I - Introduction
Journey into your deepest memories, experiences, and long-standing beliefs residing just below your conscious awareness. A guided deep-relaxation exercise encourages brain waves that activate the frontal cortex, the seat of creativity. During this session, your response to a series of questions that stimulate both conscious recall and the subconscious will prompt an extensive list of personal topics. Three will stand out. After you identify the one that says, “Choose me!” additional questions will guide deeper exploration until you begin writing your first draft. During either an in-person group meeting, or during an extended FaceTime conversation with an online participant, you will create a clear, visual representation of your thinking to use while composing your first chapter, vignette, story, or letter. Your story will tell you which format to choose. Save your list for future choices.

II - Map Your Mind
First developed by Tony Buzan, a British Mensa [top 2% IQ] life member, mind mapping activates the brain’s seat of innovation and original thinking. Valuable for problem-solving; decision-making; recording information, and memory sealing, the technique calls forth the integration of both right and left-brain hemispheric functioning leading to the production of a holistic, detailed record of your thoughts. Mind maps are multi-ordinate, which means their content triggers additional details for inclusion. After the joint creation of a sample map, you will draw a mind map of your chosen topic.

III - Write What You Care About: Care About What You Write
Using either the work composed during, or after our first session, this two-hour intensive will provide strategies to help you refine your narrative and take it to the next level. Dependent upon the nature of your writing (essay, short story, chapter, letter), submitted prior to this meeting, Joyce will demonstrate strategies for hooking and enticing readers, organizing effectively, collaborating with others, and finding the perfect word. She will help you celebrate your strengths, attack any weaknesses, and make corrections, if necessary. You will want to revisit your writing multiple times, revising it until you know it’s ready for sharing with your family and friends.

Sample: The Day I Felt Invincible