The Muse Lab: A Playground for Women Writers
What if you could maximize your capacity to write creatively and have fun while doing it?
I mean, what if you could have a pinnacle creative-writing experience? Like blasting through the roof of your own ceiling?
And what if you could do this while connecting profoundly with a dynamic group of women who care about you and your writing?
So many of us women who desire to grow our creative writing feel stuck and isolated in the pursuit of our dreams.
We lack inspiration, motivation and companionship!
We lack writing-confidence!
Sometimes, we doubt whether our stories are even important enough to tell.
Join me in imagining being in a place of strength and oneness with your writing. You’re enough at ease to play on the page. You own and love your writing voice. You’re amazed by the depth and impact of what you’re writing. And you’re confident enough to genre-hop. Imagine being surrounded by a staunch and loving group of women who have your creative and figurative back. Wowsers! How the hell does that feel??
If you long to open up the writing notebook of this new you, hear my rant about my newest babe, the Muse Lab writing series! I’ve carefully designed this program for women writers who are ready to step into the wild unknown of their creative capacities.
Here’s what my dear participant, Nilou, had to say about her experience at the Lab:
Before working with Marn and attending the writing workshops, I was too scared to take the first step and actually allow myself to sit down and write. The atmosphere that Marn facilitated in these workshops was one of deep connection, affirmation, and inspiration — everything I could have asked for! Her words of support and encouragement allowed me to expand and explore my ideas and finally bring the stories that were flowering within me to life. I appreciated the support and contributions of the other women in the group, too! I felt so much love and inspiration at each workshop. This allowed me to overcome my fears of reading my work out loud, my struggles with finding the motivation to write and general feelings of imposter syndrome that have plagued me for many years. The loving and supportive nature of these workshops also allowed me to navigate my grieving process. I am so grateful to Marn!
Hi, I'm Marn!
I’m looking forward to celebrating with you as you reach your creative-writing goalposts and blow any sense of creative limitation out of the water!
I facilitate these workshops, and I coach women writers.
I’ve worked through many personal challenges and insecurities to become the writer I am today: confident, passionate and driven to create, publish and produce my works.
I’ve got a background as a journalist, poet/playwright, and energy-work therapist, and I’ve been facilitating writing workshops for over a 30-year period. It’s been my great joy to witness women in the Muse Lab surpass my wildest dreams of what the Lab could do for writers who wanted to stretch, grow and blast through their own glass ceilings to empowerment!
What you will experience in this program:
The series is four weeks long, with one, two-hour workshop per week.
Sessions follow the same structure:
Guided visualization: Each workshop begins with a 10-minute guided visualization to support women to centre, focus, open to their creativity and tune into their deep needs.
Check-in: The check-in circle is an opportunity to really hear where each woman is coming from that day and to follow their journey from week to week. Guiding questions are where are you in your writing and/or healing journey? I respond to each woman, and women also respond to each other in this circle. This is a place to connect deeply with each other before we dive into the creative process.
Writing inspiration: I offer some inspiration to expand our understanding of the writing process, usually a compelling quote that is chosen to help us perceive something and embrace the profundity of the process at a different level. I often add a few words about our theme of the day.
Writing prompts: I offer one mindfully-curated writing prompt based on whatever theme I have chosen for the session.
Examples of themes are the unknown; attraction; pivotal moments; character; inciting incidents; the body; obsessions, compulsion + addictions; and legacy. …I am constantly creating new themes!
A prompt is a short quote, poem or segment of a talk by a woman writer.
Along with the excerpt, I offer an Invitation. This is a carefully-designed, open-ended question intended to inspire women to write from any place that feels authentic to them in that moment.
Invitations are intended to be broadly interpreted, so women can write what they please. I encourage women to ignore the Invitation if they aren’t drawn to it and write what they are inspired to, with the support of the group energy (chi) that we have nurtured.
Writing: I always encourage women to write from first thoughts, from the point of highest energy. Our focus is always on process and never on product. Writing-time depends on women’s needs: 10-20 minutes for the first prompt.
Optional share circles: After we write, a share circle provides the opportunity for women to share their writing and/or their process with it.
The role of listeners is to support the writer and reflect where they are moved and inspired with the piece. This is not a critique!
This is an opportunity for women to support each other’s creative processes and individual journeys profoundly, and it occurs in every workshop.
This is a big part of the magic that grows women’s writing, voices and empowerment.
Group Writing: During the share circle after the first prompt, I ask women to tune into what they are hearing from each other and take notes on phrases or concepts that inspire them. For the first part of Group Writing, women write for seven minutes based on that inspiration. The subsequent share circle is read-only, as we hear from writer after writer without taking time to share what’s inspired and moved us about each woman’s piece. Instead, we dive into writing round two, based on what we’ve heard and/or in a continuation of what we’ve written in round one. After this seven-minute write, we share again without comment before we dive into our third and final write and share circle.
At this point, I open the circle for comment, and women are free to reflect on each other’s pieces and on the dynamic of the Group Writing experience.
Group Writing serves a pinnacle role in the session, as we experience the high and excitement that arises as women’s creative forces merge and individual’s writing seems to weave into a collective cloth. Concepts and themes merge and build upon each other; we experience the profound connection between women and our consciousnesses and creative processes, as we jack each other’s creative powers higher and higher. The effect is exhilarating, moving and inspiring!
Carefully curated optional weekly HomePlay assignments keep women writing between workshops.
My role as facilitator: I hold space, set the energetic tone, maintain a high level of safety for the group, provide structure and facilitate the flow of the circle.
I am always the first responder to a piece of writing, leading by example and diving deeply into the essence of a piece to reflect the core of its power back to the writer.
I use every tool in my kit to serve the creative and personal-development needs of my participants, from my background as a professional writer, editor and consultant to my work as an intuitive energy-work therapist.
My style is gentle, powerful, playful and empathetic.
Onscreen presence: To build and maintain community and to respect each other’s privacy, I kindly request that women show up on-screen for online sessions, with the exception of their meditation and writing time.
What makes the The Muse Lab unique?
Pedagogy of love: The Muse Lab series is a writer development program based on a pedagogy of love and respect. This is in contradistinction to the tradition of many writing schools, which incorporate criticism as a foundational teaching mechanism.
I don’t “teach”women how to write, yet the participants in this program grow exponentially as writers through support and affirmation, through reflections of what inspires us about their writing. We also make room for our intuition to support the deepening of each other’s writing processes.
Group Writing: Group Writing is a feature that greatly distinguishes the Lab, in its incorporation of the synergy of the group to fuel each other’s creative processes and take each other’s writing to eye-opening new levels. In this way, the series is profoundly interconnective in a manner that few other writing courses could match.
Integration of the writing and healing processes: In addition, although the focus of the Lab is less blatantly healing-oriented than her sister program, the Women’s Writing as Healing workshop series, the Lab integrates the writing and healing processes.
It is my experience that these processes always move in tandem with each other, because our spirituality and creativity are closely linked.
Authentic check-ins: Unlike many other writing workshops, the Muse Lab makes space for a real check-in at the start of a session, and there is room for women to express what is up for them and be heard by the group before we dive into the creative. The outcome is inherently healing, as we welcome the fullness of each woman and her current experience.
In this way, sessions tap directly into the transformative power of women’s experience to kindle and ignite our creative expression!
Geared toward women: The share circles in the Muse Lab series are rooted in feminist ideology and are non-hierarchical.
The Lab is facilitated by a woman and geared toward women and the feminine experience. Each session is inherently a celebration of women and our power, stories and capacity to overcome!
As a co-creative sisterhood, the Lab fosters an environment of mutual support and joy for each others’ creations, as opposed to the competition that can be found in many writing courses. There is a palpable excitement as women witness their own and their peers’ capacities to expand beyond their perceived creative limits.
The Muse Lab isn’t just any creative writing class.
It is a highly creative, blockbuster experience that women treasure and return to again and again. I’m not making this stuff up! I’ve had women do the same series over and over and still benefit exquisitely from the prompts and shared insights.
Are you ready to have a pinnacle creative writing experience, maximize your creative writing capacity and connect significantly with a group of soul sisters?
Join a pivotal four-week journey of wild creativity and deep connection!
View a Free Info Session and/or book a call to discuss how this program might serve your creative and personal needs.
When you enrol today, you’ll get:
4, 2-hour writing workshops
Investment: $400 CA + GST
Please inquire about payment plans, or, if your income is less than $25,000/year, sliding scale options.
Got questions?
I have answers!
Women often use the prompts from these workshops as creative fodder for their ongoing fiction, memoirs etc.
In this way, they use workshop time to add to their manuscripts and have an opportunity to read from their new work in a supportive circle.
For women who choose the online options: Yes, this really works over Zoom!
The level of intimacy that women attain, often from the first workshop, is astonishing for those who aren’t familiar with the innate capacity of women to consistently forge abiding connections with each other under every circumstance.
Geography and physical immediacy are irrelevant when women unite to grow their creativity and heal themselves and each other.
Women often find the convenience of Zoom supportive in integrating the workshops into busy lives and childcare routines.
There is also value in writing in one’s private and chosen environment.
The Muse Lab is geared toward women who have some writing experience, though it needn’t be a lot. It was originally created as a senior level workshop for women who had done a number of Women’s Writing has Healing series and wanted a new challenge. That said, if you have little writing experience but feel drawn to dive in, I welcome you to the Lab! Prompts are versatile, and women at any stage in the writing journey can benefit.
There is never any pressure placed on a participant to read her work after a prompt.
Women are encouraged to listen to their hearts around when they are ready to write and share.
That said, it is a demonstrated fact that all women eventually write in these workshops!
If your block is your primary concern, I recommend the Women’s Writing as Healing series and/or some one-on-one Writing Coaching to help set you on your merry writing-way!
Yes, this series was made for you!
It’s hard not to burst through into our creative high with so many women inspiring us with their stories, their support and their laughter!
It is truly magical to witness the creative progression and growth of agency that accompanies it in Muse Lab women.
Join the Muse Lab series today and discover how dedicated, fun-loving women have used this program to grow their writing, strengthen their voices and thrive as creators!
FREE INFO SESSION
View a Free Info Session to get a sense of these programs.
Interested in joining this series, checked out the FAQ, but still have questions? Book a Zoom call with Marn!
Gift Certificates available
I just finished my first Muse Lab with Marn. For those two hours I felt transported and never really knew what would come up in the session, but something always did. Before signing up, I felt called to write more and dedicate myself to the craft, but I had serious doubts about my ability and my voice. Being in such a supportive and collaborative space allowed me to safely explore those aspects, and I have gained so much confidence and joy at hearing my own voice and having it harmonize with other writers. One memorable sentiment was “writing in Muse Lab is a jam”. What an absolute wonder and joy it was to connect and feel each other’s words and experiences. I’m still revelling in the after-glow. My heart and spirit thank you Marn.
Still uncertain about whether the Muse Lab is the writing program for you?
This program is a match for you if…
- You strongly desire to experience the joy and freedom of accessing your true voice and telling your profound stories.
- You’re ready to take your writing practice to the next level.
- You long to move beyond self-judgment and societal expectations in your writing.
- You’re ready to burst beyond the confines of your comfort zone and dive into your practice.
- You’re more than ready to stop second-guessing yourself and over-editing.
- You long to benefit from the inspiration, validation and accountability that a group of warm and creative women can provide.
- You’d love to develop meaningful relationships with other writers who can support you to spin your perspective, get yourself out of your head and grow your self-confidence.
- You’d be thrilled to get into a regular writing routine and really fuse with your creativity while deepening your sense of self.
Enroll in the Muse Lab today!
Choose the tier that most suits your needs:
Level I (4 workshops) ($400 + GST CA)
Levels II + III add 2 + 3 writing coaching sessions: please inquire