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"Laura's writing prompts are juicy and creative and through them, I am remembering my own life story."
--Bryana Garcia -
"Laura has helped me breathe life into words that had waited so long to hear their voices spoken aloud. Her prompts were the nourishment I needed to begin my long journey as a writer. I am so grateful to Laura for the gift she is."
--Paula Mahoney -
"Writing with Laura is a dream come true...she's funny, smart, insightful, and willing to risk putting her own life experience down on the page. Writing practice has proven to be a form of meditation in action for me: it has revealed dark corners of my mind that were begging for illumination, and healed broken pieces of my heart. I have cried, laughed, marveled at the insights a simple thing like writing practice has given me. I have used it in the groups I run with first-time older mothers, and even the women who say they have no skill writing are led into deep and wonderful places inside themselves. This is an experience not to be missed."
--Nancy London MSW, author, "Hot Flashes, Warm Bottles: First-Time Mothers Over Forty" -
"Laura Davis's Writer's Journey is about possibilities. Not about being published or receiving accolades, but the possibility of discovery: discovery of my creativity, my joys and sorrows, the discovery of me. Laura supports that journey through a wide range of prompts that are ever changing, always interesting, and many times seems tailored to my personal experience. With each of her prompts, I frequently find myself saying, "How did she know?"
--Alison Liszewski -
"With Laura's guidance, I have been able to discover and develop the writer inside of me who had been waiting in darkness my whole life for the support and safety to emerge."
---Terresa Lauer -
"Laura's writing retreat was a rare and beautiful gift. It was a real treat to be with an eclectic, quiet, exuberant, creative group of people gathered to write our hearts out. Laura created a safe, accepting space for us to let go and pour ourselves onto the page. There were no red letter Fs for us-just lots of great food, a beautiful setting and a wealth of wild writing."
--Jamie Willamon, stay-at-home mom and retreat participant -
"My writer's block has disappeared."
--Laurie Simpkinson -
"Laura is a gifted writing teacher. Her prompts have changed my relationship to writing, making my words more natural and spontaneous. I have begun to remember events from my past more completely and vividly than before. That has been a great gift for me."
--Linda Wright -
"I signed up for the retreat, unsure what to expect. I went with trepidation: 'Would I be good enough?' 'Would it get too personal?' 'Was it worth the money?' I came home extremely glad I had gone. It wasn't about being good enough; it was about being encouraged to find my voice. I rediscovered how much I love to write and was relieved to meet other people like me, who need to write as much as they need to breathe."
--Stephanie Huff, Director of Marketing for firstRain, a software company -
"Because Laura has inspired me to follow my voice, I am finally on track and moving ahead with great clarity."
--Cooper Gallegos -
"Laura encourages her writers to write about whatever they have passion for and to write from the heart."
--Marcia Heinegg, author of California to New Zealand THE LONG WAY -
"I signed up for the retreat, unsure what to expect. I went with trepidation: 'Would I be good enough?' 'Would it get too personal?' 'Was it worth the money?' I came home extremely glad I had gone. It wasn't about being good enough; it was about being encouraged to find my voice. I rediscovered how much I love to write and was relieved to meet other people like me, who need to write as much as they need to breathe."
--Stephanie Huff, Director of Marketing for firstRain, a software company -
"I would encourage anyone who has even a passing interest in developing themselves as a writer, or who feels "stuck" personally and is looking for some tools to push them to a new level to develop a writing practice using Laura’s prompts. I guarantee you will be changed by this experience!
--Nancy Cohen -
"Laura Davis writes with heart and soul and offers a path to self-love, compassion for others, community, and inner peace."
--Wendy Maltz, M.S.W., Author of The Sexual Healing Journey -
"Laura Davis is an exceptionally warm, motivating teacher. I never considered myself a writer until I took her workshop. Her caring attitude, personal concern for my well-being and progress, as well as her years of experience, inspired me to become a writer. I am writing almost every day now and will publish my first piece in October."
--Kathy Williams, singer and songwriter -
"Thank you for your words, your continuing courage, and for inspiring so many of us."
--Leslie Smith, Santa Cruz, California -
"I am so grateful to have you as my writing teacher. Without your keen instruction and astute instincts, writing would still be a vague yearning inside of me. Perhaps the most effective technique in your teaching bag of tricks is not a tool at all, but your steadfast willingness to fearlessly, beautifully put yourself on paper. The perfect original lesson of demonstration still tops them all."
--Nancy Miner -
"When I first met Laura Davis, I was still a fledgling writer. I knew how to tell a story, but I had a difficult time connecting with my work emotionally. After a week of writing practice with Laura and Natalie Goldberg, my work deepened far beyond anything I ever expected. Since that time, I've continued to work with Laura. Her teaching style is open and inspirational. She's been instrumental in helping me bring my characters to life. I highly recommend her to anyone looking to improve their writing and deepen their emotional connection with their work."
--Larry Snow, currently completing a novel, A Nearling's Story -
"Laura brings a sense of ritual to the habits of daily writing which makes something magical of the routine."
--Sherri Paris -
"We all come to Laura because we want to write, or write more, or write better. Through writing practice, we do each of these things and slowly but surely, we evolve into writers. Laura has the insight, the patience, and the steadiness that guides even the most unsure among us out into the open and onto the page."
--Zoe Elizabeth -
"What is most compelling to me about Laura's work is the wonderful balance she conveys, both in person and in her writing, between being both a teacher and an ongoing, active learner. She is completely credible as she shares both her own and others' stories for the benefit of mutual learning. This is a relief from the more "expert" point of view, which has a way of making me feel small and disengaged."
--Kerry Messer, workshop participant, Oakland, California -
"Laura has a unique combination of skills: her own talents as a writer, her clarity and gentle guidance as a teacher, and her fierce commitment to supporting others in finding their own unique voice. Taken together, these are rare and precious gifts."
-- Terresa Lauer, grateful, blossoming WRITER! -
"Laura’s constant encouragement and inspiration has pushed me to pursue my real dream of making a career of writing."
--Larae Ross -
"As I develop my authentic voice, Laura has helped me develop techniques, confidence and a discernment that quells my overzealous inner critic."
--Emily Bording
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Recent Roadmap Posts
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- The Story of Loneliness
- Fear Is a Story We Tell Ourselves
- A Warm and Tender Hand
- A Strong Woman
- Your Mind as a Sacred Enclosure
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- Angels with One Wing
- Tell Me the Story of Your Name
- Personal Ad
- Writing From the Vantage Point of Illness
- Someone Who Believed in Me
- Going Too Far
- To Speak or Not to Speak
- Word Nerds Unite: Words I Love
Recent Virtual Vacation Posts
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Archives
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Monthly Archives: September 2011
The Work I Cannot Quit
“It is not up to you to finish your work, but you are not a liberty to quit.”
–The Talmud
Tell me about the work you are not at liberty to quit.
To Post Your Reply:
- Click on white "COMMENTS" link under the title of the post (and over to the right).
- A new page will open.
- Scroll down to the comment box. Put in your name and email and paste in your writing.
- Hit the blue "Post Comment" button.
- If you have trouble, send your writing to me and I'll post it for you: lauradavis@lauradavis.net
Something I Would Never Do
“It is odd to think that what we don’t know, rather than what we know, can be the very core of story. That the characters within us about whom we know the very least may ultimately provide us with the most energy and liveliness. That often the denied parts of ourselves, our suppressed and disdained stories, are the richest and most rewarding…To be energetic and authentic, a national literature includes dialogues with the despised…Equally, our own writing wants to be infused with the dark light from our underworlds….the moments when the writer crosses into forbidden territory.”
–Deena Metzger, Writing for Your Life
For the next twenty minutes, make a list of things you would never do (rob a bank, shoot someone, lie to a grand jury, take a life, etc). Create a fictional circumstance in which are driven to do one of the things on your list that you swear you would never do. Use this opportunity to step into the forbidden, the taboo, the reprehensible. Your story should be vivid, and should show us, from the inside, what would drive someone to do the thing you would never otherwise do. You can write this story in the first or third person.
To Post Your Reply:
- Click on white "COMMENTS" link under the title of the post (and over to the right).
- A new page will open.
- Scroll down to the comment box. Put in your name and email and paste in your writing.
- Hit the blue "Post Comment" button.
- If you have trouble, send your writing to me and I'll post it for you: lauradavis@lauradavis.net
A Time I Felt Completely Alive
“Give up all other worlds except the one to which you belong. Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.”
–David Whyte
Tell me about a time you felt completely alive.
To Post Your Reply:
- Click on white "COMMENTS" link under the title of the post (and over to the right).
- A new page will open.
- Scroll down to the comment box. Put in your name and email and paste in your writing.
- Hit the blue "Post Comment" button.
- If you have trouble, send your writing to me and I'll post it for you: lauradavis@lauradavis.net
