Writing in the Margins
The first session of Patchwork started on Sunday! Six weeks of supported, facilitated writing in a queer-friendly and gender-inclusive writing group. We have a small group this time, and I can’t wait to see we come up with.
Patchwork is a new project for Writing in the Margins – the first long-running writing group, and hopefully not the last. I am currently looking into offering Patchwork as an online writing group in addition to the in-person group.
Patchwork, like all Writing in the Margins workshops, is based on Pat Schneider’s Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) method. That means that we have a few guidelines in place that will be part of each session, and part of our interactions outside of the sessions.
You can learn more about how the workshops are run at Pat Schneider’s website, and these are the basic guidelines (from the website):
Unique to the AWA method… are these two revolutionary practices:
- Everything in the writing workshop is treated as fiction, to minimize the personal vulnerability of the writer, and
- The teacher or leader writes with the students or participants, and reads aloud along with the other writers.
These practices, along with keeping all writing confidential, responding to just-written work with encouragement rather than negative critique, create an environment that is non-hierarchical, honest, and safe. Accomplished and beginning writers learn from one another in a generous atmosphere of both critical craft and personal respect for the value of every voice.
My commitment to Patchwork participants (and all Writing in the Margins writers) is that I will respect these guidelines, and will make sure that they are respected within the workshop space. In addition, if there are other considerations that would help make the Patchwork space feel safer and more welcoming to you as a current or potential participant, please let me know! The goal of the group is to support and encourage each writer’s unique creative voice, and that’s only possible if writers feel safe. It is my job to create that safer space for my writers as much as possible.
The group is closed, and the next round of Patchwork will start in January. I will be posting our prompts here, though, so that interested writers can write along with us! Posting the prompts on the blog will be an experiment – I am hoping that writers will come out to events, and that the shared prompts will be “value-added.” Let me know how they are working for you! I know it’s a little unusual to share content outside of workshops, and maybe there is a good business reason for that! We shall see. There will also be other writing events scheduled over the next couple months, so there are lots of opportunities to come out of the margins and take up space on the page in a supportive, facilitated environment.
Our writing prompts on Sunday were based on the idea of the superhero.
The first prompt was to tell an origin story, either for yourself or for a character. Origin stories can be powerful tools for self-exploration. I’ve used origin stories at my personal blog to help articulate my history and goals for my Year of Self-Care.
The second was to articulate superpowers (taking the metaphor in whatever direction works best for your individual writing goals), and we finished with a prompt to write about either sidekicks or villains.
We also took a couple stretching breaks, and self-care will be a focus of this writing group! We started with a wrist stretch (here’s a 2-minute wrist stretching routine, with a kind of hilarious “what she’s saying isn’t matching what she’s doing” moment), and then neck stretches. When you’re writing this week, try to pay attention to your body. If you feel yourself starting to tense up, take a deep breath and do a stretch or two. The goal is to create a sustainable writing practice, which means a writing practice that leaves you feeling better rather than worse.
Keep your eyes on this space for more writing prompts, and feel free to write along with us.
Happy writing!
