Mini-Catalysts

A collage image created by Helen Sword incorporating artwork by Escher

Welcome to Swordcraft, a collection of on-demand mini-Catalysts for writers who want to grow their writing practice and hone their wordcraft, one snippet at a time. Available exclusively to WriteSPACE and WS Studio members, these short courses can be accessed in the Courses section of the WriteSPACE library.


An image designed by Helen Sword for her WriteSPACE Wayfinder course.

The Wayfinder

The WriteSPACE Wayfinder is a playful yet powerful interactive tool for anyone who aspires to write more stylishly, productively, creatively, confidently, joyfully, or simply more.


A colourful collage image of a genie bottle and the letters G-E-N-A-I by Helen Sword.

I Dream of GenAI

Subtitled “A Playful Perfectionist’s Guide to Writing and Editing with Generative AI,” this short course explores the nuances, affordances, and creative potential of generative AI writing tools from a variety of perspectives.


A collage image of a bumble-bee created by Helen Sword.

Collage Studio

A collection of behind-the-scenes videos documenting the creation of Helen Sword’s weekly newsletter collages. Learn powerful techniques for incorporating collage-making into your own writing and thinking processes.


An image created by Helen Sword of a pile of colourful hand-made notebooks.

Notebooking with Pleasure

Inspired by the Pleasure Catalyst, this 6-part mini-Catalyst introduces you to six core features of pleasurable writing — patterns, tools, processes, identity, challenge, and balance — and guides you through prompts for exploring those themes via playful note-taking practices.


An image created by Helen Sword for her Productivity Catalyst and School courses.

Productivity School

Based on the Productivity Catalyst, this 6-part mini-Catalyst introduces you to six core elements of productive writing — time, space, flow, craft, community, and joy — and helps you develop strategies for integrating each of them into your everyday writing practice.


A collage image created by Helen Sword of colourful pencils.

Social Balance in Writing

What does social balance in writing look like and feel like to you? This 3-part mini-Catalyst will show you how to find your own personal sweet spot between the allure of solitary writing, the intimacy of a writing partnership, and the comfort of writing in community.


An image created by Helen Sword for her Creative Ways In short course.

Creative Ways In

Inspired by the Creativity Catalyst, this 6-part mini-Catalyst introduces you to six core elements of creative practice with activities and prompts designed to help you integrate creative ways of knowing, thinking, and being into your writing practice.


An image created by Helen Sword for her Structural Metaphors short course.

Structural Metaphors

In this 6-part mini-Catalyst, an early precursor to the Structure Catalyst, you’ll explore a playful-but-serious series of metaphors to help you structure key aspects of your writing practice and projects.


An image created by Helen Sword for her Research Bites short course.

Research Bites

This 6-part mini-Catalyst delivers bite-sized summaries of some of Helen Sword’s most frequently cited research articles on academic and professional writing.


An image created by Helen Sword for The World of Wordcraft short course.

The World of Wordcraft

This 6-part mini-Catalyst, loosely based on the Wordcraft Catalyst, focuses on nitty-gritty issues of grammar, sentence structure, and style.