https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-nz7ea-1ac18b9
The Literature and Magic of Advanced HeartWriting
In this episode, I’m inviting you behind the scenes of HeartWriting to share where the course is heading and how I’ve reshaped the journey beyond Level One.
This audio recording began as an audio message to my current students, but it’s really for any writer who wants to deepen their craft, expand their worldview, and write work that genuinely changes people.
I start by speaking honestly about being unwell — and how that shook my sense of living in my dharma. I share what I’ve learned about rest, safety, and surrender, and how — once I stopped pushing — my energy, ideas, and community momentum began to return.
Out of that recovery has come a new offering I’ve long felt was missing: a three-week Book Planning course in July, devoted to structure, strategy, and practical planning before moving into advanced literature theory and techniques in semester two.
The new three-week Book Planning course in July:
give your book idea the structural backbone it deserves.
- history and examples of book shape and impact
- practical planning + post-it-note mapping
- the most important component of book structure
- physical and digital approaches to planning a book
- planning and sharing time.
I then offer a clear look at Advanced HeartWriting as a kind of mini Master’s in creative writing, drawing on my own postgraduate studies. We explore environmental and eco-fiction, inclusivity, diversity, gender, postcolonial awareness, magical realism, posthumanism, and experimental forms, alongside texts by First Nations and global Indigenous authors, women, Black authors, and male writers who actively challenge patriarchy and colonialism. I also share how we move beyond “I loved it/I hated it” to ask: What specific techniques created this impact on me as a reader?
Lastly, I invite you to consider a core HeartWriting principle: your writing is not about your ego; it’s about the change your words can make in the world. Whether you’re writing memoir, fiction, or something in between, this episode will help you keep your heart at the centre of your practice while expanding your craft, your perspective, and your responsibility as a storyteller.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why rest, illness, and “pauses” can become part of your writing dharma
- How a writing course container can transform your relationship with structure
- Ways to recognise and challenge white colonial and patriarchal patterns in your work
- How diverse, inclusive texts (including First Nations and global Indigenous authors) can expand your voice
- How to move beyond “I loved it/I hated it” into craft-aware, heart-centered reading and writing.
Let me know what you think by sending me a message on Instagram @heartwriting.com.au!
