Writing and Storytelling Without Pressure

Has the blank page ever intimidated you? Do you wish you could write or tell entertaining stories with abandon? Do you write but wish you could do it better?

OUT OF OUR MINDS (& onto the page) is the perfect workshop to get those creative storytelling juices flowing. Thinking is overthinking, so we’re going to remove the pressure to get it right by simply playing with whatever comes. Playing improv games and using prompted writing exercises, the workshop helps make writing spontaneous and freewheeling. No preparation. No homework. No inhibitions.

Just be ready to be silly and open. Oh, and bring something to write with (e.g., pen & paper, phone, iPad, stone tablet & chisel, semaphore flags).

“…thoughtful, practical suggestions on how to write for impact & evoke genuine emotion.”

“…I was able to go to places I didn’t know I needed to go to tell the stories I needed to tell.”

“…I now sit & put my pen to paper & go where I am taken.”

“…I didn’t feel my usual dread of reading what I’ve written out loud.”

“…helps people get into their writing & out of their own way.”

“…Randall is a great storyteller, very inclusive & attentive to everyone.”

Single-day sampler event ($20): 3-hour session, Saturday, September 5, 11am – 2pm

Six-week workshop ($250): Six 2-hour sessions, Saturdays, Sept 19 – Oct 31 (excl Oct 17), 11am – 1pm

Please send an e-transfer to createdbyrcw@gmail.com to reserve your place. Spaces are limited.

Randall C Willis is an award-winning screen and comedy writer and filmmaker, who regularly performs in Toronto’s storytelling community. He is also a seasoned science and medicine writer, but hey, nobody’s perfect.

Randall teaches screenwriting at George Brown Polytechnic and previously taught at Raindance in Toronto. And through his company So, What’s Your Story?, Randall helps clients bring life to their visions and breath to their unique voices. He also routinely judges screenplays and films for festivals such as Toronto Chinese Canadian Film Festival, Lunenburg Doc Fest, and Austin Film Festival.

A perpetual student of the storytelling arts, Randall has 25+ years of training in improv, stand up, puppetry, sketch comedy, and monologues. If Randall has a motto, it’s “You have permission to suck”, which fits nicely with his fully improvised life.

Write without worry – OUT OF OUR MINDS workshop

Do you have a story or several roiling inside you, aching to be unleashed on the world? Do you watch the chest-burster scene in Alien and think “Yeah, I get that”?

Want to share your thoughts but terrified that you’ll suck at it? Already writing, but want to explore deeper characters, more evocative description, and more intense action? Interested in translating your performance arts to the page?

OUT OF OUR MINDS (& onto the page) is the perfect workshop to get those creative juices flowing. Over 5 Saturdays at SoCap Comedy Theatre (May 16 – Jun 13), we’ll play with improv games and prompted writing exercises to help you make writing spontaneous and freewheeling. Thinking is overthinking, so we’re going to remove the pressure to get it right by simply playing with whatever comes. No preparation. No homework. No inhibitions.

Just be ready to be silly and open. Oh, and bring something to write with (e.g., pen & paper, phone, iPad, stone tablet & chisel, semaphore flags).

TO REGISTER: Early-bird pricing of $175 (+ HST) ends April 12 when prices rise to $225 (+HST). Please send an e-transfer to createdbyrcw@gmail.com to reserve your place. Spaces are limited.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Randall C Willis is an award-winning screen and comedy writer and filmmaker, and he regularly performs in Toronto’s spoken-word storytelling community. He is also a seasoned science and medicine writer, but hey, nobody’s perfect.

Randall teaches screenwriting at Toronto’s George Brown Polytechnic and through his company So, What’s Your Story?, this storytelling evangelist helps clients bring life to their visions and breath to their unique voices. He also routinely judges screenplays and films for festivals across North America, including Toronto Chinese Canadian Film FestivalLunenburg Doc Fest, and Austin Film Festival.

A perpetual student of the storytelling craft and arts, Randall has 25+ years of training in improv, stand up, puppetry, sketch comedy, advertising and publishing. He also writes a killer eulogy. If Randall has a motto, it’s “You have permission to suck”, which fits nicely with his fully improvised life.

Learn more about Randall’s approach to creativity and his style via his YouTube channel.

Back to visit the Ex

My annual pilgrimage to the Canadian National Exhibition, an end-of-summer ritual in Toronto. Sadly, The Ex is our national fair that seems to get smaller and smaller each year.

The grand old lady has definitely seen better days, but she still entertains the crowds.