Creative Writing & Publications
Creative Writing Groups
When we have permission to let our imaginations come out from behind the buttresses of self-doubt, propriety, or fear, we will realize that we are wiser than we know, better than we feel and nobler than we realize.
The Creative Writing Group is designed to provide an honest and nurturing community wherein writers of all skill levels can share their work, receive helpful feedback and hone their writing craft.
Each group meeting begins with a fifteen-minute craft lecture and a writing prompt to generate new ideas and get the creative juices flowing. The remaining time is spent sharing our writing and receiving feedback that is honest, constructive and compassionate. The group is open to writers of all skill levels. The only requirement is a desire for self-expression through the written word.
The group meets on the first Tuesday of the month from 4:15-5:45 at 1901 Acklen Avenue. The group is limited to six participants and the fee is $30 per group meeting.
“The imagination is where the mind works at the intersection of necessity and beauty”
Writing retreat
Writers can spend a day refining their skills in a beautiful rural setting on Walnut Ridge Farm, a fifty-acre property set high on a ridge only an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee. The farm is Cynthia’s home and provides the inspiration for much of her own creative work. The workshop day begins at 8:30 with coffee and introductions. Each writer has an opportunity to share writing goals and discuss writing projects. A craft lecture is followed by writing exercises and discussion. Participants can find a quiet spot on the farm for their individual writing time – on the deck, either front or back porches, a spot down by the pond, under the gazebo or up in the treehouse. After lunch, we will come back together to share our work and receive feedback that is honest, constructive and compassionate. The workshop concludes with a happy hour on the back deck. Lunch is provided. Contact Cynthia for more information.
“The one thing you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.”
Publications
- “Power, Patriarchy, and Abusive Marriages –The Effects of Patriarchy on Spousal Abuse” (Nov-Dec 1999) in Wineskins
- “Growing Up”, a monthly parenting advice column in Nashville Parent Magazine, 1997-2002.
- “Power, Patriarchy, and Abusive Marriages,” in Healing the Hurting: Giving Hope and Help to Abused Women (ed. Catherine Clark Kroger and James R. Beck; Grand Rapids, MI, 1998.
- “Mountain Laurel,” The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. January 2013.
Essays published in professional newsletters or given as readings include:
- “The Troubled Marriage of Science and Art in the Practice of Psychotherapy, parts I and II,”
- “Money, Love and Fear,”
- “Truth or Dare: The Peril of Authenticity,”
- “Returning to Writing,” (given at a conference on The Writer’s Voice),
- “Countertransference Nightmares,”
- “Writing as Self-Supervision,”
- “The Words to Say It,”