You can inspire your class, workplace, or community group to unlock their creative potential with the help of Erica Richmond. The Peterborough author, instructor, and writing coach is available to be booked for tailored speaking engagements focused on the power of stories.
Through her community Open Sky Stories, Richmond guides writers on their creative journeys through workshops, coaching, writing groups, and story sharing.
The author of the popular Pixie series (Pixie and the Bees and Pixie and the Fox), which follows a lovable character navigating complex and challenges feelings, Richmond is also the co-author of the Mail Art Stories Project and is currently working on a project of creative nonfiction called Yelling at Dead People.
Richmond’s speaking engagements do not focus on how to write a story, but rather why we write stories and the power that can be found in both writing and sharing them. She encourages her audience to do so by approaching it from a place of safety, rather than a place of fear. She shares her strategies for defeating imposter syndrome, knowing the importance of a rough first draft, overcoming writer’s block, ignoring the anxiety of sharing work, and believing that words matter.
“It doesn’t matter what that story is, we have to write from a place of safety to be confident putting pen to paper,” she says.
Richmond has presented for both children and adults in schools and libraries, at writing conferences, for women’s empowerment facilitation sessions, online, and for vulnerable populations. Tailoring her presentations to meet the needs of the group, she uses interactive components, including book readings, breakout groups, and writing prompts.
No matter the event, she will share anecdotes and her own personal experiences in writing about her mental health in the Pixie series, and in writing about grief for her current work-in-progress, to show how she herself has found safety in putting pen to paper.
“Sharing my experience opens up conversations, because that’s what stories do,” she says.
Richmond is also accepting registration for her Writers in Progress three-month writing group, which kicks off Thursday, February 13th, for an investment of $350. Open to both beginners and experienced writers, the intimate group will meet twice per month for structured and interactive learning, discussions, feedback on work, and accountability.
Though she will be leading the sessions, Richmond will also be working on her own project alongside the participants.
“It’s a place to share this love and desire to write, which is huge because we often think we’re alone in anything creative,” she says.
For more information about Open Sky Stories and to keep up to date on events, visit openskystories.com. Follow Open Sky Stories on Instagram and Facebook.
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