The Story of
Sea Glass Writing
Writing is a powerful thing. It can create or narrate; investigate or explore. It can also express passions and emotions that might otherwise be kept inside.
As a lifelong writer and newly bereaved parent, writing was my lifeline. It gave me a place to express and words to define both the love and the grief that surrounded me. It was a means of honoring, and room to breathe.
If you find yourself drawn to writing as a means to explore your love and grief, this course is for you. As part of the Sea Glass Parenting family, Sea Glass Writing is a forum for bereaved parents to come together to write, reflect, and find community. We welcome all levels of writers, from beginner to professional and everything in between.
Sea Glass Writing was built for you.
Your love and grief are welcome here, now and always.
Miranda Hernandez, Adrian’s Mother
Miranda Hernandez, Adrian’s Mother
The Formal Sea Glass Writing Course
General Description
The formal Sea Glass Writing course is a 26-day course open to all bereaved parents, but with a special focus on miscarriage, infant loss, and perinatal death*. The prompts in this course go deeper than the sample prompts above, and may feel heavy for some. Please know that every prompt is optional, and also that rough drafts are valid. Like sea glass itself, perfection isn’t a requirement for beauty.
Participants will receive a writing prompt each morning, Monday through Friday, and will have the option to share their response to that prompt in a private Facebook group created specifically for the course. Participants will also receive an optional weekend activity.
Within the Facebook group, the group will utilize a unique type of workshopping technique, focused on responding to the emotions evoked by a piece instead of critiquing style or technique. This will allow parents to more fully explore their thoughts and experiences without worry for the mechanics of writing. Editing can always come later, if desired.
To facilitate dialogue and community, each session will run with a minimum of 10 participants, and a maximum of 20. We find this number allows for sufficient participation while maintaining a community atmosphere. Participants are never required to share their responses to the prompts, but we do encourage everyone to read and provide feedback to their group-mates.
Although participants will receive prompts nearly daily, there is no requirement to keep up with any specific pace. Each session’s Facebook group will remain open for anyone who wishes to share after the conclusion of the course. There is also an alumni group where participants may share responses and any other child-loss-related writing with the larger Sea Glass Writing community.
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*While many of the prompts are focused on pregnancy and infant loss, there will be modifications available for parents whose child(ren) died at a later age. If you have a specific concern, please contact me.
Dates and Cost
The next session of the Sea Glass Writing course runs from 8 August through 2 September 2022, and is available for sign-up now via the Adrian’s Elephant account on Ko-Fi.
Course tuition is $26/participant. All proceeds from the course go back into supporting Sea Glass Parenting and the Adrian’s Elephant website. For those with financial difficulties, scholarships are also available.
To apply for a scholarship or for questions about the course, please email me at [email protected].
I hope to be writing with you soon,
Miranda
Free Sea Glass Writing Prompts for Bereaved Families
If you’re not quiet ready for the formal course, but want to get started with writing, this section is for you.
Below, you’ll find several writing prompts with a sample beginning sentence. Click on the image and you will find a new page with additional questions to help stimulate a response.
While you can write from this first sentence, you are by no means required to—these prompts are all designed as free-writing exercises. You can start with the phrase or questions listed, or with anything these questions prompt in your mind. You can even go in a different direction entirely; write what feels right for you.
When finished, you can share your responses in the Sea Glass Parenting Writers Forum, on your own social media account or blog, or even in the comments of the individual prompt’s page. We’d love to hear from you.
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