Featured Online Generative Writing Workshop

The Fab Five: Writing the Senses with Kimberly Lee

START DATE: August 26, 2024

END DATE: September 30, 2024

DURATION: 5 weeks

LOCATION: Wet Ink Interactive Classroom

FEEDBACK: Helpful Instructor Feedback and Encouraging Peer Workshop

COURSE DESCRIPTION: “We live on the leash of our senses.” —Diane Akcerman

Powerful writing stimulates the senses, allowing us to fully immerse ourselves in the scene the writer has created. Infusing our pages with imagery evoking scent, touch, taste, hearing, and sight leads to a multi-dimensional experience that stays with the reader. In this workshop, we’ll use creative prompts to spend time with each of our senses, employing them as inspiration for juicy, textured writing. In addition to the five senses we know best, we’ll learn about and engage in writing inspired by lesser known senses that are just as fabulous, such as proprioception and interoception. We’ll also write with intuition, often referred to as the “sixth sense,” through the SoulCollage® method of making small collages with personally resonant images. After being directed through the process of creating a collaged card, participants will develop a piece of writing inspired by their creation. Gretchen Rubin said, “We each live in the brew of our own sensations.” Let’s make use of that brew to generate rich, delicious writing!

In this workshop, you’ll:

Become more conscious of and confident in using sensory detail in your writing.
Read the work of writers who effectively employ the senses.
Generate rich writing as a result of tapping into your senses.
Receive helpful, thorough feedback from the instructor and constructive comments from your peers.
Expand your repertoire of creative avenues into your writing.

Intended audience:

Beginning and intermediate writers (fiction or CNF) who are interested in improving their craft through richer description and sensory details. Writers who are seeking new ways to access their creativity and spark new ideas.

I've enjoyed this class so much and am so sad that it's ending. The themes, the diversity of the materials, the creative processes, and the prompts have all engaged really me. I haven't written like this for years and it's just been great fun. — Danyelle O.

Thank you most deeply for this course. [T]his one has had a profound effect on me. You have a gift for finding and presenting information and thought-provoking materials that engage on a deep level. — Kaden S.

Kimberly has a very warm and delightful presence. Her creative writing workshop was filled with varied exercises. — Sinéad M.

Kimberly presented a variety of creative and original prompts, and I was motivated by her enthusiasm and obvious enjoyment of writing. Her manner was very encouraging and her responses reflected her knowledge of the process. — Carolyn J.

WEEKS AT A GLANCE:

Week One: Sight, Visual Imagery, and Proprioception
We’ll begin our exploration with sight, examining the use of visual imagery, including the impact of color and perspective choices. We’ll also learn about proprioception and how that sense can help us delve into the heart of a theme.

Assignment: An optional exploratory prompt and a creative writing assignment (500-750 words) on the week’s topics.

Week Two: Sound, Metaphor, Anaphora, Assonance, and Equilibrioception
Next, we’ll focus on sound, giving attention to effective ways to describe it, how it can serve as a metaphor for situations and emotions, and the musicality of language that writers often achieve through devices such as anaphora, assonance, and others. We’ll also explore equilibrioception and the concepts of balance and pacing in our writing.

Assignment: An optional exploratory prompt and a creative writing assignment (500-750 words) on the week’s topics.

Week Three: Scent, the Proust Effect, and Intuition
This week, we’ll turn to scent, with attention to the Proust effect and how this sense evokes memory and can be used to create a rich, multi-layered atmosphere. We’ll also explore intuition and experience how tuning into this natural gift can enrich our writing in unique and unexpected ways.

Assignment: In addition to an optional exploratory prompt, we’ll also make a SoulCollage® card through an intuitive, directed process (with a video tutorial). This creation, along with your choice of selected prompts, will inspire a 500-750 word piece of writing.

Week Four: Touch, Textured Writing, and Interoception
Touch will be at the center of this week, with attention to the many ways to describe interactions with others and the world, as well as an exploration of the building blocks of textured writing. We’ll also touch on interoception, our ability to detect our internal feelings, and see how what arises can be used in character development.

Assignment: An optional exploratory prompt and a creative writing assignment (500-750 words) on the week’s topics.

Week Five: Taste and Flavor
For our final week, we’ll tune into taste and flavor description, along with the broader subject of the role food plays in creative writing. To close things out, we’ll bring all of the senses together in a final piece of writing.

Assignment: An optional exploratory prompt and a creative writing assignment (500-750 words) on the week’s topics.

Materials needed: All readings and multi-media resources will be provided via links and PDF documents. An easy-to-obtain supply list for Week Two will be given at the beginning of the course. Other than that, simply pen and paper, keyboard, or other preferred writing instruments/devices.

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR: Kimberly Lee left the practice of law some years ago to focus on motherhood, community work, and creative pursuits. A graduate of Stanford University and UC Davis School of Law, she is an Amherst Writers & Artists facilitator and serves on its board of directors. She is also trained and certified by The Center for Journal Therapy, The Center for Intentional Creativity, The Path Meditation, and SoulCollage®. She has led workshops at numerous retreats and conferences and is a teaching artist with Hugo House, Loft Literary, and The Writing Salon. A former editor and regular contributor at Literary Mama, Kimberly has also served on the staffs of Carve and F(r)iction magazines. Her stories and essays have appeared in publications and anthologies including Minerva Rising, LA Parent, Words and Whispers, Toyon, The Ekphrastic Review, WOW! Women on Writing, Read650, I Am Woman: Expressions of Black Womanhood in America, and elsewhere. Kimberly trusts in the magic and mystery of miracles and synchronicity, and believes that everyone is creative and has unique gifts to share. She lives in Southern California with her husband and three children.

COST: $185, which includes an interactive class via the beautiful Wet Ink platform for peer interaction. Participants will be given an invitation and access to the course upon registration.

BUY NOW: The Fab Five: Writing with the Senses, by Kimberly Lee (5 weeks, starting 8/26/2024) Limit: 15 students. Early registration is recommended.

For Class Session Starting 8/26/2024

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Notes: Upon successful completion of payment, your name, email address, and contact info will be submitted to your instructor.

Questions? Email Marcia & Angela at:
classroom[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com

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