Writing Life’s Spiritual Lessons
October 13 @ 5:30 pm - October 18 @ 1:00 pm EDT
Each person of Faith encounters many steps along the pilgrim road toward God. We often wish to share these stories with others. How do we find the right words? How do we put our hard-earned wisdom on the page so that it resonates with others?
Our time together will teach you how to craft stories to be shared in a variety of circumstances: as spiritual reflection, as a devotional aid, as a gift to children or grandchildren, for publication, or for the sheer personal pleasure in finding the right words and putting them in the right order to
convey what we really want to say.
We’ll look at resonant details to adjust the tone and mood of our story, how to control pacing, how to keep a reader’s interest, when to use humor, and how to incorporate Scriptural references most effectively, and other questions.
A combination of class time in writing workshops, a sprinkling of curated readings at night, and a deep commitment to each individual’s writing journey will fuel our time together. I encourage you to plan for half-days in class, (optional) individual appointments with me during non-class
time, and the remaining free time to write, read, and pray.
The opportunity to meet with me in individual appointments for writing consultation is part of supporting your learning during our time together. Potential topics could be particular writing skills, the publishing industry, an idea for a potential writing project, or understanding your
writing vocation, etc.
This week-long workshop begins Sunday night at 5:30 pm with a dinner for students and the instructor. Dinner is followed by a workshop introduction and conference, which ends at 9:00 pm. Hands-on instruction begins early Monday morning. The entire workshop ends Friday at 1 PM.
Instructor: Sarah Cortez is founder and president of Catholic Literary Arts.
http://www.catholicliteraryarts.org A professional writer and editor, educator and public speaker,
she is a fellow of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture and a Scanlan Fellow at the
University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX. She has functioned as an educational consultant for
Harris County Department of Education and trained teachers through Humanities Texas. She is
the founder of Fearless Writing, an online source of accessible resources enabling educators and
parents to teach creative writing. https://www.fearlesswriters.net/ She began the international
San Miguel Allende writing classes in Guanajuato, Mexico. Her work has appeared in many
journals such as, Rattle, Texas Monthly, Chiron Review, The Sun, Presence: A Journal of
Catholic Poetry, and Catholic Arts Today where she is a contributing editor. She is the arts
columnist for St. Austin’s Review. Winner of awards, such as the PEN Texas Award in Poetry,
the Southwest Book Award, the National Federation of Press Women Awards, and multiple
International Latino Book Awards, Ms. Cortez has authored and/or edited fourteen volumes
spanning all genres.
