Showing posts with label Creative writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Creative writing. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 December 2016
Ray Bradbury's quote on writing first drafts.
About First Drafts. Much of my activity with clients is balancing their expectations of their First Draft. They expect it to be perfect. It will only very rarely be. But it has to be written with passion and - as Ray Bradbury says - no interference. Editing comes later. https://mobile.twitter.com/GaryJMcLaren/status/664634355839447044/photo/1
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Writing with confidence
For me, as a writing coach, one of the most revealing questions directed to an agent and listed – among many - in Harry Bingham’s Getting Published (A & C Black 2010) is:
Are you taking on me or my book?
You need to know it's you. That would mean they are on your side, they believe in you, they’re going to work for you, they have not assumed you are a one-trick pony.This will do wonders for your confidence as a writer. And the confidence to say ‘I am a writer’ is an elusive quality among the unpublished but hopeful.
This of course is a nonsense. Publication in itself is not proof of writing talent. It is, it’s true, a form of external evaluation and accreditation. But - like many of the people sitting in my workshops – many hopefuls could in truth and in confidence make the statement ‘I am a writer’.
But they don’t.
Saturday, 14 November 2009
This week's workshops
Hello, everyone!
This week's workshops - Weds 18th @1pm and Thursday 19th @ 7pm - take 'A Sense of Place' as their theme. Participants are preparing a short piece (poetry, prose, drama) on places that mean something to them. The idea is to evoke the place so vividly that we, the audience, feel we know it and that we know why it means so much to you. A by-product is the craftsman's pleasure in honing and polishing - a different experience from the free-writing we've done so far.
Join us!
Lizzie
This week's workshops - Weds 18th @1pm and Thursday 19th @ 7pm - take 'A Sense of Place' as their theme. Participants are preparing a short piece (poetry, prose, drama) on places that mean something to them. The idea is to evoke the place so vividly that we, the audience, feel we know it and that we know why it means so much to you. A by-product is the craftsman's pleasure in honing and polishing - a different experience from the free-writing we've done so far.
Join us!
Lizzie
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Other blogs!
For very early blogs, see http://lonelyfurrowcompany.blogspot.com and my new website-type creative writing blog can be found at http://lizziegatestales.typepad.com/lizzie-gates-tales . You can also follow me on Twitter: LizzieGates and read my news and blogs on Ecademy, too.
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Out of the Box Creative Writing Workshops - Future Dates
Over the weekend, I have added a blog entry regarding guidelines on Constructive Criticism which we developed over the past few days at my Out of the Box Creative Writing Coaching Workshops and hope you'll have time to read it. If you have comments and additions, you can leave them at http://lizziegates.blogspot.com And for those who expressed an interest in journalling, I have some articles on the topic published at www.ezinearticles.com and am also in the process of pulling together a report on the theme.
Future meeting dates we've fixed so far are:
Weds 7th October 1 - 3pm
Thurs 8th October 7 - 9pm
Weds 21st October 1- 3pm
Thurs 22nd October 7 - 9pm
Weds 4th November 1 - 3pm
Thurs 5th November 7 - 9pm
Weds 18th November 1 - 3pm
Thurs 19th November 7 - 9pm
There may also be a Christmas meeting for those interested to be discussed at 18th/19th November meetings
For those of you who are still unsure whether you want to join the group or not, why not come along to one of these sessions and see whether it would be helpful to you. I am also planning some one-session themed workshops in the New Year, such as Web Writing or handling rejection etc. If you are interested in this sort of session - on these or any other writing themes - perhaps you'd let me know and we can assess the level of interest in the topic.
We will grow - probably mostly through word of mouth. So if anyone has a friend or meets someone who says 'Oh, I've always wanted to write', please spread the word about these workshops. If this week's examples are anything to go by, the more the merrier, I say!
Future meeting dates we've fixed so far are:
Weds 7th October 1 - 3pm
Thurs 8th October 7 - 9pm
Weds 21st October 1- 3pm
Thurs 22nd October 7 - 9pm
Weds 4th November 1 - 3pm
Thurs 5th November 7 - 9pm
Weds 18th November 1 - 3pm
Thurs 19th November 7 - 9pm
There may also be a Christmas meeting for those interested to be discussed at 18th/19th November meetings
For those of you who are still unsure whether you want to join the group or not, why not come along to one of these sessions and see whether it would be helpful to you. I am also planning some one-session themed workshops in the New Year, such as Web Writing or handling rejection etc. If you are interested in this sort of session - on these or any other writing themes - perhaps you'd let me know and we can assess the level of interest in the topic.
We will grow - probably mostly through word of mouth. So if anyone has a friend or meets someone who says 'Oh, I've always wanted to write', please spread the word about these workshops. If this week's examples are anything to go by, the more the merrier, I say!
Handling Feedback Well!
I don’t much like the term ‘Constructive Criticism’, do you? Apart from the alliterative ‘c’s, it doesn’t sound much fun. But learning to handle feedback can be an integral part of a writer’s growth. And a group session is the ideal scenario to practice. Participants are more disposed to be kind to their fellow writers – having more than a little understanding of the courage it takes to share your writing.
But, why bother? Why put yourself through all this? Because if you ever get as far as publishing your work, your own customised techniques for handling feedback well will save you heart-ache. And, perhaps even more important, unless you’re writing in a vacuum, you want to share your writing. And, this sharing is an essential part of communication. Within a group, you understand at first hand how your words impact on your listener/reader. A gift, indeed!
But earlier experience may make you wary of exposing yourself in this way.
This week, in the Out of the Box Creative Writing Coaching Workshops (CWCWs), we tested out some reasons for this and found our own solution.
The discussion was full and frank. Some participants were resistant to being damned by faint praise. They didn’t want their readings to be met with ‘That’s very good!’ and nothing more. ‘Good’ after all is like ‘very’, nice, and ‘interesting’ – words which on the whole have been so used they have lost all meaning. And these are therefore best avoided by writers.
On the other hand, anyone who feels judgmental enough to come out with ‘That’s the worst piece of writing I’ve ever seen!’ has no place in any of the groups I facilitate.
So having rejected faint praise and savage judgmentalism, where next? We adopted the options of self-critique, followed by group contribution and hints for further development of the piece from me as facilitator. And thanks go to Association for Coaching Northwest Co-ordinator Julia Menaul for the suggestion of this executive coaching tool - which in group was then suitably adapted for writing peer appraisal.
In future, the system we’ll use will be this.
Each person will write for five minutes, producing the equivalent of a first draft – warts and all. He/she will then read his/her piece out loud.
As facilitator, I will then ask what the author dislikes about the piece. This differs from the executive coaching tool, as outlined by Julia. But I always work on the principle that a writer knows full well the failings of his/her work, we need to acknowledge these – without reinforcement from colleagues – and move on.
This done, I will ask the author what he/she likes about the piece. When someone is pleased with what they’ve written – and there’s always something they like – you can hear their confidence rising in the voice as he/she expresses this.
The peer group will listen to both dislikes and likes and will – sometimes even before invited – jump in with positive comments supporting the author’s likes and adding their own. The opportunity exists for negative comment but people tend to favour being positive and helpful.
As facilitator, I can then add my suggestions for different ways of developing the ‘story’ and deeper ways into the piece.
If last week’s group experience is anything to go by, this approach sparks an ever-upward spiral of creativity and enthusiasm. And we avoid a potentially dismal session of criticism.
The system is:
• Write freely as inspired
• Read aloud
• Consider what you dislike about your piece
• Consider what you like
• Listen to the suggestions of others.
• Make decisions as to which of these you will take on board and which you will reject. This is your artistic choice.
Disliking the term ‘constructive criticism’, as I do, I prefer ‘Helpful commentary’. Any other suggestions?
But, why bother? Why put yourself through all this? Because if you ever get as far as publishing your work, your own customised techniques for handling feedback well will save you heart-ache. And, perhaps even more important, unless you’re writing in a vacuum, you want to share your writing. And, this sharing is an essential part of communication. Within a group, you understand at first hand how your words impact on your listener/reader. A gift, indeed!
But earlier experience may make you wary of exposing yourself in this way.
This week, in the Out of the Box Creative Writing Coaching Workshops (CWCWs), we tested out some reasons for this and found our own solution.
The discussion was full and frank. Some participants were resistant to being damned by faint praise. They didn’t want their readings to be met with ‘That’s very good!’ and nothing more. ‘Good’ after all is like ‘very’, nice, and ‘interesting’ – words which on the whole have been so used they have lost all meaning. And these are therefore best avoided by writers.
On the other hand, anyone who feels judgmental enough to come out with ‘That’s the worst piece of writing I’ve ever seen!’ has no place in any of the groups I facilitate.
So having rejected faint praise and savage judgmentalism, where next? We adopted the options of self-critique, followed by group contribution and hints for further development of the piece from me as facilitator. And thanks go to Association for Coaching Northwest Co-ordinator Julia Menaul for the suggestion of this executive coaching tool - which in group was then suitably adapted for writing peer appraisal.
In future, the system we’ll use will be this.
Each person will write for five minutes, producing the equivalent of a first draft – warts and all. He/she will then read his/her piece out loud.
As facilitator, I will then ask what the author dislikes about the piece. This differs from the executive coaching tool, as outlined by Julia. But I always work on the principle that a writer knows full well the failings of his/her work, we need to acknowledge these – without reinforcement from colleagues – and move on.
This done, I will ask the author what he/she likes about the piece. When someone is pleased with what they’ve written – and there’s always something they like – you can hear their confidence rising in the voice as he/she expresses this.
The peer group will listen to both dislikes and likes and will – sometimes even before invited – jump in with positive comments supporting the author’s likes and adding their own. The opportunity exists for negative comment but people tend to favour being positive and helpful.
As facilitator, I can then add my suggestions for different ways of developing the ‘story’ and deeper ways into the piece.
If last week’s group experience is anything to go by, this approach sparks an ever-upward spiral of creativity and enthusiasm. And we avoid a potentially dismal session of criticism.
The system is:
• Write freely as inspired
• Read aloud
• Consider what you dislike about your piece
• Consider what you like
• Listen to the suggestions of others.
• Make decisions as to which of these you will take on board and which you will reject. This is your artistic choice.
Disliking the term ‘constructive criticism’, as I do, I prefer ‘Helpful commentary’. Any other suggestions?
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Creative Writing and Health & Well-Being
For centuries, creative writing has been accepted as beneficial to people with emotional problems. Aristotle described the cathartic effect of drama. Shakespeare warned: “Give sorrow words. The grief that does not speak/ Whispers the o’er fraught heart and bids it break.” And twentieth century researchers began to seek an evidence base for this - hoping to establish a cornerstone for creative writing therapy.
However some of the findings have surprised even the already-converted. In independent studies, benefits of creative writing have proved certainly emotional and spiritual but also psychological and physical.
Alzheimers’ Disease Patients are regularly offered the opportunity of contact with working poets. They talk. The poets listen. The poets create poems from the patients’ words. The patients read these poems and re-gain, however briefly, their sense of ‘self’. This is also a gift to the people who love them.
But creative writing is also now recognised as a stress-buster, forming part of corporate stress management programmes. A bit left-field, you think? Not so. Engaging in writing down serious autobiographical material can lead – as the Alzheimer Patients find - to an increased sense of self (and self-worth) and a sense of control over one’s life. Insufficient control over the work we are paid to do, for example, has already been identified as a major source of stress in the Health & Safety Executive’s Stress Management Standards.
In the 1990s, author of Opening up and psychologist James Pennebaker identified that meaningful creative writing about autobiographical material (ie not about trivia) resulted in a strengthened immune system and reduced blood pressure. This could help to militate against certain cancers, stroke and heart disease.
And, even arthritis sufferers have been found to need fewer pain-killers when encouraged to engage in creative writing.
How creative writing works is well-documented.
As Julia Cameron indicates in her seminal work, The Artist’s Way, writing is a means of problem solving. She advocated – as all we coaches do – free writing to throw up repeating themes, concerns and even solutions. For example, she explains how Phyllis – a leggy, socialite – had for ten years written nothing but letters and shopping lists. But after starting to free-write – Cameron’s morning pages – she wrote her first poem and has moved on to many more.
It’s now generally accepted, according to Yogic principles, all the thoughts and ideas populating the ‘busy brain’ can keep you awake at night. So, having a journal by the bedside and writing them all down may even help with the insomnia produced. Once these images and issues are ‘out’ of the brain and – in the form of words on the page – become a visible presence, the writer can re-read them later (ie next morning) with a fresh perspective and focus. An empty brain allows you to sleep.
Increased interest in the deployment of the humanities in the practice of medicine and social care has resulted in a whole range of projects, pulled together in the Prospectus for Arts and Health (published by the Arts Council and the Department of Health). For example, funding has been made available for the inclusion of creative writing within a medical humanities model for the medical students of the University of Bristol.
As a well-thumbed source book for my Out of the Box Creativity Workshops – I personally commend Writing Works – a resource handbook for Therapeutic Writing Workshops and activities, published in 2006 by Jessica Kingsley and edited by Gillie Bolton, Victoria Field and Kate Thompson. And In his foreword to this, Blake Morrison expresses the view that this book should be used in schools, colleges, hospitals, prisons, rehab clinics and community centres.
“There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come” said Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables. Creative Writing, of course, has always been powerful.
However some of the findings have surprised even the already-converted. In independent studies, benefits of creative writing have proved certainly emotional and spiritual but also psychological and physical.
Alzheimers’ Disease Patients are regularly offered the opportunity of contact with working poets. They talk. The poets listen. The poets create poems from the patients’ words. The patients read these poems and re-gain, however briefly, their sense of ‘self’. This is also a gift to the people who love them.
But creative writing is also now recognised as a stress-buster, forming part of corporate stress management programmes. A bit left-field, you think? Not so. Engaging in writing down serious autobiographical material can lead – as the Alzheimer Patients find - to an increased sense of self (and self-worth) and a sense of control over one’s life. Insufficient control over the work we are paid to do, for example, has already been identified as a major source of stress in the Health & Safety Executive’s Stress Management Standards.
In the 1990s, author of Opening up and psychologist James Pennebaker identified that meaningful creative writing about autobiographical material (ie not about trivia) resulted in a strengthened immune system and reduced blood pressure. This could help to militate against certain cancers, stroke and heart disease.
And, even arthritis sufferers have been found to need fewer pain-killers when encouraged to engage in creative writing.
How creative writing works is well-documented.
As Julia Cameron indicates in her seminal work, The Artist’s Way, writing is a means of problem solving. She advocated – as all we coaches do – free writing to throw up repeating themes, concerns and even solutions. For example, she explains how Phyllis – a leggy, socialite – had for ten years written nothing but letters and shopping lists. But after starting to free-write – Cameron’s morning pages – she wrote her first poem and has moved on to many more.
It’s now generally accepted, according to Yogic principles, all the thoughts and ideas populating the ‘busy brain’ can keep you awake at night. So, having a journal by the bedside and writing them all down may even help with the insomnia produced. Once these images and issues are ‘out’ of the brain and – in the form of words on the page – become a visible presence, the writer can re-read them later (ie next morning) with a fresh perspective and focus. An empty brain allows you to sleep.
Increased interest in the deployment of the humanities in the practice of medicine and social care has resulted in a whole range of projects, pulled together in the Prospectus for Arts and Health (published by the Arts Council and the Department of Health). For example, funding has been made available for the inclusion of creative writing within a medical humanities model for the medical students of the University of Bristol.
As a well-thumbed source book for my Out of the Box Creativity Workshops – I personally commend Writing Works – a resource handbook for Therapeutic Writing Workshops and activities, published in 2006 by Jessica Kingsley and edited by Gillie Bolton, Victoria Field and Kate Thompson. And In his foreword to this, Blake Morrison expresses the view that this book should be used in schools, colleges, hospitals, prisons, rehab clinics and community centres.
“There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come” said Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables. Creative Writing, of course, has always been powerful.
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