Live Free:
Writing & the Art of Free Styling
With Shayla Lawson
People of the page never get enough credit for what Olympians they are of the word Writing is a full contact sport: your dreams are blazing, your heart is racing, and your feet barely hit the ground. It’s exciting. But physically taxing. A hard practice to sustain This course investigates how we exercise as writers by bringing new use to old tools.
Every artist has their flower brain. Their mind palace. The repository of all their darker butterflies. As a writer the challenge is catching those errant moments of expository genius as they lift from grey matter and make their descent down to clack of computer keys. A messy process, always, right? But what if our free writing time looked more like free-styling? What if we turned the tables on how we get out an idea, a character sketch, a cadence by exploring a more embodied form of working through our creative process. This class carries no genre preference but will involve each cohort member experimenting with facial expressions, echolation, and grounding exercises to shake loose the power of their free will. During this course, we’ll unleash our hold on the proverbial pen and return to the art of the oratory to give our free writing practice a fresh start. Since this class is embodied, get ready to get silly, get loose… live free. <3
Accessibility notes:
During the course we’ll make selective use of our “mute” function but will require everyone’s face on screen to riff off each other during the exercises.
Shayla Lawson
is the author of
A SPEED EDUCATION IN HUMAN BEING,
I THINK I’M READY TO SEE FRANK OCEAN,
THIS IS MAJOR: NOTES ON DIANA ROSS, DARK GIRLS & BEING DOPE (Harper Perennial, 2020)
and HOW TO LIVE FREE IN A DANGEROUS WORLD: A DECOLONIAL MEMOIR (Tiny Reparations, 2024).
They have written for Bustle, Romper, Salon, Tin House, PAPER, ESPN, Salon, Guernica, Vulture, The Cut and New York Magazine, been awarded fellowships from Yaddo and the MacDowell Artist Colony, and a nonfiction finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle and LAMBDA Literary Award. They’re from Lexington, Kentucky but they’ve lived everywhere.
These online workshops are designed to help you generate new material, refine an existing draft, or simply discover the permission to call yourself a writer while finding community.
Where & When:
Class series will run via ZOOM for 4 Saturdays from 11am-2pm PST/2-5pm EST, beginning 11/16.
Saturday, November 16th
Saturday, November 23rd
Saturday, November 30th
Saturday, December 7th
ACCESS: We are dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices and empowering stories that truly reflect the diversity of our world. To uplift those most impacted by dominant culture, this course is held for folx identifying as BIPOC only with the goal of holding a safe space.
Cost: $175-500 (sliding scale—please read below)
Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Suggested Cost:
To create intentional space and support for BIPOC attendees, we ask that you pay in light of your financial privileges and with a JEDI spirit (!)
Here are a few guidelines:
$500 – you have reliable sources of food, shelter, and transportation; are employed or financially secure; have regular access to healthcare and savings; can spend recreationally at your discretion (e.g. enjoy a concert, new clothes, a great meal).
***Paying this amount also means you are able to support another BIPOC with limited resources who would like to join this course.
$350 – you have some debt like student loans or a mortgage that sometimes compromises stability with food, shelter, and/or transportation; are employed; have some access to healthcare and savings; can spend recreationally.
$175 – you have some debt that sometimes compromises stability with food, shelter, and/or transportation; are employed; have some access to healthcare and savings; can spend recreationally.
Contact us if you cannot afford to pay full price but would like to discuss payment plans, work-exchange/trade opportunities, or other options.
