Way of Story News

Teaching is a joy when you have a group like this one!  – Catherine Ann Jones

The Way of Story at Esalen, 8/2010

Catherine Ann Jones is the real thing. I left The Way of Story workshop with inspiration, determination, new tools and skills, new material and insights to nourish me for years to come. What more could you want! – Peter Gibb, Ashland. OR

This was my third Way of Story with Catherine and it has worked each time, motivating me to write more and sparking new narrative themes.

- Bill Herr, Big Sur, CA

Catherine showed me how to write my way out of the darkness and into the light.

- Beth T., Athens, GA

Found a way into my deeper story so that I can now tell it. The Way of Story was inside all along. – Wendy A., LA

An eclectic group of extraordinary beings gather to learn with a writing master. One by one, they find their craft, souls, and enough material to last each of us a lifetime. Thanks very much, Catherine, I’m endebted to you! – Peter C, Palo Alto, CA

Thank you for the safe structure you have built for our imaginations to ricochet within. Bouncing exuberantly from one exercise to the next, you have gently yet firmly, guided me to a stillness unstuck from stagnation. Thank you! – Alisun B., Oakland, CA

The Way of Story expanded my perspective about what it means to write creatively. If you want inspiration, try this workshop! – Cheryl S., Sausalito, CA

The Way of Story workshop provided a balance between teaching writing technique and discovering personal insights. Catherine Ann Jones is a down-to-earth guide in this amazing process. I really got so much out of your workshop.  Heartfelt thanks for jumpstarting my process.  You are a wonderful guide, and I am telling everyone about it! – Barbara B., Menlo Park, CA

I loved The Way of Story! Catherine has a unique gift which brings the writer our of anyone. I attended the course ‘just to see’ and now am filled with a confidence and desire to write like never before. – Sacha B., Charlotte, NC

The Way of Story and Catherine showed me what I didn’t know I didn’t know.

- Christine E., Santa Monica, CA

Catherine Ann Jones is a clear, compassionate soul who gives her students exercises which are pathways to their own souls. I have written more, learned more in one week than ever before. This work is about so much more than writing. As you work the process, you realize that this experience will continue to inform your writing as well as your whole life. So many seeds were given that I expect to be picking from this writing garden for the rest of my life. – Cynthia C., Bethlehem, Indiana

Catherine thank you so much…  for teaching and guiding us all with such openness and wisdom! all the love, Neelama E., Roswell, GA

Approaching the craft of writing from an innovative perspective of heart, soul and multiplicity of perspectives, The Way of Story invigorated my work in a special way where other types of classes have left me uninspired.  The workshop quickly became a sacred temenos of imagination and creativity.  Catherine is a writer’s writer and a gifted teacher. – Dr. Barry J. Mills, Santa Barbara, CA

38 www.imagineanimation.net www.imagineanimation.net 39
Interview_The_Writer
‘The Way of Story’, the workshop and the online course is for
all forms of narrative writing. Anything with story, it helps, and
animated films have story.
So what happens on your workshops and courses?
It’s a little different in that it’s not like a lecture or something
like that, it’s experiential. I do teach craft, craft is very
important, but I also teach what I call ‘the invisibles’. That
means intuitive writing and getting your stories from dreams
or channelling from the deeper part of yourself. I sometimes
use conversation to teach people because dramatic writing,
which animated films would also be, is not just writing that
should stay on the page, it has to walk. So sometimes in the
workshops I get participants on their feet to spontaneously
act out a premise or theme and then they learn what the
dialogue should sound like.
You’ve written for television, stage and film. Do you
have a favourite and why?
I’ve been asked that before. If I had three children, would you
ask me which of the three children is my favourite child? I like
them all, they are all different forms. Of course screenwriting
is more visual, it’s a more visual place, and you focus more
on the dialogue. But I like them all. I don’t think I will agree
to choose.
When you think of an idea, what makes you decide
to put it on the stage, big screen or television?
Well ideas for stories come in different ways. I wrote a
movie for Dolly Parton called ‘Unlikely Angel’ and it’s
interesting how that came to me because it came to me
in a dream and it was a fully-fledged story, even the title.
So, sometimes ideas come to me when I’m asleep. I
always tell my clients and students that even when you’re
sleeping to keep a notebook next to your bed. Some of
the best ideas come from dreams. Sometimes a story will
come from a theme; you want to write about something
you feel strongly about. Sometimes it may come from
a character that comes to mind or it may be based on
something that happened to you in your own life. So it
can come in different ways. In Hollywood sometimes I’ve
been asked to adapt a true story or a novel so a lot of
movies are made from books, just like a lot of animated
films are made from children’s books and comic strips.
How can animators who aren’t used to writing
unlock their writing potential?
Well ‘The Way of Story’ the book has a series of short
exercises that can help jump-start the writing process. It can
even help people find their story or, as I like to say, help their
story find them. I often say to my classes that the hardest
part of writing is sitting down. It’s really about getting yourself
in the chair. The process will happen if you commit to it.
What do you think is the secret to your success
and longevity?
One reason I wanted to write my book is to say loudly and
clearly that there is no one way to write anything or to launch
your career in Hollywood or in film. There’s no one way to
do it any more than there is one way to live your life. The
best way is just to follow your own vision. In other words,
I write the stories I want to see up there on the screen.
Everyone’s success story will be a totally different story. Also,
a lot of people will write what they think the market wants. I
discourage that because the films that become successful
are usually the ones that come out of unique individual vision.
A lot of people will say write what you know about and I don’t
agree with that axiom either because, for instance, George
Lucas never travelled into space as far as I know.
What do you think makes a great writer?
Well of course there’s no one thing that makes a piece of
writing great. But I can’t think of any piece of writing that
has become great that isn’t an individual vision of a creative
mind.
For further information visit: www.wayofstory.com
01 Catherine Anne Jones
01
Words by: Michelle Grady
➔Where did you get the idea for the
concept of your book ‘The Way of Story’?
I was in Mexico lying on a hammock and
watching the clouds, and I was in a kind of
dream-like state. Very clearly I heard ‘The Way of Story’
which became the title and I knew that I was being asked to
write this book. At the time I had never written a book, I had
been writing plays and movie scripts and screenplays. I didn’t
start it until another year or year and a half later and I know it
sounds kind of strange but it was like it was in the ether and
I was just being asked to bring it down to earth. Of course
I had had a career teaching at the University of California
film school, the number one film school in America, so I had
taught screen writing and writing but I just hadn’t written a
book on writing before.
How might the book help people who are writing
scripts for animation?
“the hardest
part of writing
is sitting
down. the
process will
happen if you
commit to it.”
Award-winning New
York playwright and
Hollywood screenwriter,
Catherine Ann Jones,
has over twenty
years experience as
a professor at major
American universities. www.wayofstory.com

Dear Catherine,

I am an Iranian story writer. Your book has been translated to Farsi (Persian) & I believe that “The Way of story” is one of my writing bibles. This is the 4^th time that I am reading your book  My friends & I have many times discussion about your book and the new look to the world of story after reading your book. This is cover of your book!! _
Regards,A.H. Yazdanbod ttp://www.adinebook.com/gp/product/9643636227

Exciting to hear from countries all over the world now appreciating The Way of Story.

                                   Catherine Ann Jones www.wayofstory.com

Self-Healing Through Story

The Krotona School of Theosophy 5/14/2010

Catherine was such an amazing guide, knowledgeable about how to crack the egg of our ego and let the inner parts shine, be seen etc. Well organized / prepared.

The sessions were even more powerful than expected and provide a springboard for future writing. Excellent teacher. –gentle guidance. Safe environment. Skilled at pacing the course. Took charge of the classroom. No rambling. Very delightful class – more CA Jones !!! please!

Serene, safe environment and beautiful. Fascinating topic. Astute instructor. Hands on – applicable to my growth. I just loved it – right down to tea time. Thank you for this lovely experience.

Her presentation helps anyone. She is gifted and knows her message to share with others. She sends out a comfortable and peaceful vibe.

Quiet style, focused on her participants. Gentle with recommendations – good spontaneous insight. Creative exercises, lovely to have music. Consults with participants, seems available to people.

The experience of writing to heal, and the instructor’s insightful teaching. A different approach to seeing into yourself for growth.

Beautiful setting, fabulous instructor, very valuable program – wish it could continue. Please do it again.

The presenter is knowledgeable about the subject and easy to listen to. She takes us to deeper places in ourselves through the writing exercises. Great exercises, quiet, reflection.

We are given very useful tools for problem solving. Ways to clear our minds and see from a different perspective how to play out different scenarios to out advantage and those around us. Catherine doesn’t spell everything out for us but gets us to do our own thinking so we do it on our own. 

The Self – Healing though Story class has helped me tremendously and something I will take with me for the rest of my life. Everyone has a story and everyone has a right to tell their story. IF their story was not a good one then we can change that story into a positive one. We have help out there now and those helpers are benevolent and kind, they do not judge us. Thank you to Catherine Jones for all the valuable lessons I have learned and I know will make a big difference in my life.

the power of story

mastering the art of journaling

catherine ann jones

There is a Native American parable about a grandfather who says: "I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is vengeful and angry; the other is loving and compassionate." When asked which wolf will win the fight in his heart, the old man replies, "The one I feed." Today we will discover how to use journal writing to "feed" the stories that heal us rather than the ones that keep us stuck. Our lives may be determined less by past events than by the way we remember them. If we learn how to re-frame the pieces of our past and rewrite our life story so that our pain becomes meaningful, we can radically boost our chances of healing, empowerment, growth and transformation. Focused journaling is an extremely powerful way to achieve that aim. Join award-winning writer and global teacher Catherine Ann Jones on an inner adventure, a step-by-step jour­ney of self-discovery and re-visioning of our lives through focused journaling as we change our perspectives to make meaning out of memory and put the past where it belongs—behind us.

Note: No previous writing experience is necessary.

A ONE-DAY WORKSHOP Saturday, August 21,10am-4pm

10SAW23S Members: $120 / Nonmembers: $130

Catherine Ann Jones, an award-winning playwright with ten plays produced, is also a screen­writer for films (including "The Christmas Wife" with Jason Robards and Julie Harris, "Unlikely Angel" with Dolly Parton and "Angel Passing" with Hume Cronyn) and TV series (‘Touched by an Angel"), as well as the author of The Way of Story: The Craft & Soul of Writing. A former Fulbright Scholar who studied shamanism in India as well as a M.A. in Depth Psychology, she offers healing & writing workshops around the world. www.wayofstory.com

open

CENTER ^{22 East 30th Street, NYC 212 219-2527} www.opencenter.org

   It’s good to be home in CA after five weeks on the road teaching Screenwriting and The Way of Story workshops at British Film Institute in London and other venues abroad.

      Thoughts of Hollywood today as I met with filmmakers abroad. Despite the economic climate now in America, Hollywood is making billions of dollars on varioius blockbusters and franchises. It had become usual for Studios to choose scripts which carried the potential of video games and other franchises. Now the recent hit, Prince of Persia is a feature film adapted from a video game.

   I can only share a hope and concern that the quality of films rise as well along with the computer graphic displays. That story and character will be once again a focus in spite of 3-D extravaganzas. Where are the Lawrence of Arabia or Doctor Zhivago, or am I too old fashioned for today’s film fans? Where are the stories focused on people and not only bloodshed? Where are the stories which move the heart, right social wrongs, and transform the soul?

     Perhaps the hope of the art of film lies not in Hollywood but with the rising independent film movement all over the world. Technology has provided the potential to create a feature film on a limited budget (if you can find help distributing!). There film may still be considered an art form and there expressions of an individual vision is still possible.

      Catherine Ann Jones www.wayofstory.com

Excited to be off to Heathrow in a few days. Please share with UK friends the links below for The Way of Story, Screenwriting, and more Way of Story at these venues.

      Admittedly, I love England and it has been a large influence on my writing.

May 16 Sun: London, Alternatives, St. James, 10:30-5:30pm, www.alternatives.org.uk

5/17 Mon: London, 6-8:30pm British Film Institute, http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/filmstore_events.html,

5/19-20 W-Th: South End, Essex. Essex College/Screenwriting Class, www.southend.ac.uk

5/22-23 Hawkwood College, Painswick, GLO www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk

These two online courses are now available at www.dailyom.com

1) For Heal Yourself With Writing:
http://www.dailyom.com/cgi-bin/courses/courseoverview.cgi?cid=83

2) For Way of Story Writing Course:
http://www.dailyom.com/cgi-bin/courses/courseoverview.cgi?cid=19

   Low prices as www.dailyom.com has over one million subscribers!

   Enjoy the courses at your own leisure and from home!

Just heard from my publisher that The Way of Story book is now

available on Kindle. My son gave me Kindle for last Christmas and I’m hooked.

Especially great for trips abroad as there is less to pack!

        Just back from Dallas, Texas and off to UK next month to teach. Schedule below:

May 16 Sun: London, Alternatives, St. James, 10:30-5:30pm, www.alternatives.org.uk

5/17 Mon: London, 6-8:30pm British Film Institute, www.filmstore.bfi.org.uk

5/19-20 W-Th: South End, Essex. Essex College/Screenwriting Class, www.southend.ac.uk

5/22-23 Hawkwood College, Painswick, GLO www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk

 

                                        keep writing! catherine ann jones