When early stage writers join me for a workshop, I want them to leave with the renewed clarity and self belief they need to Keep. On. Writing.
Especially when the writers are mums who performed heroic feats of scheduling Tetris and resolved multiple early morning domestic emergencies, ninja style, just to show up . . . while battling the twin demons of self-doubt and inertia at every step.
So last Monday, when five of them joined me at Starcroft Farm Cabins for a workshop on “Can I be a Mother Writer?” we didn’t kick off with the mechanics of time management or the technical aspects of the writer’s craft. All of that will come. First, I wanted to give them something even more vital: Their What and their Why. Or rather, I wanted to enable them to discover these for themselves.
I guided participants through a writing exercise to visualize the writing the want to do in the year ahead. I charged them to write about the work they will create and their lives as writers in the present tense, as something they had just completed. They scribbled swiftly in response to my prompts, to bypass any limiting beliefs about what is and isn’t possible.
I have found that once new writers articulate WHAT they feel called to write and WHY, their intention become more specific, juicy and magnetic. Suddenly, the pesky hows — How do I make time? How do I interweave plot and subplot? — start to resolve themselves.
Sure enough, as our supportive circle wrote and then shared our plans, ideas began to crystalise and the contours came into relief. Once the participants could imagine themselves as writers, they began to take action. In the course of the morning, one participant mapped out the structure for a novel that had eluded her for years. Another sketched out the plot for her first picture book.
“I got chills,” she said, describing the process as “an unexpectedly magical morning.”
Magic needs to be shared to grow. So I offer you here the visualisation exercise I led at my workshop. Consider it a free twenty-minute spa on an outer island of the Imagi-Nation, no travel visa required. The souvenir you take home just may change your life.
Visualising Your Writing Year
Open a notebook to a clean sheet of paper. Run the palm of your hand across the welcoming white space and marvel at its possibilities. Then uncap a pen or sharpen a pencil and write:
Today is _________________________ [date one year from today] and I am so happy and excited about what I have created and achieved as a writer this year.
Now, complete the following sentences.
This year, I have . . .
I feel great about this because . . .
This has changed my life on the inside because . . .
This has changed my life on the outside because . . .
In the process, I have had a positive impact on others (e.g. my family, my friends, the broader community). Here’s how. . . .
I never imagined that I could . . .
And the best part is . . .
But you haven’t seen anything yet! Next, I am going to . . .
Signed: _____________________
Date: _______________________
Congratulations! You’ve opened Pandora’s Box and set free Hope’s muscular, action-oriented cousin, Vision. She’s here to light your way.
PS – A writing coach can show you some short cuts. To schedule a free exploratory chat about your writing, contact me at joanna.norland@gmail.com.
PPS – To join the mailing list for writing workshops at Starcroft Farm Cabins, Battle, East Sussex, contact Hannah Stuart-Leach at hello@starcroftfarm.co.uk.
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