Hello all,
It’s good to be back home to the buzz of London, after two weeks on a Writing Retreat and Autobiography Workshop in a very quiet corner of Greece.
With the start of September and notes of Autumn in the air, I bring you reflections on the summer and fresh pickings for the season ahead.
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| Fresh Pickings |
I spent the first week in Greece writing a series of free flow exercises, which were focused on Autobiography and the second week attending daily Autobiography workshops. There were also additional workshops on character, story structure and dialogue. We were building on our projects and at the end of the week, there was a reading of our work to the rest of the group who were attending the Retreat. It was a really interesting experience. I often write without thinking about a project/end product. I am interested in the process of writing itself and getting the words on the page. In the second week, I asked myself what the best method of working should be – considering that we had a deadline.
Inspired by the hypnotic sound of the sea which surrounded me, I thought about the four elements; Earth, Air, Fire & Water. My family became the subject which bound these elements together. I hadn’t opened my laptop in the first week and I was concerned that by doing so, I would slow down the free flow and become distracted by polishing my writing before it was ready – thus stripping away the raw quality that free flow delivers. I tentatively pressed the power button and looked at the screen. At the top of the page, I wrote Earth, Air, Fire, Water. When I started to type, I automatically began to edit and become conscious about the content. So I stopped and picked up my pen again. I set my clock for blocks of ten minutes and worked my way through a series of I’m thinking of/I remember/I don’t remember. I zoomed in on certain episodes in my life, I wrote what I didn’t want to write and I remembered moments that I was so grateful still remained in my memory. Our writing group had set each other tasks, ideas that could be incorporated into our work and pushed us further out of our comfort zone.
When I had filled several pages in my notebook, I returned to the laptop and began to type. Now I was happy to play with points of view and tenses, as my group had requested. I was able to make subtle edits and tighten up the piece. I could view it all as a whole. What I realised was that without the trusty free flow, the writing would have been wooden. By bouncing backwards and forwards from notebook to laptop, I was able to keep it fresh and when the time was right – create an end product that I felt pleased with and ready to share.
TRY THIS:
If you have an idea for a project, it is really tempting to head straight for the results – for the end product and perhaps sacrifice quality for quantity. Sit down with your notebook and write a list of free flow topics that are connected to your work. For example, you may have a list of characters in mind that are integral to your story but haven’t got a clear idea of who they are yet. Try ‘I am’ for ten minutes in the voice of your characters. Break down your ideas, zoom in on different moments/scenes. Try I see/I remember/I don’t remember, throw in some dialogue, jump through time. You can adapt free flow to develop your particular project. Free flow means thinking as little as possible and taking the fear from writing away. It doesn’t matter what you write! Then when you have a filled up some of those notebook pages and had some breathing space, start to type some of the free flows out on the computer. You already have your foundation, the hardest part has been done. Now you can start to see your piece as whole and edit/play around with the style. Have fun!
I am really exited about the weeks ahead. Our new workshop programme can be found here on our website and more workshops will be added soon: https://www.creativewrites.co.uk/p/bookings-workshop-info-how-to-book.html
As you can see, September brings ‘Spin A Story’ at North Bank in Muswell Hill and our ‘Workshops for Adults & Children at Pickled Pepper Books’ in Crouch End.
Masterclasses and Skype one to ones are ongoing and can be booked at a time to suit you. Don’t forget to check out our new Masterclass package.
Please ask if you have any questions about the workshops.
As you can see, September brings ‘Spin A Story’ at North Bank in Muswell Hill and our ‘Workshops for Adults & Children at Pickled Pepper Books’ in Crouch End.
Masterclasses and Skype one to ones are ongoing and can be booked at a time to suit you. Don’t forget to check out our new Masterclass package.
Please ask if you have any questions about the workshops.
Thanks for reading!
Nichola