All Genre Workshop: So You’re a Neurodivergent Writer
*The event has already taken place on this date: Tue, 08/30/2022
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Have you struggled with traditional writing advice? Do you hate feedback and revision of any kind? Do you find it difficult to call yourself a writer because of these things? I have some good news: there’s nothing wrong with you, and you’re more of a writer than you’ve been led to believe. How do I know? Because I’ve learned that no one single approach works for everyone. Being Autistic, I see the world in ways that depart from what we’ve been taught is “the norm.”
Neurodivergent people communicate differently because our minds work differently. This can make life difficult, but it also makes writing easy (it’s easy if you write how your brain wants you to write).
Once I learned to trust my instincts and embrace my differences, the world of writing opened in miraculous new ways. In this workshop you’re invited to explore some of the insights I’ve gained along my journey and use them to build your own generative writing practice. We’ll affirm that the traditional critique/feedback method isn’t the only way to grow as a writer–that it may be what’s holding you back–and discover why our approach to writing needs to mirror our approach to life.
There will be plenty of time to write and no negative critique of any kind. Just love. If you feel that traditional pedagogy excludes you, then this is the workshop for you. You don’t have to stare into the sun to know that it’s there. You merely need to feel its warmth on your skin.
Said Shaiye is an Autistic Somali writer and photographer. He teaches poetry to Autistic youth through Unrestricted Interest. His debut book, Are You Borg Now?, was named a 2022 Minnesota Book Award Finalist in Creative Nonfiction & Memoir. He has contributed essays to the anthologies Muslim American Writers at Home and We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World; and has published poetry & prose in Brittle Paper, Pithead Chapel, 580 Split, Entropy, Diagram, Rigorous, Night Heron Barks, and elsewhere. saidshaiye.com
This virtual class with Said Shaiye is streamed via Zoom. Scholarships available.
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