Home > CLASSES & WORKSHOPS > Story Source: Finding Ideas in Everyday Experiences

• Tweet
• Outlook
• ICAL
• PRINT
• Email
• Feedback

• RSS

• Official Website

Story Source: Finding Ideas in Everyday Experiences

Presented by First Person Arts at First Person Arts

August 25, 2012

Comment on Facebook

This workshop is for anyone who feels called to write* but sometimes struggles with what to say.

It is not enough to simply be exposed to the world if we hope to craft compelling personal stories. We must learn how to use the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, thoughts, and ideas we encounter each day as a steady stream of raw creative material. Ray Bradbury called this process "feeding the muse," and in this workshop we will explore techniques from improv comedy and reflective writing that can help you build your own sustainable source of inspiration.

Story Source is a practical workshop that emphasizes hands-on learning. After honing your skills in the First Person Arts office, you will put them straight to the test with a story-finding field trip to nearby Reading Terminal Market. By the end of the half-day, you can expect to walk away with not only new ideas inspired by the market, but more importantly the skills to find fresh material wherever you find yourself.

*Or speak or create or perform. The emphasis here is on writing, but the techniques used in this workshop would be just as valuable in other creative endeavors.


About the Instructor: Robert “Reb” Rebele is a writer and educator who, like Anne Lamott, is grateful for writing like he’s grateful for the ocean. Reb has studied writing in college at the University of Maryland, in workshops at The Writer’s Center of Bethesda, MD, and online through The Writer’s Studio of Stanford’s Continuing Studies department. He is also a graduate of the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied the many ways that writing and well-being intertwine. Lately, Reb is generating most of the ideas for his writing through improv comedy, which he performs as part of the independent Philadelphia improv group Malone.