Jean Rohe

“One of the biggest gifts of your series is an emergent, resounding faith in my capacity to write––faith and even wonder at the non-linear process, rather than viewing the process as an obstacle to the finished thing.” - Melanie Ida Chopko

MORE ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS

Jean's songwriting workshops are meant to provide writers with focused time in their writing practice and fresh writing inspiration. The aim is threefold: 

• have fun and get curious with new writing exercises
• connect with a community of fellow songwriters
• write new songs each week, and cultivate your writing tools

Whether you're someone who wants to rekindle a dormant writing practice, a steady writer looking for new inspiration, or a songwriting newcomer, there will be plenty of space for you to find what you need in this workshop.

WHY 

We get better at most things by doing them a lot. I was once told by a songwriting mentor that we don't start writing good songs until we've written 300 at least! I’m not sure if that's true, but her point was clear. 

We begin to trust that the creative fodder for our writing is there when we write regularly. If we commit to making something every day, not all of it will be good. In fact, a lot of it might be pretty bad! But doing it each day primes the pump; it means that no matter what tangible product we end up with today, we are sharpening our creative tools. And we know we’ll have the opportunity to explore again tomorrow. 

Establishing a new practice habit can be daunting. The purpose of this group is to help participants get in the groove together and support each other’s work. 

HOW 

ACTIVE IN-SESSION PRACTICE
Our time together will be tailored to the interests of the people who sign up. Sessions will be active and participatory, and will include some combination of writing prompts and games, listening and analysis as a means of finding inspiration, and group and solo work. The bulk of each week's class will be master-class style; each writer will have multiple opportunities to share new writing during class for feedback within a collaborative process that respects the writer's stated intentions and needs

DAILY CREATIVE WORK 
Foundational to this class is an expectation for participants to engage in daily creative work in some form. Participants are expected to spend at least 30 minutes each day in generative time, starting something brand new in whatever form they choose (ie journaling, musical improvisation, etc.) This will be fun time! I will share suggestions and guidance for how to approach this solo generative time based on my Creative Practice Map and other resources. Participants will get the most out of this series if they make this daily effort. 

WEEKLY SHARING
Participants are expected to upload one item from their week's work to our Google drive class folder each week. This can be a simple voice memo of a short fragment, a video, or a text document that a participant wants to share for any reason; it might be something the writer is proud of, baffled by, struggling with, etc. The goal is fresh, not fancy! Each week we'll have time to discuss only 4 songs in class but writers are encouraged to upload something every week and listen to each other’s work. 

WHO THIS IS FOR 

• Those with songwriting experience who want to be writing more regularly 
• Songwriters looking to build a daily creative practice in a community 
• Songwriters who are looking for new ways into their writing, with new challenges and fresh ideas 

SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY 

I am committed to holding space for a supportive, engaged community of writers helping each other to build a regular writing practice, share new songs, and enjoy the journey of creative work alone and together. We will make and observe agreements about how we relate to one another and will work together to uphold those norms so that we can all feel free to take risks and grow together.