Leylines & Lifelines

The Pleasure Catalyst starts next week!

Apr 03, 2023

Collage image created by Helen Sword of blue hydrangea background with two hands, palm-up, in an antique floral design showing lifelines.

Enrolment is now open for my next Pleasure Catalyst (February 3 - March 14, 2024), and I couldn't be more excited!

Join me and other writers from around the globe for six weeks of workshops, activities, and online discussion focusing on the delectable theme of writing with pleasure. No matter what kind of writing you do, you’ll learn actionable, research-based strategies for excavating past pleasures, amplifying existing pleasures, and discovering new sources of pleasure, productivity and resilience in your writing life.

Learn more

How the Pleasure Catalyst works

The first weekly module of the Pleasure Catalyst, Leylines and Lifelines, opens up multiple lines of inquiry via the sinuous metaphor of lines:

What leylines (invisible lines of energy) run through the landscape of your writing life?
What lifelines can you trace in the palm of your hand and reach for when you need rescuing?
What desire lines (intuitive pathways) and horizon lines (distant destinations) draw you forward?

From there, we'll move through a shapeshifting sequence of other resonant writing metaphors:

Module 2: Ground & Sky
(on the pleasures of analog, digital, and hybrid writing tools);
Module 3: Wind, River, Stone
(on the pleasures of brainstorming, drafting, and crafting);
Module 4: Star Navigation
(on the pleasures of finding your own stars to steer by);
Module 5: Chiaroscuro
(on the interplay of light and shadow in your writing-related emotions);
Module 6: Island Time
(on the pleasures of diving deep, taking time out, and wading through the wetlands between the sea and the shore of your writing life).

Each week, you’re invited to join me and other participants for a 2-hour Live Writing Studio session themed to coordinate with that week’s module.

Why you’ll love the Pleasure Catalyst

Here's what some of last year’s participants had to say about course:

The Pleasure Catalyst was a luscious, sensual and very rich course that took my writing to a different level through deep reflection and exchange with peers. The course offers ample opportunity for deep and impactful engagement with your own writing.
Birgit Heckemann, R&D coordinator, Institute of Health and Care Sciences, University of Gothenburg (Sweden).

In this six-week course I experienced writing with pleasure – which I expected when guided by Helen Sword. What was less expected and more impactful was the self-reflection the course gently stirred. I left with many tools to boost my future writing and precious memories of this growth experience with writers from around the world.
Anita Campbell, Senior Lecturer, University of Cape Town (South Africa)

This playful, pleasure-filled course will transform your writing practice — possibly in ways you can’t yet imagine. I’d love to see you there!

It means so much to me to hear back from my readers. Please leave a comment, share this post with a friend, drop me a restack — or at least toss a heart into my waiting hands.

Kia pai tō koutou rā (have a great day) – and keep on writing!

Helen

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