Writing Workshops

Bad Poetry: Creative Liberation for Writers

Bad Poetry is based on the premise that we must feel free to “write bad” in order to “write good”. What happens when we liberate ourselves to be “bad” on the page? How can we best express our true selves? How can we claim our authority in our writing?  Drawing on Marni’s experience as well as the wisdom of Natalie Goldberg, Rick Jarow, Deena Metzger, and other maestros of the creative path, Bad Poetry is a participant-focused, experiential workshop with an emphasis on creative expression and respect for all.

Marketing Workshops

As a writer/editor, Marni has done an array of promotional writing for clients that range from a career college to realtors, events planners, therapists, business people, and inventors. In Creative Marketing and the Rack Card Intensive, Marni taps into her experience as a writer for business people and as a small business owner herself to guide participants in the marketing journey.

Creative Marketing includes three main components:

By engaging in preliminary writing exercises designed to help writers break through blocks to “first thoughts”, participants learn techniques to aid in accessing their writing capacities in any genre.

By participating in exercises and games that inspire self-reflection around what makes us and our particular business unique, participants collect a treasure-trove of words, phrases, and concepts which will be instrumental in the writing of their marketing material.

Through examples, description, and discussion, participants are introduced to some of the main marketing components of a business portfolio. For each of these, structure, function, and writing guidelines are addressed.

Rack Card Intensive

This workshop assists participants in the creation of rack cards: the basic building block of the marketing portfolio. Prior to this workshop, participants create drafts of their cards --  two-sided promotional copy describing themselves and their product or service.
 
The workshop focus is two-fold. Participants are encouraged to unlock the creative self in exercises designed to help them access their creativity through writing. Following this, a supervised writing clinic offers kind and creative critique for each participant’s rack card, with a focus on flow, clarity, succinctness, style, personality, and punch. The goal is for participants to emerge prepared to significantly improve their rack card copy and with tools to apply toward future promotional material

Writing for Alternative Media: An Introduction

Query letters. Leads. Interviewing skills. Journalistic writing comes with its own set of rules and requirements. In this workshop, Marni draws on her experience writing as an independent journalist for publications such as the Georgia Straight, Shared Vision, Herizons, Xtra, and kinesis to help guide participants in their journalistic endeavors. Using discussion, role play and writing assignments, this participatory workshop covers the basics for people who want to write for alternative media.

For an initial consultation,
contact: marni@inkcatmedia.com
604.450.5326