Seminars, Workshops and Presentations

New! Writing Effective Dialogue: This new 3-hour intensive includes Punctuation for Writers, Conveying Emotion Directly Through Punctuation, Writing Effective Dialect, Tag Lines and Brief Descriptive Narrative, The Nuances of Implication, Voice, and Mechanics. (See descriptions of individual topics below.)

Writing Poetry

Based on Harvey's forthcoming book The Craft of Poetry: A Quasi-Prosody. In a lecture/discussion format, Harvey focuses on poetic techniques that are characteristic of all well-written poetry. It's important to note that the poet's job is not to relate the poem, but the sense of the poem, the spirit of the poem. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following: the use of meter or not; the use and purpose of particular line lengths and line breaks; purposeful word choice; stanza use and construction; end and internal rhyme, either, or neither; definitions of free verse, blank verse, and various traditional forms; imagery; the nuances of the language; and the nature of poetry. 1 to 8 hours, depending on subtopics covered.

Writing the World: The Art of Observation: This seminar is presented in a lecture/discussion/practical application format. Observation, the ability to sense beyond the societal and emotional masks with which we all contend, is essential to the craft of writing. Attendees should expect to have their writing spirit revived. Subtopics include the following:

• Observation 1: Recognizing the Masks: Lecture/Discussion. Attendees are taught to recognize the societal masks, physical and emotional, with which we contend every day. We are reminded of the awe of childhood for everyday things and taught to appreciate the wonder of our private point of view (the entity, self) and the world around us (others, sentient or not). 2 hours.
• Observation 2: Sensing Beyond the Masks: Lecture/Discussion. Attendees are introduced to the notion of honing their physical senses, of seeing, smelling, tasting, feeling, and hearing all that?s really there and testing that sensory input for danger, calm, a story spark, and just to experience it fully. After practicing this concept, they?re introduced to the idea of trusting and using their intuition and imagination so they will become adept at sensing beyond the societal physical and emotional masks. 2 to 4 hours or longer.
• Observation 3: Enabling Observation for the Reader: Lecture/Discussion. Still applying techniques and mental attitudes learned in Observation II, attendees learn to use their own imagination to more deeply ingest and explore that sensory input, and to use Negative Capability (defined) to convey those clarified images so the reader will share in the sensory experience. 2 to 4 hours.
• Observation 4: Writing the World: Lecture/Discussion. The most interesting writing occurs when the writer senses and writes what isn?t readily apparent. Consider, the literary quotes we most admire revolve around a unique turn of a phrase or the clear presentation of a truth or the illumination of an ideal, all while fully engaging our emotions, whether joy or sadness, elation or melancholy. This course is offered as a 2 to 4 hour class or in . . .

New! Observation 5: Writing the World Mini-Retreat: Lecture/Discussion. The writer is reminded that the words put on the page by her hand first were written in the wood from which the paper was made, in the tree from which the wood was cut, in the seed from which the tree grew, and in the ancestral memories of the seed itself. Delivered in approximately 10 hours over a period of two days. The sessions are interspersed with guided free time for reflexion and practical application:

The Philosophy of Observation: Notes on the Wholeness: Currently not available as a seminar. Soon to be available as a series of essays on this website and possibly in free seminars thereafter. The quintessence of Observation and Writing the World is to know one's self, one's world, and one's place in the world. Much emphasis is placed on the Question and much less on the Answer. These essays pay homage to the importance of the Question and recognize the fluid nature of the Answer. We are reminded of our place in the Wholeness, whence we come and to which we will return. This is neither religious nor anti-religious.

• Observation 6: The Nature of Humankind: Becoming the Observer: Essays on the nature of humankind; comparison of hol-i-ness and whol-e-ness; our integral place in the Wholeness as neither lesser nor greater than any other integral part; the power of I AM; the creator of god, who is the creator of mankind; our relationship to other sentient beings; the hidden "mammalian" side of humankind; and a discussion of whose rites are right and whether it matters. Truths are presented, and we begin to learn the importance of the Question, no matter the Answer. We begin to learn to accept what is given without guilt, greed, or a sense of obligation, and to give what we have without a thought for recompense.
• Observation 7: The Curse of Cognitive Ability: I Think, Therefore I Am (Right): Essays on the human ego and our all-but-unconscious desire to control others. We learn that releasing control of others also releases us from responsibility for others, a responsibility we usurp and bring upon ourselves in the first place; we discuss the human inferiority complex and the ensuing need to feel superior; we begin learning how to let go, detach, and truly become a passive observer.
• Observation 8: The Passive Observer: A World Full of Robed Wanderers? Essays on how to ignore the ego and shed the inferiority complex, and how both actions are continual journeys, not destinations; the advent of giving and taking without being aware of giving or taking, without a sense of guilt or a thought for recompense; on Ones and Inanimates; on being a One and in place; on the stewardship of Inanimates; the Act of Action and the Act of Inaction; and perhaps most importantly, on not taking yourself too seriously.