Course Begins:
1st February 2021
A clearing
in the forest
an online writing course for cultivating artistry and self-growth through the creative process.
Go to the
next level
in your
creative journey
“We must stop resting from work and begin to work out of a place of rest.”
~ Transfiguration Community ~
Course Details
What will you learn?
This course is all about creating a space in your life where creative process meets self-reflection. It is a course that will call you into the uncomfortable and the un-resolved inside and also in our world. It will inspire you and challenge you and, should you let it, may even change your way of being in the world.
At the same time you will absolutely be learning and developing your writing and poetic skills. Whether you just want to engage people more on instagram by writing meaningful words, whether you need a way to process through your life experience, whether you are wanting to write a book or stand up and perform your work. This course will teach you the intentional actions it takes to move your craft into a flourishing creative expression. The framework will show you how to begin from a place of having ‘nothing’ and move you all the way through to having a finished something to bring into the world.The framework is split up into four different major areas of creative cultivation:
Inspiration | The enrichment of the soil and finding the seed. ie. Developing habits of creative inspiration in your life.
Creation | The planting, the germinating and the growing of the seed. ie. Moving from a blank page to something unique and beautifully true to the self.
Construction | The pruning and the development of a fruitful tree. ie. The work of taking your initial draft concept and constructively developing it through editing, pushing through cliche, etc.
Invitation | The inviting of others to partake of the fruit of your creativity. ie. How to bring your words out into the world in a way that moves and inspires others.
During this course, you will:
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Be given a writing process framework that you can use to fully develop and bring to the world your own creative projects.
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Be gently led into looking at the deeper realities of the self so as to live more out of freedom than fear.
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Be shown how to deliberately cultivate creative-space as a consistency in your life.
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Be given the tools to push through creative blocks and see what has held you back be turned around and transformed.
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Be given the writing skills it requires to open yourself up to live a more inspired and creative life.
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Be shown how to take initial ideas and develop them through editing and construction to be the best they can.
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Be invited into the bravery it takes to invite others into your work.
How Does it Work?
Course Begins:
9th September 2019
Course Begins:
1st February 2021
This course is 5 days a week for 5 weeks with breaks for weekends.
It runs from the 1st February 2021 to the 5th March 2021.
Each week-day you will receive:
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A 15-20min video lesson from Joel McKerrow: These are the main teaching components of the course where Joel will teach you directly from his wealth of knowledge and experience as a writer and performer.
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Creative Homework: This will be your chance to take each days teaching and make it a reality through different writing and creative assignments that Joel will be assigning you each day. This is where the rubber hits the road.
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A Reflective Worksheet: These daily worksheets are downloadable fill-in forms to help you better reflect, plan your work and organise your creative life. These can be done during that day or may be done at a later date if needed.
As with any course, if you do the activities and the worksheets you will maximise your experience, but of course your level of engagement is up to you. The expected daily time to take the course is about 20-30 minutes (note: this is not taking into account the worksheets and your level of engagement with the Learning Community). If unforeseen circumstances means you cant keep up with the daily rhythm of the course you can still have access to all the content for 6 months once the course has finished.
The course is set up as a Learning Community. It is made up first and foremost of the people who gather together within this clearing in the forest. You do not do this journey alone. There will be a space within the learning environment where you will be able to connect with others, share your creativity, provide feedback and support each other through this course.
There is a forum within the online platform for each days unit which is where you will be able to upload your daily assignment and engage with each others work. It will also be a space for you to discuss more with each other what is coming up for you through the daily lessons.
When you sign up you will be given access to the learning platform.
But the lessons will not begin until February 1st 2021.
They will go live on the platform each day thereafter.
Course Cost
The Basic Course: $460AUD
Project Mentoring: $760AUD
Basic Course Inclusions
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Students will receive a 15-20min online instructional video each week-day of the course.
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Students will receive a Writing Challenge to partake in during that day.
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Students will receive a daily worksheet for reflection.
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Students are invited to join the cohort's community forum within the online platform.
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The course instructor Joel McKerrow will be making brief comment throughout the course on submissions within this forum.
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Students have six months of access to the course content for further inspiration and replay.
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The course is delivered via the on-line learning platform Ruzuku, designed specifically for on-line learning.
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Student will have access to technical assistance via the Ruzuku staff.
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A Certificate of Completion will be provided at the conclusion of the course.
Project Mentoring
This is an extra add-on for those who have a major creative project that they will focus in upon during the course and are wanting specific professional feedback by Joel Mckerrow. The inclusions for this package include all the basic course plus:
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An initial one-on-one video conference call with Joel to begin the course, setting up their creative focus.
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A video conference call half way through the course to provide feedback and talk through their progress.
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A video conference call at the end of the course to talk about next steps for future growth as an artist.
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Joel will provide personal and professional feedback upon their project at the end of each week during the course.
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A Certificate of Completion will be provided at the conclusion of the course.
Project Mentoring places are limited- First in rules apply
Payment plans are available upon registration.
Costings shown are in Australian Dollars.
Payment is through PayPal or Credit Card.
Refund Policy: All sales are non-refundable.
Your Creativity Guide
Joel McKerrow comes to you with over a decade experience in both the education and creative arts sectors. Within colleges, schools, conferences, festivals and organisations throughout the world he has taught about creativity and the creative process to over 30,000 people. His teaching focuses on the intersection of creativity and self-understanding as well as spirituality, worldview and identity formation.
Joel doesn't just teach though, he is constantly pushing his own creativity further. As a performance poet he has toured extensively across Australia, USA, UK and New Zealand with some of the giants of the performance poetry genre. Through this he is recognised as one of Australia’s most successful, internationally touring, performance poets. He has numerous literary publications as well as spoken word albums and is Co-host of the successful podcast The Deep Place: On Creativity and Spirituality.
Formally Joel has a Bachelor Arts (Psych), a Bachelor of Theology, a Master of Arts (Vocational Practice) and Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. These qualifications, alongside years of teaching experience ensure you'll gain access to the insights of not only a creative professional, but a lifetime educator.
Go to the next level in your creative journey.