Freefalling in Fall

I am about to Freefall!

Barbara Turner-Vesselago was one of the speakers at CanWrite in June. I had the pleasure of hearing her session and was impressed. She talked very little; mostly she read examples of what students in her Freefall writing courses have written. Some of the writing was memorable, all of it was compelling and all of it rang true. Freefall Writing is a little like the Wild Mind writing of Natalie Goldberg but different too. Freefall writing can be broken down into four basic decisions:

1) I will write down what comes up for me
2) I won't change anything
3) I will give all the sensuous detail
4) I will go where the energy is, i.e. go "fearward"

Barbara teaches Freefall Writing workshops around the world. She also offers on-line sessions. In one format, a general subject is suggested (like 'write about a scene from childhood with a specific smell attached to it') and the writer Freefall writes about it once a month. This material is not submitted to or reviewed by Barbara. In another format, called a Correspondence Course, a general subject is suggested once a week for eight weeks and the writer submits up to 16 pages to Barbara for editing and comments.

Holding my breath regarding the time and monetary commitment, I have just signed up for Barbara's correspondence course which starts next week. I will be freefalling for the rest of the fall, until mid-December.

You may hear some Freefall writing of mine in future, we'll see. Wish me luck!

Leslie