Saturday Workshops

Stories move in circles. They don’t move in straight lines. So it helps if you listen in circles. There are stories inside stories and stories between stories, and finding your way through them is as easy and as hard as finding your way home. And part of the finding is the getting lost. And when you’re lost, you start to look around and to listen. — Cory Fischer, Albert Greenberg, and Naomi Newman of A Traveling Jewish Theater, Coming from a Great Distance

Offered on the 3d and 4th Saturday of every month 9:30AM – 6:30PM (Pacific Standard Time)

Limited to 5 writers per workshop

Fee: $160 for one workshop; $450 for three and $550 for four if paid in advance.

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In the peaceful atmosphere of the Saturday workshop and with the help of meditations that quiet the critical mind, writing becomes possible, cathartic, transformational, and fun!  It can be memoir or fiction.  Each workshop is focused around an inspirational theme or myth. Participants write three times for about one hour each time, and receive constructive feedback.  Attendees will surprise themselves by the material they’ll produce. Experienced and beginning writers are welcome.

Themes and myths used in past and present workshops:

RITES OF PASSAGE – the events in our lives that shaped us. Whether publicly recognized, such as one’s first communion, marriage and parenthood, or privately experienced, such as immigration, rape or addiction, these events become doorways into stories.

THE MYTH OF THESEUS AND ARIADNE – in the Greek myth, Theseus descends into a labyrinth to conquer the Minotaur, half man half bull, while Princess Ariadne holds a thread guiding him in his descent. In this workshop participants are inspired to write about a time in their life when they descended into a “labyrinth,” faced Minotaur-like figures, and gave or received help. Racism, prejudice, addiction, immigration, war, loss or heartbreak – all these are material for great writing.

PORTRAITS AND LANDSCAPES – paintings of the great masters are used as an entry point into a story. As we focus on detail and color, contrast and shade, rhythm and subtext, a composition begins to emerge and we follow it to its unknown destination. Surprisingly, events from the past rearrange themselves in unexpected ways, moments from real life mix in with the imagination … and we find ourselves in a new story… which is fiction.

THE MYTH OF PERSEPHONE – in this Greek myth, Princess Persephone is innocently walking in a field of flowers when the ground beneath her feet splits open and she is pulled down into the underworld. Individual modern day versions of this myth take place all the time within families, relationships, addictions, political upheaval, catastrophe, war or illness. In the workshop, times in your life when you unconsciously reenacted this myth will take you into a story.

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What workshop participants say:

“My fiction and creative non-ficiton have been published, and I’ve taken a lot of writing classes. But a Saturday workshop with Elana Golden and her intuitive, wise, and gentle guidance has set me on a whole new, very constructive path in my writing. Thanks, Elana!” Bill Ratner, author, actor, voice over artist
“Elana is an amazing writing instructor. Soon after I took one of her workshops, I wrote my novel in just three months. She works less with your mind and more with your heart & soul, causing your writing to pour out like a tidal wave. She will create sessions tailored to your writing needs.” Joe Lam, novelist, award-winning film/video producer
“Attendees can expect to arrive at an epiphany or two while producing material that may surprise even themselves.” Jordan Elgrably, writer, editor and director of Levantine Cultural Center
“Elana Golden is an amazing teacher who inspires the student’s creativity in a unique and magical way. I gained volumes from her writing workshop, which opened up a story that has lived in me forever. Now it is taking me on the extraordinary journey only a story can provide. We write it, while it writes us and in the end, we are never the same! I highly recommend her offerings to anyone that wants to unleash their full Creative Potential.” Aurora Juliana Ariel, PhD; CEO of AEOS, A New Frontier in Multimedia Arts; President & Founder, Institute of Advanced Healing; USM grad.

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