put into words both the overall value of the lessons learned and the encouragement I got.

Debra Hale-Shelton: My writing had become formulaic after so many years having to write the facts and just the facts. For the first time in years, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my craft, again dreamed of becoming what I dreamed of at age 18—a writer, not a reporter.

Rhonda Owen: Both of the Tweetspeak workshops I’ve taken this year have nourished me on so many levels. I also feel energized and revitalized through the relationships I’ve formed with the lovely, talented, kind people I’ve met in the workshops. Transformative is the best word to describe it…

Sandra Heska King: This was absolutely the single best whim I’ve followed.

Photo by Firat Karasahin, Creative Commons, via Flickr.

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Megan Willome

Megan Willome is a writer, editor, and author of The Joy of Poetry: How to Keep, Save & Make Your Life With Poems and Rainbow Crow: poems in and out of form. Her day is incomplete without poetry, tea, and a walk in the dark.

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