Your "voice" tells the world

"I found Peter Dunne's book immensely helpful. With its easily applicable tools and step-by-step advice, it is a great companion to the journey of every writing process. However, the main strength of the book lies in its ability to identify and unlock the creative potential embedded in the realization that a writing process is a personal journey for the characters as well as the author."

“I am very glad to have taken part in one of Peter's Emotional Structure workshops. We were a group with diverse projects and we were all at different stages in our work, yet Peter's advice was pertinent and encouraging to us all. The workshop was enormously helpful to me; as was staying at Anam Cara, where Sue has created the most perfect of gentle and supportive environments.”

“Peter Dunne’s Emotional Structure course was an exceptional experience. We were a diverse group interested in memoir, adult fiction and teenage fiction. We were a group together yet apart in that we each were working separately on our own individual projects. He helped to focus us showing us the difference between the plot and the emotional story. I found that at the end of the course my enthusiasm was renewed, the organization of the story was clear and my determination to write regularly firmly set. So my heartfelt thanks again, Peter Dunne.”

“Since I was lucky enough to participate in Peter Dunne's Workshop Emotional Structure and The Storyteller, I can call myself a writer. Before this adventure, this fulfilling experience, I had dabbled, tackling the story I want to tell so much, in a haphazard way, with little idea of how to organize my work and indeed to recognize it as work. Sensitively, Peter encouraged me in my plans, valuing my material and giving practical advice. Now I'm writing and it's hard work but so exciting. Thanks, Peter, and thanks to all involved.”

“Peter Dunne's Workshop on novel and/or memoir writing - Peter created a warm and safe learning environment which helped us bring a deep focus and strength to our stories. Through his probing exercises and instructions there was a day to day deepening of our stories - building an emotional courage to bring to our character development an intimacy and integrity plus a strength of voice - an honesty of thought. “Peter's supportive guidance and instruction challenged us to go deeper into the heart and soul of our stories and his professional insights and experience continued to inform the emotional and intellectual content which created a balance moving us into an open field of thought.”

“I attended Peter Dunne’s workshop on Emotional Structure, not knowing exactly what to expect and was more than pleasantly surprised. I had taken on the mammoth task of writing my memoirs and had no direction. “There were six of us in the group with very different projects and needs. However, Peter was able to honor the uniqueness of each and every one of us as well as our projects, and seemingly, without effort, guided us towards our full potential. “The mornings were filled with his inspiration to create our characters and structure our work and in the afternoons we were left to write with the knowledge that Peter was at hand, should we be experiencing difficulties with our writing, no matter how trivial these difficulties seemed to us. “Having arrived with no direction to my project, within a day Peter had not only helped me give a structure to my work, but his enthusiasm for what I was trying to achieve has spurred me on to complete this project, no matter how long it takes. “From talking to some of my colleagues on this workshop, Peter Dunne inspired confidence in all of us. He’s a good teacher, a good guide and more than an inspiration. My week at Peter Dunne’s Emotional Structure workshop at Anam Cara is one I will always cherish. It certainly enriched my life.”

“Truly a transformative experience! Peter Dunne has a remarkable ability to fan into flame the writer's spark in the aspirational writer – or even in the more accomplished author experiencing a temporary dimming of their spark. On this workshop I experienced the former and witnessed the latter, both wonderful. I would heartily recommend the week to anyone who wants to carry their writing to the next level. It is hard work but you are worth it! “

"I am still reeling from my stay at Anam Cara where multiple muses helped me shape a chaotic memoir of a fragmentary life. Besides the wonderful editing assistance of Sue, the enchanting walks along the river that meanders through the property, the consistently fresh, gourmet meals, and the exciting silent hours I spent finding my way to the center of a work I had almost abandoned as a lost cause, I managed to read Peter Dunne's book; it was revelatory. Though I am not a screenwriter, I picked the book up because Mr. Dunne had just completed a very successful workshop at Anam Cara. I meant to glance at it briefly. Instead, I discovered a wealth of information about the emotional structure essential to all fiction and non-fiction. Though I had hoped to return to Anam Cara in September, one of the loveliest times to visit Ireland, I am now hoping to negotiate an April retreat when Mr. Dunne is giving another workshop retreat."

"Recently, wrestling with the narrative threads of a novel too long in progress, I got hold of a copy of Peter Dunne's book. I wish I had read it earlier. After 70,000 words and many drafts [of my novel], I seemed to be spinning my wheels, making changes but no real progress. And the doubts had me almost frozen. I had characters, setting, plot, but what was I really writing about? "...I was surprised by the quiet reflectiveness of the book. Dunne talks about the difference between knowing things and being wise. He does know things, but his book is a page turner because it is wise. I found myself engrossed in the book for its truths about relationships, desires and disappointments and forgetting that I had a novel to finish. "...The real magic for me began when I set Dunne's book aside and re-read mine. The critical eye that had me spinning my writing wheels for months had disappeared. I read with a new curiosity and excitement. And I was writing again. Not correcting or rewriting, writing. "Peter Dunne [and his approach to storytelling] can make your story better. You can't ask for more than that."

"Novel writing and screen writing are very different arts, but the discipline of screenwriting taught me to make my plots punchier and made me focus on making my characters' emotional journeys more integral to the plot. “What a luxury it was to retreat to Anam Cara to do this course. This was my first visit to Anam Cara and the Beara Peninsula, and the whole experience lived up to expectation and beyond. Peter's gentle tutoring opened up a new world for me. I spot the way the beginning, the 'muddle' and the end are crafted to show the emotional journey of the main characters. "The 'back story' to the course was the emotional journeys of the participants, who were nurtured and nourished by Sue. I think I ate more delicious food that week than I have since!"

"I was lucky enough to participate in Peter's workshop in Eyeries this year. I absolutely loved it for the following reasons: ·Peter is experienced and successful in the field himself so that gives him considerable credibility. ·He really believes in everyone's ability to succeed as a writer if they give it the time, dedication and emotional focus it needs. ·He is hugely encouraging. ·He gives individual attention and ongoing support. ·He is kind and good fun to be around. ·He provides support after the course, which I am finding invaluable."