It’s been 10 years since Innings Gate Co. launched our first reflexive writing workshop (omg!), so to celebrate we are offering a series of 10 FREE special events throughout 2024! We hope you will find one (or more!) special event that suits your writing and creativity journey, and we look forward to seeing you again or for the first time soon!
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January Special: Writing Resolutions
Let’s kick off the new year with a FREE reflexive writing course on resolutions. Whether you’re looking to start, or restart, a creative writing practice or are looking for motivation to set your own good habits, learn how reflexive writing can help! Together we will use prompts and free-writes to push through blocks, examine our goals more intimately, and use writing as a tool to make the most of 2024.
No writing experience is required; participants do not need to share their work (unless you want to!). All you need is a pen and some paper (we try to write by hand as much as possible at IGCo. as a way to balance our online lives). Details below!
Date: Monday January 1st
Time: 2pm-3pm ET
Location: Zoom (link will be sent after registration)
RSVP via EventBrite by clicking here >
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February Special: Reading Love Letters
February is a month of romance, and whether they are written to yourself or someone else, let’s find out how self-reflection can enhance our appreciation of love letters! Together we will read famous (and some not-so-famous) love poetry and prose and write responses to them, consider our blocks when reading and writing about love (and self-love), and get ready to write our own love letter to whomever we choose!
No writing experience is required; participants do not need to share their work (unless you want to!). All you need is pen and paper, as per usual at IGCo.! We’d LOVE to see you there! xo
DATE: Sunday February 11th
TIME: 11am-12pm ET
COST: FREE
RSVP via EventBrite by clicking here >
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March Special: Writing Morning Pages
If you’re a fan of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, you’ve likely written – or tried to write – Morning Pages. Julia swears by them. In her epic tome, she says they help you fall in love with yourself. Together with Artist Dates and Weekly Walks, Morning Pages are one of the three “Basic Tools” in this 12-week creative rediscovery programme.
In this interactive workshop, you will be introduced to Morning Pages and how they fit into The Artist’s Way, as well as try your hand at writing them. Timed to take place close to the Spring Equinox, this course provides a great jumping off point for the full Artist’s Way programme. If you start it now, you will be done when summer arrives! So, what are you waiting for? Register today!
What are Morning Pages?
Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages. They are not high art. They are not even “writing.” They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind– and they are for your eyes only. Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize and synchronize the day at hand. Do not over-think Morning Pages: just put three pages of anything on the page… and then do three more pages tomorrow.
No writing experience is required; participants do not need to share their work (unless you want to!). All you need is pen and paper, as per usual at IGCo.! You don’t even need a copy of Julia Cameron’s book, though if you want one, this shop in England sells them with really cute covers you can’t get in Canada.
DATE: Sunday March 24th
TIME: 11am-12pm ET
COST: FREE
RSVP via EventBrite by clicking here >
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April Special: The Power of Pantoum (Poetry Month)
To celebrate Poetry Month, we are going to dive into the pantoum and discover how it works as a valuable tool for well-being! While this poetic form may seem intimidating, rest assured it is not; we will be writing with a guided template so experience is not required!
What makes the pantoum so special? It’s the way it repeats lines in different orders, rendering new meaning and understanding throughout. We will focus specifically on writing one pantoum for the duration of this workshop, with the theme of spring and rebirth.
As per usual, you won’t need to share your work unless you want to, and you don’t need to know how to write poetry to join in. Come with paper, a pen and an open mind and experience the Power of the Pantoum for yourself!
Date: Sunday April 21st at 11am-12pm Eastern Time
Cost: FREE
RSVP: Via EventBrite by clicking here >
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May Special: Write Your Way into Writing
American writer Kim Stafford once said “the path to your art is your art.” He meant that, sometimes, the journey we take to find our destination becomes our destination, as it shapes our end result by shaping us along the way. If you feel like you have yet to become the writer you want to be, take a look at the path you are on. Perhaps it is the writer you are! If this sounds a little too meta for you, let me put it this way: the only thing stopping you from being the writer you want to be is not writing. Which inversely would imply that the only way to be the writer you want to be… is by writing! And that’s where this workshop comes in.
By creating a reflexive writing practice, we can use writing itself as the foundation of our writing life. We can use it as a way to build momentum, structure, discipline, inspiration, motivation… we can write our way into writing by reframing it as both the path and the goal.
In this interactive and inclusive workshop, offered for free as part of Innings Gate Co.’s 10th anniversary celebrations, we will discuss some common roadblocks and misconceptions about why we can’t/don’t/won’t write and how we can reframe them into can/do/will. We will learn how to use a writing practice as a tool to motivate us to write, to better our writing, and to help us identify as Writers.
No experience is required – only an inkling to write.
Bring paper and a pen, a non-judgemental mindset, and let’s help build momentum for our #writerslife.
DATE: Sunday May 26, 2024
TIME: 2pm-3pm ET
COST: FREE!
RSVP on EventBrite by clicking here >
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June Special: Introduction to Writing Naturally
Immerse yourself and your writing practice in nature! When we write outdoors, we allow our minds to relax, unlocking creativity and letting our stories flow.
In this interactive online workshop, we will discuss how to combine the art of forest bathing with reflexive writing to help our creative practice develop more naturally. It has been proven that spending time outdoors lowers stress and allows our minds to relax. Imagine what creativity may flow from that state!
Inspiration often strikes when we are in nature because we are connecting with a universal life-force that, in our chaotic lives, we often overlook. Together we will learn how spending time meandering through forests or parks, paying attention to the natural world around us, while simultaneously keeping our minds open to whatever may come, can be used as a tool for creative expression and well-being. We will learn about shinrin-yoku, practice some free-writing exercises, read and respond to nature poetry, and even write some of our own.
Please note that since this is an online workshop, we will not be able to head into the great outdoors together. Feel free to take your laptop or tablet outside if you’re able, and enjoy this workshop en plein air!
Participants need not share their work, unless they want to, and writing will not be judged. This is a safe and supportive space in which to reconnect to the pure joy of writing. No experience is necessary; just bring a notebook and a pen!
DATE: Sunday June 23, 2024
TIME: 11am-12pm ET
COST: FREE!
RSVP on EventBrite by clicking here >
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July Special: Introducing Bottled Poetry
“Wine is bottled poetry.” ~Robert Louis Stevenson
In this playful, interactive writing workshop, we won’t actually be drinking wine but we will be turning wine reviews into poetry!
Focusing specifically on the tasting notes of Toronto Star journalist and sommelier, Carolyn Evans Hammond, we will create found poems from her wonderfully written reviews. This fun practice is actually good for us, too. Creative expression in all its forms is key to well-being, and studies have shown that “play” is essential to our development as fully-functioning human beings.
No writing experience is required. We will be guided through all writing exercises and participants need not share their work unless they want to. All you need is a pen and some paper. The wine reviews will be provided and any BYOB is up to you! :o)
DATE: Sunday July 14, 2024
TIME: 11am-12pm ET
COST: FREE!
RSVP on EventBrite by clicking here >
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August Special: Watching the Door
This workshop is a little different as we will be taking a look at the boundaries we should set as writing-for-wellbeing facilitators, and the parameters we should expect as participants. It’s about being invited in as much as it is about being able to step out.
In my experience as a writing workshop participant, I have encountered facilitators who have not set boundaries, resulting in traumatic events for those attending. As a facilitator, I have had participants monopolize the energy in the room to the point of making others uncomfortable. I have also experienced the need to leave a workshop that wasn’t right for me, but felt bad doing so. This doesn’t have to be the case. With just a few simple boundaries, we can ensure our writing workshops are safe spaces that let participants feel welcome to join and free to leave. And by understanding that, while writing about trauma can be healing, trauma itself should never be used simply as fodder for writing, we can advocate for our own safety when we participate in other people’s workshops.
No writing experience is required. We will be guided through all writing exercises and participants need not share their work unless they want to. All you need is a pen and some paper.
This is our eighth FREE event in 2024 as part of IGCo.’s 10th anniversary celebration. Spaces are limited, and these workshops have been selling out, so register now to save your spot!
DATE: Sunday August 18, 2024
TIME: 1pm-2pm ET
COST: FREE!
RSVP on EventBrite by clicking here >
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September Special: Unlocking the Journal
Unlocking the Journal is a workshop for anyone who ever wanted to start a journal, thinks they are journalling “wrong,” or just wants some inspiration on how to keep up a journaling practice.
Together we will take a look at the therapeutic benefits of journaling, some of the different ways we can do it (yes, for those who know IGCo., there will be talk of Morning Pages!), and try our hand at some journaling in class. You won’t need to share your work unless you want to. After all, journals are not meant to be unlocked… or are they?!?
IGCo.’s September special event is our penultimate for 2024! Register today!
DATE: Sunday September 15, 2024
TIME: 1pm-2pm ET
COST: FREE!
RSVP on EventBrite by clicking here >
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October Special: Creativity Unlocked (Ontario Culture Days)
This is our final FREE workshop in 2024 as part of IGCo.’s 10th anniversary celebration and we are ending the way we began: as part of Ontario Culture Days!
While this workshop can be customized to suit the needs of your group or organization, for this sneak-peek we will take a general look at how reflexive writing can help us unlock our creativity. Everyone is welcome – those who identify as writers and those who don’t!
With a strong focus on Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way,” we’ll discuss key concepts such as the history of therapeutic writing and healing benefits of creativity, as well as engage in freewrites, introspective questionnaires and group discussions. Participants will take away key tools, form new perspectives, and perhaps even re-discover old curiosities. The benefits of reflexive writing include personal and professional growth, and the practice can be especially beneficial for preventing workplace burnout.
DATE: Sunday October 6, 2024
TIME: 1pm-2pm ET
COST: FREE!
RSVP on EventBrite by clicking here >