testimonials

Pens scribbling fast at at Writing the Flood

Pens scribbling fast: Writing the Flood

Writing Ourselves Whole writers from different workshops share their thoughts about the workshops — please feel welcome to contact me for more info!

It’s so safe here and so equal power
I love it!!!
~anonymous (Write Whole)

I just wanted to send a quick note your way after yet another wonderful workshop experience in your lovely home. Thank you for creating such a safe space for people to write. Thank you for welcoming me into your workshop. Thank you for being such an excellent facilitator (and writer!). I left feeling challenged, inspired and whole.
~Lela Tuhtan (Writing The Flood)

“Dive Deep transformed and continues to impact the landscape of my life. My manuscript broke through boundaries, and I learned pride and confidence with regard to my craft. Now, as I travel along, I am supported by the momentum of the Divers Deep. My faith is in my fellow writers — Across genres, the pages I read in Dive Deep are food. Jen, anyway, is magic. So is the rhythm of meeting every ten days — it keeps one immersed, and the google group is breath under water. I challenge you to drop into your writer’s self. Your will be held. You and your words will grow.” ~ Yisraela Tzviah Emily “Emma” Cohen 

You make writing easy because you make it so safe.  ~Carol Pridgeon, writer

I love Jen’s facilitating style — very warm, smart, perceptive, kind. Her facilitating helped people “trust” the process. I also loved each of the prompts & feedbacks  — the prompts were specific enough to steer people in a creative direction – but broad enough for [this] topic. ~anonymous (Reclaiming Our Erotic Story)

I was hoping for a safe place to write about hard stuff. I got that and so much more. The warm and encouraging feedback has rekindled my faith in my writing and I feel healed by what others wrote and what I got to read — inspired, healed motivated — I’m so grateful. ~anonymous (Write Whole)

Magic happens here, that’s the thing. We explore the politics of desire in the most amazing ways. Jen’s workshops are good nourishment for the soul and creativity, as well as really empowering and FUN!!! Go toward the fun…..
~Cayenne

I expected a workshop that drew on Audre Lorde’s notion of the erotic. This workshop exceeded my expectations by tending to the emotional, spiritual, and physical.
~~ ~~
I like that you create a safe space to say/write what needs to be said/written.
~anonymous (Reclaiming Our Erotic Story)

I would have never guessed that Declaring our Erotic would end with me performing my work at the National Queer Arts Festival. The great support has kept me writing and matured my writing. I’ll be back. Thanks Jen!
 ~Nick (Declaring Our Erotic)

I feel that the confidence and affirmation we practiced in the fall ’06 Declaring… workshop led mysteriously and indirectly to my stronger sense of self-worth, in asking more of my work life. The weekly refreshing immersion in the beauty of our own language, and the healthy, steady feedback from participants about my writing voice, is doubtless part of my faith in walking into a new job where I’ll do much more editing, proofreading, and composition–and where they’ll pay me much more handsomely to use the communication side of my brain. The chance to integrate erotica and language, out loud in community, every week, is such a human delight and relief–it can lead us to unexpected discoveries, both inside us and out there in the world.
~LB (Declaring Our Erotic)

I really appreciate and am a bit awed by the amount of support and healing has happened for me in this room. The level of respect and regard for each writer’s voice is a gift I carry with me into the rest of my life.
~anonymous (Write Whole)

There is nothing better then being able to share your writing in a safe space; and the exercise that we were given to make you look at story telling and erotica in a different way.
~Melinda Adams, a past student

The Declaring Our Erotic writing workshop was absolutely fabulous! Not only did I come out of it with a wealth of words on the page (some of which I didn’t know I had inside me) but I also increased confidence in my own writerly voice. Jen creates a warm and non-judgmental environment that encourages risk taking, sharing, and collaboration. The exercises that get the writing started are fun and provocative. Reading and hearing the results left me, each and every time, with a sense of wonder over both our uniqueness and our commonality. I’ll definitely be back for more!
~Amy (Declaring Our Erotic)

The prompts really brought the writer that I thought I had lost in me.
~anonymous (Write Whole)

I wrote more good pieces with Jen Cross through her writing workshops in 5 months than I have in five years on my own. Her workshops allowed me to tap into and develop my most private storylines that I doubt would have surfaced on my own.
~anonymous (Write Whole)

Jen’s class Declaring Our Erotic has been a writing godsend for me. When I moved to San Francisco a few years ago, I decided that taking an erotic writing class was just the thing to do. Declaring Our Erotic was a perfect fit for what I wanted. I love that each week in class we write at least two pieces. This is so valuable for me as a writer with a busy schedule and the best laid plans to write more regularly. Additionally, Jen’s writing exercises always turn up such fun surprises. Imagine writing out the sex fantasy of someone completely opposite you. Or writing spontaneously after listening to a short selection on succulent food preparations. Or penning a love letter to an overlooked body part. All of her exercises stretch the writer in me beyond my own perceived limitations. This is invaluable. But the best part is the atmosphere in which we write. The feedback method is so supportive. We only say what we find strong, memorable, or likeable about each other’s written pieces. At first I was skeptical, because I have benefited from critical feedback in the past. Or at least I thought I have. I’m not so sure anymore. I walk away from Jen’s class every Tuesday night feeling excited by what I wrote, anxious to delve further into the subjects I uncovered, proud of myself as a writer and excited to come back the next week. I haven’t experienced the same level of enthusiasm in other venues. I even submitted for publication a short story that I wrote during one Declaring Our Erotic session. It’s getting published! Hooray! Hats off to you Jen for the hot and holy work you do. I can’t wait for class to start next month.
~Jeff Jacobson, Certified Life Coach and Coach-training Facilitator, and Solo Show Performer

I love the voices of every writer. Truly, I have been deeply fed by drinking in what others write. (I have thoroughly enjoyed writing too). I love this format and the safety created by your presence, heart, group structure, and everyone participating. ~Anonymous (Write Whole)

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