During my workshop at Sutton House today, I announced to the group that my next blog post was going to be entitled ‘Practicing What I Preach.’ I have been thinking a lot lately about the fact that I run creative writing workshops which have been formed around a particular philosophy of ‘just writing’ and not worrying about it. The focus is primarily on the process and I remind participants that we never quite know where our words can lead – it is a process full of surprises. So it is interesting that this week, I have found myself needing to write creatively for a project. There is an end product with a deadline but the process remains the same. I write free flow exercises on a regular basis and have become used to moving the pen across the page and allowing the words to happen. I get immense joy from this – which is why I love teaching this technique. Yet this week, I found myself resisting getting started – being concerned about getting the tone right, whether it would flow and thinking about how it would be received. I found myself on ‘the other side.’ And then I stopped and reminded myself of how much beauty can come from this form and how all I had to do was trust this and move the pen. I hid in a cafe, armed only with my notebook and pen – no laptop. I set myself some basic writing topics and within minutes, I found myself writing and smiling. I was having a great time. The words flowed and when I sent the writing to my colleagues, I was aware of the foundation that I have built up over the years – that gives me the confidence to share my work and know that it will be ok.
So when you next sit down to write, simply start to move the pen and trust that the truth will follow. All Creative Writes workshops are built on this belief. I look forward to writing with you: https://www.creativewrites.co.uk/p/bookings.html