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Earth Works: A Four Elements workshop on description and action in writing

  • The London Bridge Hive 1 Melior Place London, England, SE1 3SZ (map)

*** Event postponed & ticket sales suspended***

The element of Earth, identified with our experiences of the material world, brings characters and settings to life through an effective balance of description and action.

In this workshop we’ll pay special attention to:

  • symbols and representations of Earth in writing

  • detailed use of the senses

  • the grounding power of nouns and the moving energy of verbs

  • the ways in which Earth interacts with Fire, Water and Air to create dynamic stories - using bodies and boundaries, sex and violence, and abundant forms of pleasure and survival

In the studio will be resident earthshaker Claire Dale, dancer, coach and author of Physical Intelligence. She will show us how understanding the physical workings of the body can change not only how we write, but what we write.

As a warmup, we shall set short writing experiments as well as reading assignments for you to complete before the class. You’ll also be given follow-up notes and additional resources to explore at your own pace later.

This is one of a series of practical workshops designed for beginners as well as experienced writers looking for inspirations for their writing and fresh insights for their process. Earth Works follows Everyday Magic, Finding Your Fire and Water Ways, and we shall continue with Writing On Air (16 May), and The Four Elements of Editing (tbc June). Each workshop can be taken on its own.


Workshop Leader:

Andrew Wille is a book doctor and writing teacher. At Little, Brown and as a freelance editor he has published and edited many bestselling and critically acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction. He studied and taught at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University, birthplace of the modern mindfulness movement, and in his teaching he is particularly interested in contemplative and holistic approaches to creativity. He writes fiction and nonfiction, and also blogs and offers resources on writing and publishing at wille.org.

Workshop Special Guest:

Claire Dale is a movement specialist, leading exponent of Physical Intelligence, and author of Physical Intelligence (Simon & Schuster, 2019), Claire coaches and trains people in business helping them achieve peak performance and communication excellence. With a background in Contemporary dance, Claire led her own dance company to European critical acclaim during the 1990s representing Great Britain in a number of high profile Contemporary dance seasons. Claire has also created works for Sir Paul McCartney, Alsop Architects, CandoCo Dance Company and L'Oreal as well as working on many theatre productions. companiesinmotion.com