“A writer needs three things: experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which . . . can supply the lack of the others.” ~William Faulkner~
Shape & Flow is a sole proprietorship that I began in November 2012. Our first memoir workshops met in a coffee shop, but it was difficult to compete with the cappuccino machine. So, I decided to risk renting a space at Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center— a repurposed slaughterhouse with an antique mall just below my office and an art gallery around the corner. Mellwood is its own writing prompt!
I believe everyone can write creatively. I also believe that ordinary lives make extraordinary stories. No subject is too small.
I teach writing to groups and individuals, using instructional techniques that are affirming and educational. I specialize in creative non-fiction, memoir and personal essay. Creative nonfiction uses fictional techniques to tell a true story, including characterization, dialogue, scene, tension and plot.
My passion is the writing process and the writing craft. I believe that most persons write to express themselves, learn a new skill and leave stories for future generations. Some Shape & Flow writers find a home for their writing in literary journals, magazines or books. I am always pleased to guide writers through the maze of publication options.
Why should you trust me to teach you? I have my MFA in creative nonfiction, and I published personal essays in Louisville’s Today’s Woman magazine for 11 years. I taught literature and English composition, at Louisville’s Spalding University, from 2003 to 2014.
The poet and humorist, Dorthy Parker, famously said, “The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.” Writing memoir and personal essay engages curiosity about self and the world. Through this process, we are enlightened, and never bored.
Learn more about my business and teaching philosophy. Read my blog musings And take a look at some of my published work.
