Courage Writing: discover yourself and empower your personal voice

We all have stories that define or expose who we are at our core.

Writing our stories down in a journal can be therapeutic, healing, and illuminating. Journaling gives us the opportunity to pause, reflect, and put down in words how we feel right now, and what we think about things going on in our lives.

Sharing our personal stories with others is an act of profound courage. There’s not much that makes us feel more vulnerable than exposing our thoughts and feelings to others in a creative form like memoir, poetry, or artwork.

That’s why most of us never even try. The fear of being judged can be paralyzing.

journal with a handwritten poem and a pen lying across the pages, with Courage Writing and Gray Bear Coaching branding
Actual poem I wrote in a similar workshop. Not the same pen from that night, though.

About the class

Courage Writing is a professionally facilitated workshop that provides a safe, supportive space where you can explore your thoughts, feelings, ideas, and self-expression through written and spoken word. Through positive and constructive feedback, you can find and empower your own voice and build effective communication skills, while learning from and helping others.

There’s no magical technique or class that lets you skip the hard work of getting better through practice and feedback.

A Courage Writing workshop is where you can do that hard work in a safe and supportive space. It’s a group of people dedicated to their own growth and the growth of each other, through positive support and shared accountability, facilitated by an expert instructor.

Each workshop runs for eight weeks, with one weekly facilitated session lasting two hours. The session will include warm-up/instruction, writing (optional prompts provided), feedback, and discussion.

About your facilitator

Peter (that’s me) is an award winning author and leadership coach. I’ve been working on my writing skills for more than four decades, and I’ve published four novels and a chapter book in addition to poetry, short stories, and numerous professional articles on a wide range of topics. I’ve facilitated writing and self-publishing workshops and was recently elected to the San Francisco Writers Conference as a board member at large, after 13 years as a volunteer.

Here are some of the places I’ve been quoted or published:

About you

Who should join a Courage Writing workshop?

  • Anyone wanting to get better at communicating with courage, confidence, and skill
  • Anyone moving on from a major life event—marriage, divorce, loss of a loved one, empty nest, retirement
  • Parents and step-parents dealing with the complexities of children—the challenges, the joys, the expectations, the fears, the lack of control
  • People wanting to document the most important moments of their lives, or their aging parents’ lives, to have a record for the family
  • Poets, writers, memoirists, essayists, and any other person who just wants to improve their storytelling and writing
  • Anyone who wants to learn to tell their own stories with more authenticity and their own personal voice
Business meeting with Peter sitting facing the camera and two unidentified people, around a table covered with pads and pens and coffee cups
This picture is of a business meeting, not a Courage Writing workshop. I just thought a photo would be good here.

Interested? Let me know!

Send me a note through my contact page to let me know you’re interested in learning more or signing up for the next workshop series. Once I have a viable cohort, we will collectively establish the best schedule for everyone.

Team and private group workshops

I am happy to customize this workshop for business teams, clubs, families, and social groups.

  • Business teams focus on powerful communications appropriate to the workplace. Learn key writing techniques to focus attention, clarify message, eliminate ambiguity, and empower your voice. From a single session to a multi-session series, I will customize the lessons, prompts, and exercises to your needs.
  • Social groups, families, and clubs will have fun together while also building skills, creating deeper and more enduring bonds, and supporting each other on a whole new level. Sharing stories creates empathy and understanding that lasts long past the end of the workshop. Whether your group wants a single session or a series, I can design the workshop for you.

Get notified of future workshops and drop-in sessions

If you’re not ready to join a workshop now, subscribe to my email list to be notified of upcoming Courage Writing workshops and drop-in sessions.

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.