Susan Gold, Certified Hypnotherapist

Hypnosis for Writers: a Workshop

General Description | Workshop Topics | Participant Comments |
How Hypnosis Helps Writers | Blog Entries on Hypnosis for Writers Workshops

Please contact me if you are interested in having me lead a 150-minute Hypnosis for Writers workshop for your writing group or creative writing class. From time to time I also offer these workshops at my office in San Mateo.

A General Description

I begin each workshop by explaining what hypnosis is, how it works, and how it can help writers. I then guide participants into a trance state. I give suggestions and guided imagery to allow them to release any blocks that could get in the way of writing and creativity. From there I guide them into creating an inner writing room, a place they can revisit any time they want to connect with the Muse or their inner writer. Once they have imagined their inner writing room, I lead participants into an in-trance writing exercise to help them generate fresh material that can be used for poetry, fiction, and possibly memoir. I value a supportive environment and encourage participants to share some of the writing they produce.

Workshop Topics

These topics have all been popular. I am also happy to design a workshop to meet the needs of a particular group.

Automatic Writing in Trance–an adaptation of a technique used by the Surrealist poets to access original imagery from the subconscious.

The Key to Character. I bring in my collection of skeleton keys for this workshop. Participants enter trance with a key in hand and tap into the subconscious to create a history for the key, imagining the people whose hands it has passed through and the door it once opened.

Creating Story through the Senses. Our senses are heightened when in a trance state, and in this workshop, participants explore sound, smell, and touch to create setting, story and character.

Music and Writing. For this workshop, participants listen to music while in trance and let the music inspire the writing—personal or creative.

Creating a Multi-Faceted Character. While in trance, participants, in this workshop, are guided to create a character and to explore the character's internal conflicts and motivations. Participants may choose to work with a character they have already begun to develop.

Writing with the Tarot. Tarot cards, like hypnosis, are a wonderful tool for tapping into the subconscious and finding inspiration for writing. Like all of the workshops, this one begins with the ritual of taking participants into trance to release blocks and get in touch with their inner writers. The rest of the session focuses on using tarot cards for creative or personal writing exercises. I have lots of different decks for participants to play with.

A Treasure Trove of Story Ideas. For this workshop, I bring in ephemera and other treasures that I have collected from antique stores: old letters, canceled checks, pages from Last Wills and Testaments, portrait photos, a yearbook from 1942, and a photo album from the 1920's. Participants will be guided into trance where these items from the past will inspire story, character, and setting.

Transforming Personal History into Fiction. For this workshop, participants are asked to bring two small ordinary objects that hold emotional or symbolic significance for them. (No photos.) They are then guided into trance to write about their connection with these objects, and to create a story where the objects take on an alternative history and a new meaning.

Participant Comments:

Since I finished my last major writing project, I have been struggling to reconnect with my creativity and passion for writing. This workshop helped me tap back into that part of myself, and it feels great.

—Erin O'Briant, MFA, Brisbane

I've been working on a complex historical novel for eight years. One big hurdle for me has been settling on names, my main character's, in particular. Trivial as that might seem, character names do convey subtle messages to readers, so they must be chosen carefully. And for a writer, a protagonist without a name lacks substance. The name I'd plugged in years ago still seemed temporary when I signed up for your workshop series.

The breakthrough came at my first workshop. Our little group was induced into a comfortable hypnotic state and, after a free writing exercise, instructed to conduct a written interview with a character. To my surprise, my hand wrote a different name for my character than I'd been using. My hand just wrote: Alice. Surprised, but relaxed enough to take it in stride, I simply registered the fact: My character had introduced herself. At last.

—Dianne

I loved learning more about the surrealist movement and process at the Automatic Writing workshop. The trance state was great in getting my juices flowing. Susan is an amazing writer, teacher, and midwife of creativity!

—Carolyn Moore, almost ready to call herself a writer, Brisbane

Liberating. Even as a foreign person, I felt comfortable writing such a creative piece.

—Y.K.

I was amazed at how the process put me in touch with my emotions. I felt the characters' deep emotions during the writing process. It felt great and was a wonderful release!

—Monet Ortega

I am preparing to write my personal statement and have not been able to write a sentence. I felt completely blocked! Experiencing your class helped me feel a sense of confidence at seeing how freely I was able to write.

—Elizabeth Ramirez

Very well done—the time flew—you are so well prepared.

—Beverly Kalinin, writer

How Hypnosis Helps Writers

Now and then you'll hear a writer say that the Muse was with them or that it felt like a piece wrote itself. As a hypnotherapist, I would say that a writer who has had that experience knows what it feels like to write in a trance state.

In a trance state, we naturally suspend critical judgment, block out distractions and solely focus on our writing. Through the trance state, we can also access our subconscious mind—the part of the mind that produces dreams and stores our memories, our feelings and intuition—a wellspring for the imagination. You don't have to wait for a blue moon for a gift from the Muse. You can learn to enter this state at will. Come to the workshop and let me guide you!

***I also offer hypnotherapy sessions for individual writers. Click here for details.***

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© Susan Gold, Certified Hypnotherapist, 650.532-0509,122 2nd Ave., Suite 209, San Mateo, CA 94401. Located on the Peninsula of the San Francisco Bay Area. Cities nearby include: Foster City, Redwood City, Belmont, San Carlos, Burlingame, Hillsborough, Millbrae, San Bruno, Brisbane, and Pacifica. San Mateo is just 19 miles from San Francisco. | Contact |