JOIN THE WAITLIST NOW!
Next session: Fall 2022
We'll email you when we've finalized dates + invite you to apply for your spot.
The Spark Your Story Intensive is a 12-week program for writers
who want to generate a portfolio of submission-worthy essays
toward the completion of a collection or memoir.
Practice an approach to memoir that has helped writers just like you
produce publication-worthy and award-winning work.
The Spark Your Story Intensive combines Nicole Breit's two most popular writing programs*
into one potent learning bundle taught by Rowan McCandless.
In part one you'll take a deep dive into four "outlier" forms:
the flash essay, prose poem, lyric essay + hermit crab essay.
In part two you'll explore four visual storytelling forms:
the panel essay (diptych + triptych), the visual essay + the decentered hermit crab.
* The two programs are Spark Your Outlier Story and Spark Your Visual Story - the very courses that helped Rowan generate her award-winning publications. Testimonials on this page refer to these two courses.
"The experimental CNF forms I explored in this course opened me up in new, creative ways. As an instructor, Rowan McCandless was incredible. Alongside her knowledge of the forms, she created a safe and intimate space, which made it possible for me to tackle difficult subject matter, like my father's passing. As a result, while working with Rowan, I wrote my prose poem, "My father as rhythm in lakewater," which placed second in the Banff Centre Bliss Carmen Poetry Contest."
~ Diana Hope Tegenkamp
"A piece I wrote in Nicole’s class was shortlisted for the CNFC Guelph Humber prize in the spring. I'm SO grateful to your course and to Rowan for the boost it gave my writing, especially in the fray of a year that the end of 2020 and early 2021 turned out to be. Thank you for your work (and to Rowan for hers!); the content in your program is very special, and very cool."
~ Hilary Fair
IMAGINE HOW MUCH PROGRESS YOU'LL MAKE
IN 12 WEEKS WITH PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT.
With Rowan's expert guidance you'll:
-
learn a variety of experimental story forms + structures ideal for personal narrative
-
practice essential craft tools for powerful storytelling in every assigned project
-
feel supported every step of the way in facilitated discussions, office hours and 1:1 feedback on your work
Imagine how it will feel to stop spinning your wheels.
Imagine how it will feel to have crafted a fresh portfolio of your best work to submit to literary publications.
Ready to make a big creative leap?
JOIN THE WAITLIST NOW!
We'll contact you when we've finalized the dates for the next session.
At that time you'll be invited to submit an application for your spot in the program.
“Prior to enrolling in Nicole's course as a newer writer, I'd attended other creative writing courses, but none which explored the innovative forms that Outliers guides you through in detail. Within a few weeks, the course content and the thorough instructor feedback unlocked my first-ever hermit crab essay, which was subsequently longlisted for two creative nonfiction contests several months later... my first writing award nominations! I'm infinitely grateful to Nicole for helping me finally generate publishable, contest-worthy creative nonfiction.”
~ Catherine Lewis
THE SPARK YOUR STORY INTENSIVE
INCLUDES ACCESS TO:
A deep-dive into story form + structure
with weekly lessons, curated readings + author Q+As
Craft mini-lessons, pre-writing exercises + projects
to get you writing inspired + powerful first drafts
A warm and supportive online community
where you can connection and ask questions
via a private forum + 4 live group calls.
1:1 instructor feedback to help guide revision
and suggest next steps to polish each new draft.
An invitation to join our CNF Outliers FB group
to maintain your writing connections long-term.
Your work deserves to be
recognized + celebrated.
IS THE SPARK YOUR STORY INTENSIVE
RIGHT FOR YOU?
If you are struggling to get started, organize and/or finish a draft of your memoir - and are willing to approach your project as a collection of linked pieces — this program is for you!
If you want to generate a batch of fresh experimental work to submit for publication and include as part of a collection or long-form memoir — this program is for you!
JOIN THE WAITLIST NOW!
We'll contact you when we've finalized the dates for the next session.
At that time you'll be invited to submit an application for your spot in the program.
After helping countless writers
just like you... we know you can do this.
"I am really thrilled I decided to commit myself to this phenomenal program. Before the SYS Intensive I was getting "stuck" in so many places because the words (and the language structures) were leading me in a direction that didn't quite express what the experience of being multiracial, multilingual and multicultural actually felt like. Now that I can include images, the multiple form interplay leaves me with so much to work with. Words and images are like different languages, different epistemologies that I am braiding together. Not only are the assignments super creative, but I love learning about this context and background that gives rise to these outlier creative writing forms! Rowan is so supportive, too. It's been invaluable to learn from a writer who is also writing about her multiracial experiences."
~ Diem Dangers
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Rowan McCandless is the multi-award winning author of Persephone’s Children: A Life in Fragments. She lives and writes from Winnipeg, located on Treaty 1 territory, the ancestral and traditional homeland of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Dakota, Métis, and Oji-Cree Nations. She earned a B.A. and B.Ed. from the University of Winnpeg, and her creative writing certificate from SFU's Writer's Studio. Her work has appeared in The Malahat Review, Prairie Fire, Room, The Nasiona and in the anthology, Black Writer's Matter. She is the CNF editor for The Fiddlehead.
Craft your memoir with
creativity + confidence
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
IS THERE A REFUND POLICY?
Enrolling in the Spark Your Story Intensive is a non-refundable investment in your writing. Please make sure you are ready and fully committed to the experience before you apply. By purchasing you understand there are absolutely no refunds. If you have any questions about the program before purchasing, email nicole(at)nicolebreit.com
WHEN DOES THE SPARK YOUR STORY INTENSIVE BEGIN?
The next session of this program will be offered in Fall 2022.
WHAT IS THE TIME COMMITMENT?
We recommend setting aside at least an hour a day to read the materials, absorb the lessons, and complete your weekly projects. If you're pressed for time, focus on your writing assignments as you have ongoing access to the materials after the course ends.
WHO IS THIS PROGRAM FOR?
The Spark Your Story Intensive is for writers who:
-
are struggling to get started, organize and/or finish a draft of their memoir - and are willing to approach their project in discrete essays, piece by piece
- want to generate a batch of fresh experimental work to submit for publication and/or include in a collection or long-form memoir manuscript
MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SPARK YOUR STORY INTENSIVE?
Drop us a line at info@sparkyourstory.com.