Harold Rhenisch

Workshops

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Over the years, Harold Rhenisch has taught many people the skills of writing, and the complementary skills of rewriting. He has worked with teachers, school and college students, and beginning and published writers, sharing the skills learned both under his own teachers, Robin Skelton, Charles Lillard, P.K. Page, Derk Wynand, W.D. Valgaardson, Eli Mandel, and Dave Godfrey, and the many other skills gained from long work and 100s of readings, as decade on decade he has worked at the art of writing with the support of other writers. He can offer you that support as well. If you are interested in having a helpful eye look over your work, drop him a line, and do check out his editing page. If you are interested in a group workshop, why not first check out a few of the workshops he has offered already.
 
 


            

               
                  

               		
               
                  

                  
                  
               		
            

         

         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         

      		
   
















The
         Opening Paragraph




   

      
         
This
         is the one that counts.

      		
      
         
Most
         short stories, novels, and works of creative non-fiction use
         the opening paragraph as an introduction to the main themes
         of the work, and especially to the sub-plot. In this linked
         (and fun!) series of exercises, students produce a short
         story, an opening paragraph, and a poem, based on the
         opening and closing sentences of a famous short story.
         Behind the fun is a piece of seriousness: a publisher who
         receives five manuscripts a day does not, really, have time
         to read them. Often, the first paragraph is the only one
         which is read. The purpose of this exercise is to increase
         your chances that it will be, as well as paragraph two, page
         two, chapter two, and right to the end.

      		
   



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Dialogue
on Dialogue




   

      
         
To
         develop character, to drive plot, to keep the point of view
         clear, to set up symbolic resonance, to foreshadow, to
         develop irony, to develop character and tension, dialogue is
         the most versatile and powerful tool in a writer's toolkit.
         In this workshop, you will learn how to use the tool, and
         what it is capable of doing.

      		
      
         
Dialogue
         is the cleanest fuel.

      		
   



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The
         Art of Revision




   

      
         
Writing
         and revising are two separate arts.

      		
      
         
Many
         books about writing discuss how to generate words. Few talk
         about what to do next. This workshop does just that. It
         starts from the premise that writing is an act of seeing the
         world through words, while revising is the act of seeing the
         words for what they are on the page. It is the art of
         possibilities.

      		
   



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A
Colour Palette




   

      
         
This
         series of exercises is designed to guide writers through the
         act of seeing. Just as a painter builds a palette out of a
         variety of media, applied on a variety of surfaces, with a
         variety of brushes and textures, this is the heart of
         writing, combining free association with close attention.
         When the words won't come, this will lure them
         out.

      		
      
         
Snow
         is not white. Water is not blue.

      		
   



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Replacing
         Abstractions




   

      
         
Abstractions
         are useful shorthand. They are also doorways.

      		
      
         
 The
         language we speak is a colloquial language, a great distance
         from the one we use when we write. These exercises are
         designed to bring the two closer together, so that the
         large, abstract concepts we banter about connect directly to
         our lives and our world. History is in perception. So is
         philosophy. Writing is about how to live. In this workshop,
         I will show you how to open the door.

      		
   



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Imagery
and Visual Poetry




   

      
         
Visual
         poetry and 20th Century traditions of imagery, Chinese
         translation and surrealism, Esperanto and sound poetry, all
         got their start during the First World War, then they went
         their own separate ways. I will show you how to put Humpty
         Dumpty together again, to use these separate arts to step
         away from writer's block, to clarify the directions of your
         writing, and to speed up the process of
         discovery.

      		
      
         
We
         see with the body, but the mind writes. Not
         always!

      		
   



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What
            is Creative Non-fiction




   

      
         
Creativity
         differs from invention.

      		
      
         
Creative
         non-fiction is classically defined as non-fiction written
         using the techniques of fiction. Sounds great, but if you
         google around the virtual universe, you will quickly find
         that, on the ground, it often means a kind of sleepily
         jazzed-up journalism. Using the models of Kapuscinski,
         Chatwin, Lindqvist, Dillard, Magris, Glavin, Kishkan, Gayton
         and Rhenisch himself, this workshop explores a more fruitful
         foundation in notions of reading the world and of
         transformation.

      		
   



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A
Question of Diction




   

      
         
In
         this playful workshop, no word is sacred and no word is safe
         from being twisted into new shape, tickled, teased,
         caressed, thrown into deep water, or being put into a cake
         and asked to jump out singing salsa. Seriously, though, many
         beginning writers trip up otherwise powerful pieces by
         choosing words with different backgrounds. Our language,
         English, is a kind of United Nations, a kind of layer cake.
         This workshop show how to keep the cream out of the
         cherries, and the chocolate on top. For writers interested
         in translation, the workshop continues by showing how these
         techniques can be used to escape the straightjacket of
         expected readings, so that what is translated is not a
         dictionary, but a living voice.

      		
      
         
Every
         word we write is an act of translation.

      		
   



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Prayers
         and Spells




   

      
         
Poetry
         is sacred.

      		
      
         
Poetry
         is not a literary art. It is older than that, and does
         direct work in the world. In this workshop, we do that work,
         together.

      		
   



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List
Poetry




   

      
         
From
            McFadden to Lorca, from Kroetsch to Heaney, from Homer to
            Strand and Pound to Lillard, one of the oldest forms of
            poetry is alive and well in our time. This workshop
            explores the tradition, and shows how it works, with a
            series of techniques that can break open the most
            difficult, closed-in ideas, into poems, dialogues, and
            even witty, accessible stories.

      		
      
         
One
         thing leads to another.

      		
   



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Trickster
            Work




   

      
         
The
         clown is the centre of the ceremony.

      		
      
         
Tricksters
         are ofen associated with native spiritual traditions:
         Anansi, Coyote, Raven, Rabbit.They also, however, belong to
         Western traditions: Hermes, Falstaff, Puck,Mozart,
         Aristophanes, Eminem, Edson, and a thousand others, at
         least. This workshop explores the power of the trickster at
         the heart of all notions of identity and morality. Using the
         model of Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines, it leads you
         to reading the world as story, and your story as the world.
         You will learn to make stories and poems like a pinata, and
         then to start swinging with a blindfold. You are allowed to
         cheat.

      		
   



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Spiritual
Writing




   

      
         
This
            workshop joins world spiritual traditions with the
            specific spiritual strengths of poetry. It is an act of
            liberation and reverence. For more information, please
            see my Spiritual Editing page.

      		
      
         
The
         world is a spiritual fire.

      		
   



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A
            New Genre




   

      
         
The
         new genre of the 21st Century is amongst us.

      		
      
         
Fiction
         that appears to be non-fiction, non-fiction that appears to
         be fiction, virtual work that appears to be real, work in
         real time which appears to be virtual, drama that appears to
         be social documentary, social documentary that masquerades
         as poetry, poetry that is constructed like drama: what is
         going on? Something new, that's what. This workshop explores
         the roots of the new genre, maps out the world it is
         designed to support, and shows the forces lined up against
         it. The future is now.

      		
   



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From
Marco Polo to Your Home Town




   

      
         
Marco
            Polo went to China,came back to Venice, and wrote about
            it. Italo Calvino read Marco Polo, and wrote his
            masterpiece, Invisible Cities,based on Polo's
            example.This workshop will show you how it is done, and
            how these techniques can be used to free you up to write
            about the world in which you live. It teaches the
            important skills of focus, and demonstrates how mythology
            and a naive voice can be used to great effect in showing
            the hidden connections in the seemingly everyday
            world.

      		
      
         
Travel
         to the ends of your metaphors.

      		
   



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