wild writing
ARE YOU READY TO TAKE A DEEP BREATH, RELAX YOUR BELLY AND FIND YOUR HOME VOICE?
For the last 30 years I have been practicing and teaching a deeply therapeutic writing practice called Wild Writing. It’s the most simple, most deep writing practice that I know. It’s also a very reliable way to break through writer’s block.
Using poetry to inspire our writing, we write as fast as we can, pen never leaving the page. By writing quickly we tumble past the harsh voice of the inner critic, connecting instead to our instinct and our intuition, the quieter voices inside of us that are beautiful, natural and full of surprises.
Through practice, we stumble into the fertile imagination that lives inside of us, conjuring stories and memories that are waiting to be written.
After we write we read our work aloud. We don’t critique, we just witness and listen. We do this several times within the session. This technique, while very therapeutic, is also a wonderful way to jumpstart any writing project because it helps you get to the chewy nougat of what you are honestly trying to say.
I mean for creativity to be an easy pivot, a simple turning toward the landscape of our lives – our experiences, our encounters, and the moments that have taught us the most about our time here.
THOSE STORIES AND MOMENTS ARE RIGHT THERE, BUT IT HELPS TO RELAX, TO BRAVELY SAY YES TO WHAT’S MOVING THROUGH US AND TO TRUST IT.
WE KEEP THE GROUPS SMALL, NO MORE THAN 8 WRITERS. IT’S INTIMATE AND POWERFUL.
If you’ve been curious about what it would be like to be in a small, devoted group of Wild Writers, who not only write together every week, but who read their work aloud to one another, please consider joining one of our classes. These teachers are beautiful writers who have been studying with me for a number of years, people I trust and love writing with.
Please read their bios below. Their classes are offered on different days + times.
lisa fuller
MY PROFESSIONAL LIFE FOR THE PAST TWENTY YEARS HAS BEEN DEVOTED TO HELPING PARENTS CREATE HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR KIDS THROUGH COACHING AND TEACHING.
During my deepest moments of struggle while raising my three children, I’d open my notebook and write it all out in as much detail as I could to more clearly see the messy truth. Being able to spill all my pain, guilt, and questions on the page gave me solace and sometimes even clarity about what was going on and how I could best move forward. I sometimes shared my parenting stories on my blog and found that my honesty both surprised parents and helped them feel less alone. I discovered the power of messy stories to capture what Laurie calls the “ugly and the beauty, ” side by side.
The threads of Wild Writing and parenting weave together beautifully as they are both practices where we’re called to be our imperfect selves. In 2021 I completed Laurie’s Wild Writing Teacher Training program because I knew I wanted to integrate this transformative writing practice into my coaching work with parents and others in the world.
I’ve been leading writing circles on Zoom since 2021. In addition to studying Wild Writing with Laurie, I have a Masters in Social Work, am a Certified Co-Active Coach, a Daring Way Facilitator, and a Positive Discipline Trainer.
susan vespoli
I AM A DEVOUT BELIEVER IN THE POWER OF WRITING TO HEAL/TRANSFORM/ILLUMINATE.
After many years running a Montessori school, I earned my MFA in poetry and nonfiction. In 2018, I discovered Laurie and the Wild Writing method and though, eureka! This is what I’ve been looking for. I so believe in the power of this practice. After finishing the Wild Writing Teacher Training in 2019, I began to lead virtual writing circle workshops based on Wild Writing for writers.com. I love watching people bloom as they let their words flow unedited into their journals.
I continue to write my own essays and poems, most of which emerge in rough form via the Wild Writing technique. My work has been published in Rattle, Nailed Magazine, Anti-Heroin Chic, Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse, and others. I have three poetry books, Blame It on the Serpent (Finishing Line Press, Jan. 2022), Cactus as Bad Boy (Kelsay Books, Aug. 2022), and One of Them Was Mine (Kelsay Books, July 2023).
I live in Phoenix, Arizona with three mostly mellow rescue dogs: Frida, Sasha, and LuLu.
mollie mcneil
THE DAY I WANDERED INTO LAURIE WAGNER’S WILD WRITING CLASS TEN YEARS AGO IN BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, A NEW CAREER FOR ME AS A WRITER, TEACHER AND WORKSHOP LEADER WAS JUMP-STARTED.
Initially, I found riffing off lines of poetry and sharing my fresh words with others daunting and uncomfortable. I was a self-conscious perfectionist and my doctoral program in English left me bruised from nonstop critique. But once I relaxed and trusted the nonjudgmental format of the class, beautiful things began to happen. Writing quickly forced me to let my hair down, explore new ideas, joke around, ask questions and take risks. Soon, writing became easy, fun and freeing. By the end of the class, sharing intimate stories in community became as energizing and creative as dancing or singing.
Through Wild Writing, I found my authentic voice, zeroed in on key personal themes, and eventually turned my emotional truths into fictional characters. I have now published seven short stories, a personal essay and am just finishing up a novel. None of this would have happened without the confidence I gained in my Wild Writing classes. And as a side bonus, I made good friends who have shared their flourishing writing journeys with me.
kimmy moss
UP UNTIL DISCOVERING WILD WRITING IN 2020, I SPENT THE MAJORITY OF MY LIFE SPRINTING AROUND A SOCCER FIELD OR TRACK, IN PURSUIT OF HIGH PERFORMANCE AND PEAK PHYSICAL FITNESS.
During the 2022 Wild Writing Teacher Training, Laurie nicknamed me “Teenage Sunshine in a Bottle.” About that… it’s so accurate it’s pretty funny. I’m a high-voltage human with an infectious spunk, a lover of language and public speaking, and a fierce protector of holding interpersonal space. All this to say, no amount of trophies or titles I’ve ever accumulated are worth a fraction of the peace of mind I unlocked when I finally retired from perfectionism, thanks to Laurie’s guidance, and the magical practice that is Wild Writing.
About perfectionism… in a world intoxicated by it, I feel pretty punk rock and privileged to get to share Wild Writing. From my perspective, it’s a practice that truly punches performance in the face and reminds us all about the power of participation. I like that. And I like how it strengthens the relationship we have with both ourselves, and the communities we’re in. Writing is the most impactful, nourishing, and best contributor to holistic health that I’ve ever come across. I look forward to sharing it with you.
story slices
STORY SLICES ARE SNAPSHOTS, SMALL, CAPTURED MOMENTS, PARED DOWN GLIMPSES OF THE LARGER STORY.
Click each Story Slice to play/pause the audio version of the story
“Working with Laurie Wagner changed my writing.
It helped me find an hold onto that most elusive thing of all–my writing voice. I will always be grateful to Laurie, because once I found it–nothing was ever the same again.”
– LISA RUSS
WRITER
“True story: I was looking back in my journal yesterday and I was struck by the brilliant writing inside!
I didn’t recognize it as my own words. Laurie’s gift as a teacher is to get you out of your head, side step your critic and let the imagery flow! Laurie’s Wild Writing process has been so helpful not only in writing, but also for my painting practice and for greasing the wheels of ease and connection in my life.”
– MATI ROSE MCDONOUGH
ARTIST, ILLUSTRATOR, AUTHOR
“The last decade has been about building a business supporting young writers,
but it has meant I’ve abandoned my own writing for many years. For me Wild Writing, and being at Laurie’s table, is a treasured opportunity to return to the craft in the company of other fine women writers.”
– SONDRA HALL
POET
“I’ve been writing with Laurie for about a year
and the most important thing I’ve learned is how to let go. To let go of the conscious thoughts I have that hold me back from writing what’s honest and true. To stop editing myself before the pen even touches the paper! Thanks to Laurie I’ve learned how to trust my own voice and realize that my story – as mundane, original, heartbreaking and resolute as it is – is worth telling.”
– LISA GRANTHAM
“Working with Laurie gives me courage to quiet the stern editor in my writing
releasing the hidden thoughts, writing reflexively without judgement, resisting the urge to second-guess what I’m about to say. This is when my writing can surprise me most, giving me confidence to keep going, stay in my chair, keep the pen moving.”
– BECKY RUIZ JENAB
CO-AUTHOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER
WRITER
“Working with Laurie has opened my eyes to what it really means to bring a reader into a story.
She has a beautiful way of coaxing the scene to life in my writing. I have sent countless friends who were seeking to up level their writing to work with Laurie and always hear back rave reviews.”
– RACHEL COLE
COACH
“Writing with Laurie, seeing her vulnerability and honesty, made me braver.
It’s that particular kind of courage, the willingness to be harmed, to make a fool of yourself, to offer someone a thing they could use to hurt you if they wanted, to risk being wrong, that encouraged me to show up, to go deeper, to say the very thing I didn’t want to say but so desperately needed to.
It gave me confidence in my writing, in the way my friend Susan Piver defines it, “the willingness to be as ridiculous, luminous, intelligent, and kind as you really are, without embarrassment.”
– JILL SALAHUB
“As a visual artist and long ago English Lit major I had abandoned writing for years before tentatively stepping into Laurie’s Wild Writing class back in 2003.
I’ve been a regular ever since. Working with Laurie has changed my approach not only to writing, but to my photography and visual art practices as well. Her honesty, fearlessness and humor are contagious. She creates an environment where one feels simultaneously safe and wildly courageous. Laurie’s inspiration and encourage continue to open many doors in my creative life.”
– STEPHANIE WILLIAMSON
PROFESSOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND DESIGN
“With her first two words – count ‘em, two – to me and my classmates in 2004, Laurie Wagner set my steps upon the good red road of the writer’s path.
She has helped keep my feet to the fire ever since. From the first she believed in me and communicated, no, somehow injected under my skin a confident faith. I feared I’d signed up for her essay class under false pretenses. Who was I fooling? What business had I there?
Her opening salvo to the group gave me a new name for myself: “Hello, writers.” Laurie balances the carrot with the stick. She pushes, pokes, prods. She excels as coach, cheerleader and whip-cracker. She listens into the words I offer, hears the story behind the story, motivates me to tell it out as best I can. My writing life is the richer for it.”
– RAB MARLOW
“As my coach, Laurie is always willing to follow me down the rabbit hole.
With her courage, smarts, patience, and humility, some kind of magic occurs. We are able to dissect and actually make sense of Wonderland together. And, to my great relief, I’ve been able to slowly move forward in a way that feels deeply right for me. I can’t recommend her enough.”
– STEPHANIE DODARO
WALKINGTHEMISSIONS.COM
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