Reflection – Every Writer’s Secret Weapon

Or How a Few Minutes of Your Attention is Worth its Weight in Gold

Hello and welcome to Writer Revealed – a corner of the internet where we focus on our relationship with our writing and release the binds on our creativity.

Writer Revealed – the name I’ve given my work supporting other writers – holds within it a strong belief. This is that reflection illuminates layers of identity, craft, and the opaque inner workings of our writing selves. And happily this belief is backed up by science.

The act of reflecting, which is what we go on to explore shortly, activates our old friend the Default Mode Network (DMN). We’ve looked at the DMN in previous posts, but as a quick reminder, it’s involved in drawing out and shaping memories developed from our experiences, or autobiographical memories. You’ve no doubt experienced this yourself during a moment of reflection, when an unexpected thought appears.

The DMN is also linked to how we form our identity and, perhaps most importantly for our purposes, it’s a critical part of coming up with new ideas. In short, it is a foundation of our creativity.

Reflection is a valuable resource we hold within ourselves and that is too often overlooked.

Through directed reflection the writer is revealed to herself, theirself, himself, and to others. And when we draw out those reflections, when we write them or speak them, it has a powerful effect on our brain. Naming internal states, beliefs, and other thoughts – the focus of today’s article – reduces amygdala activation (loosely, the fight-flight-freeze mechanism our brains evolved to keep us safe). Because we are no longer in ‘danger mode’, we can more easily enter the dreamier state of the imagination and memory. This is a powerful step towards mastery of the craft, and a happier, more satisfying writing life.

This is an interactive post, so have something to write with and something to drink – good hydration oils the wheels of our minds – and gift yourself a few minutes of undivided attention.

Once you are ready, I invite you to settle. For the next few minutes there is nowhere else to be and nothing else to do.

Let’s take three gentle naturally deep breaths.

It’s important not to skip this. Slowing the breath shifts our nervous system towards the parasympathetic. With this system dominant, and not our threat mechanisms, we are able to think more freely, allowing ourselves to explore new ideas without the brake of self-criticism.

Nervous system primed, here is today’s first question.

How much joy lives in your writing practice?

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Let’s go a little deeper.

How well do you know your writing self?

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You might have answered that with a ‘totally’, or ‘not at all’, or anywhere in between. However you answered, there’s always more to discover.

For the next step in this journey, we return to the energy of a brainstorm. This will be combined with a gentle review. Both stages offer opportunities for insights.

Open up a new page or take a blank piece of paper.

Put yourself as the writer in the centre. I wrote ‘Me, the Writer’, at the centre of my page. This feels a bit awkward, but it’s what came to me. You may come up with something much more elegant, or just use your name.

Begin to write around that words and phrases that pop into your mind associated with your writing self. The trick is to allow these thoughts to arise without engaging too much critical awareness or acting as gatekeeper to your thoughts. This taps into free association – the spontaneous, free-flowing ideas and thoughts we’re so good at when we give ourselves the space. It doesn’t matter which order the thoughts come, and it doesn’t matter how many or how few, or where you write them on the page.

We’ll see each other back here when you are done.

[INTERVAL]

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Now that you have your ‘raw data’, we’re going to gather our treasure.

Return to your mindmap / brainstorm. Here we make use of our natural tendency to look for patterns. Decide if any of the words and phrases group together naturally. Get coloured pens or pencils, or create a variety of borders, and begin to group what you’ve written down. This is where we transform intuition into knowledge.

When I did this, my words and phrases ended up falling into fewer categories than I expected. They were (and they were pretty broad groupings): the kind of writing I do; describes me as a writer; my relationship with other writers as mentor/teacher; doubts and limitations.

Did you have similar categories? If so, what were they?

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Were any of your categories different? If so, what were those?

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Now we go prospecting for gold.

When I looked at the balance of words in each category I was pleasantly surprised by how positive the overall picture was.

Insight 1: I had been holding on to an old (limiting) view of myself as a writer.
Articulating internal narratives this way is so useful. We often find we’ve been holding on to stories or beliefs about ourselves that we’ve outgrown.

Many of the words I wrote on my mindmap described my approach to writing.
Insight 2: Personality traits – which you can shape and hone – matter as much as craft.

I named several writing themes.
Insight 3: I prefer to write work based on landscape, that cover ‘big’ themes (currently at least).

Use the space below to write discoveries and insights from your own groupings – you may find one. You may find more.

Discovery ______________________________________

Insight _________________________________________

Discovery ______________________________________

Insight _________________________________________

Discovery ______________________________________

Insight _________________________________________

Another time, a few years ago perhaps, my mindmap would have been more biased towards doubt and uncertainty. I know this could easily happen again – this more upbeat view was my snapshot today.

When I looked back over any doubts and uncertainties that did come up, there was a further insight. Now that I’ve named them, the doubts either feel manageable or resolvable in some way, or are not a problem for right now.

Rather than remaining amorphous, energy-sapping shadows lurking in the background, bringing my doubts and uncertainties out into the daylight has allowed me to feel more in control of them. I regained a sense of agency. And research shows that naming doubts reduces the power of the emotions we surround them with.

So during this very simple process, I moved from vague anxiety to a set of actionable steps that I am (potentially at least!) in control of.

If you also came up with a group similar to my ‘doubts and uncertainties’, can you also divide them into sub categories? For example: manageable – they’re just part of every-day (creative) life; resolvable with a plan; resolvable with external help; not a problem for right now. Any others you can think of?

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Having spent a few minutes on this, do you have a clearer picture of you, the writer? Have you dispelled myths you were holding onto about yourself? Have you nailed any truths? Have you too uncovered any liberating insights?

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These are such simple exercises to do. In their simplicity they risk seeming less valuable than plugging away at a rewrite or a new draft. But wait! You may be underestimating the value of accessing your own internal wisdom in this more ordered or systematic way. So often we know far more than we consciously realise. And what we end up discovering in this way can help us navigate the creative process with more ease. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to claim it can revolutionise our writing lives.

It’s worth returning to this exercise periodically. Doing so, you’re able to see trends in your relationship with your writing; break emerging issues into manageable steps before they grow too big; and continue to learn about your particular brand of creativity. Over time, this builds further self-awareness and also help us stay flexible and open-minded about our creative process.

This simple exercise has not once failed to provide me with useful insights and, when necessary, a plan of action to resolve issues. Everything feels calmer and clearer. I know where I need to go next. I see that as a good return on a few minutes of focus. It gives me confidence in my own abilities to identify and find solutions to my writing problems.

Dancing Through the Mind – From Day-dreaming to Analysis... and Back Again

I’ve been reading recent research on the interaction between different brain networks that occur during the process of creativity. It’s fascinating. The aim of today’s post is to take a brief look what a couple of these ‘mind modes’ feel like to us, to get to know them a bit better.

This work is fuelled by a belief I hold passionately, developed through my own writing process and that of the many writers I’ve worked with in nearly two decades and most recently form my Master’s studies. That is, the more we understand our physiology, from our brains to our senses and including our emotions, the better equipped we are to understand and therefore to open up our writing practice.

When we take time to explore our relationship with writing, we’re developing strong foundations and a kinder, more compassionate approach. That last point is the bit that gets me almost every time I start working with a writer, how hard we are on ourselves!

But back to today’s meander through science and creativity.

As Individual As A Finger Print
As always with Writer Revealed, this is a gently interactive post, so get something to write with, and a drink to make sure you’re hydrated – a dehydrated brain just doesn’t work as well – and gift yourself a few minutes of attention. You will reap the rewards.

Let’s begin.

I invite you to arrive, to gather yourself in from your day thus far. Then take three naturally deep, slow breaths in and out, for no other reason than that it feels nice.

Today we’ll be exploring creative states that map onto a couple of networks in the brain that perform different, but overlapping, functions during the creative process.

We’ve already started to look at the DMN – the Default Mode Network. We looked at the synergy between nature and the DMN in a previous post [read that here]. This post is mainly a sequel to a brief introduction to the DMN I wrote some weeks back [read that here], with a hint at its partner – the ECN, the Executive Control Network. That’s where we’re going next.

The Creation State
I find it most helpful to translate this into first-hand experience.

First, drop into a moment when you were totally absorbed in your writing (or other creative activity), creating new ideas and new word combinations – the ‘mode’ when you are recruiting your imagination-friendly DMN.

What does it feel like?
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Imagine you are a river. What does this river look like?

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What we feel, that immersion and creative outflow, is called the Default Mode Network (DMN). The DMN is a hugely sophisticated space of possibility, for putting two and two together and coming up with something unexpected and new. It’s about memory, emotional resonance, and associations. (Outside of direct creativity, the DMN is also associated with day-dreaming, thinking about the self, remembering the past and imagining the future.)

But the DMN doesn’t work alone.

Planning Control
For this next awareness exercise, pick a short piece of your writing and review it with a focus on improving it.

When you’re done, here are a couple of questions.

What did that review process feel like?
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Can you think of an analogy for it?

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What we are experiencing is the second of our two modes. When we review what we’ve written during our ‘DMN state’ we recruit mainly the Executive Control Network (ECN).

When I did this exercise, the switch from DMN to ECN came in like a loud, green woodpecker flying across my line of sight in a peaceful woodland. It felt like breaking a magical spell of blissful immersion.

Take a moment to notice how these two modes feel for you when viewed together – your experience may be quite different from mine. How does the switch feel for you?

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The Blossom and the Wind
The review process brings to the fore my doubts and uncertainties. I’m working from a much narrower field of vision. I acquire an awareness of errors and poorly phrased ideas that suddenly flash like big red lights.

I can often feel frustration at this point. It was so good being in the flow, while I was creating. Now I’m out of it, I see how much work I need to do to bring the writing up to a level where I’m happy to send it off to be read by someone else.

The editing has disrupted a delicate blossoming of ideas, like a gust of wind blowing the petals off the cherry tree – if that’s not stretching the analogies too far!

So far so undermining of the delicate scaffold I’ve built around myself. But, while it can feel uncomfortable, this is in fact a sign of a healthy, creative mind, toggling between modes. This turbulence isn’t a sign there’s anything wrong, quite the opposite.

I read up on the ECN. Like the DMN it’s a hugely sophisticated bit of brain connectivity. With the ECN we’re evaluating, reworking structure, checking out the craft of writing, making use of storytelling skills we’ve been acquiring since we wrote our first stories. And it’s not just about ‘being critical’, the ECN helps to support our decision-making, choose what is relevant, keep our working memory ticking over and so on.

I can let go of my noisy woodpecker. I now understand the ECN as being closer to a sculptor. My writing is being shaped and honed into something more aesthetically pleasing, like a figure emerging from a block of marble.

A Bicycle Made for Two
A further insight from my reading on this subject is helpful. The DMN and ECN centre on different ‘hubs’ but they overlap in significant ways. These networks should properly be understood as patterns of connectivity rather than specific physical structures. And contrary to what used to be believed, they are not fighting each other for dominance. The relationship is much more subtle than that. During the writing process, these networks are working in tandem (no apologies for my bad pun).

As we switch from one mode to the other, we’re actually dancing between the flow of immersion and the more controlled implementation of our writing skills.

The trick lies in allowing ideas time and space to flourish before we implement the control.

At the end of this, what can we take away? For me, a better understanding of what is going on during the writing process is illuminating. The knowledge helps me feel more in control of a process that at times can feel baffling, even disconcerting. My aim as always in my explorations is to make my own writing process more comfortable. I hope that what we’ve explored today has a similar effect on you.

FREE YOUR MIND AND YOUR WRITING WILL FOLLOW

BREAKING THROUGH THE BARRIERS THAT CAN STOP YOU WRITING

Elizabeth Ferretti

Many years ago, I was not a writer. I can’t picture that person now. How did she live in the world? How did she navigate without writing anything more than the odd diary entry? I was nearly forty when I finally got the nudge I needed to write. I’ll be forever grateful I found a way out! I cannot imagine my life without it. If you haven’t yet freed yourself from the burden of not writing, read on .

SOMETHING’S MISSING
First of all, how do we know something’s missing in our lives? It might seem an obvious question, but how can you know for sure that writing will add immeasurably to your existence? And, if you are aware that writing is a missing part of you, how do you find what’s stopping you from doing it?

In my experience, and from the testimonies of hundreds of people I’ve worked with, uncovering the obstacles to fully embracing writing, making it an integral part of your life, is a process. It’s a process that, paradoxically, it’s often the tool of writing itself that is the key to unlocking.

WHAT’S HOLDING US BACK?
We keep many stories and beliefs in our hearts, bodies, minds about why we should or should not, could or could not start a new sport, a martial art, an artistic or creative practice. We definitely tell ourselves stories about writing or what kind of writer we are or might be, or aren’t.

I meet many people who express an interest in writing but who somehow didn’t get round to it, or who wrote years ago but never continued. In some cases it wasn’t something they wanted to continue, their lives moved in a different direction. But more often I meet people with regret in their eyes. They want to write, they often (but not always) have a subject, a format, a story they want to tell, but something has stopped them. A flash of recognition hits me. That person used to be me.

HANG ON IN THERE
There may be practical, real-life reasons why it’s hard to find time or the mental space to write. In that case, I recommend keeping a notebook and jotting down thoughts and ideas, impressions. When your life is less busy, you can return to them. You will still be keeping the flame of writing alight in your life. That’s the important bit. Don’t underestimate it.

FREE YOUR MIND AND YOUR WRITING WILL FOLLOW
If practical barriers are less of a problem for you, then here are four tips that have been a help to me. I hope they give you the push you need to get you writing.

1. JUST GET THE FIRST DRAFT DONE
This has been said in many ways by many authors. I can’t remember where I read it most recently, I will credit this quote when I find it. But oh my word, what a powerful punch that hits. If you have a first draft, you have something to work from.

2. TAKE IT A SINGLE STEP AT A TIME
Write a scene that comes to you. Write a dialogue. Write a memory. A description. Express your anger or your curiosity or anything in between. You do not have to have an overall structure to start off with. Just open up the flow. Worry about the big picture later. Writing is like anything, you get better at it with practice. Start off gently. Take your writing muscles out for a walk or an easy session at the gym. Build up from there.

Scan the QR code at the end of this post
for news on upcoming events.

3. WRITE A WILD DRAFT
A ‘first draft’ hides a sneaky obstacle. The word ‘first’ has the heaviness of ‘second draft’, ‘third draft’ and so on in a long chain that ends in a final draft in a mythical future. All that weight of expectation and slog is enough to make me give up before I’ve begun! It’s a simple trick of the mind, but by making your starting position a ‘wild draft’ you open the doors to possibility. And that’s a powerful motivator in itself.

On top of that, calling it a ‘wild draft’ is a neat way of shoving to one side all that judgement (which is often a large part of what holds us back. I’ll be examining that in a future post). What you write in a wild draft will likely need some work, but that is for another day. For now, just enjoy the ride and see where it takes you. Terry Pratchett said: ‘Your first draft is you telling yourself the story.’ A wild draft is that and more. It is freedom. I can credit this great concept. It came from Writers HQ.

4. GET CLARITY
If you’re interested in understanding what might be blocking you, I recommend you follow that hunch. Getting to know your personal set of writing obstacles will not only help kickstart your writing practice, you’ll also be setting yourself up for longer-term success. By removing or reducing the hold of your personal obstacle-set, you reduce the chances of tripping you up again. You build the foundations to maintain your newly released writing practice into the future.

Want to explore this? Here is an exercise I often recommend.

a. Take a blank piece of paper and write the word ‘writing’ or ‘writer’ or other associated word of your choice in the centre. Draw a box around it to contain it.

b. In one or more sittings, and over as long a period as you want, write on this page any beliefs, concepts, memories, hopes, dreams, fears, echoes, indeed anything that comes to you (I would add names of other writers, for example) that you associate with your central word.

c. You can leave time between writing down these beliefs and this next part of the process or you can start straight away. Get coloured pens or pencils. Take a step back and ask yourself some questions.

Can you see connections between the words or concepts you’ve written around your central word? You might colour-code these. Are any of your collection of memories, stories or beliefs more supportive and helpful than others? Do themes emerge? Write them down. Explore them. Is there one belief that leaps out at you? Write around that, get to know it.

THE POWER OF AWARENESS
Awareness can be enough to release the hold a belief has over you and your writing, or at least to start that release. Remember, you are always in charge of this process. If you feel more uncomfortable in your investigations than you want to on a particular day, then go back to a place where you do feel comfortable and explore that. Be nice to yourself.

WRITER REVEALED
If you try any of the above techniques drop me a line and let me know how you got on: info@writerrevealed.co.uk

It is because I found it so hard to start writing that I set up Writer Revealed – offering support to writers wherever they are. Scan the QR code below to be added to my mailing list for upcoming events online and offline, and for materials and ideas to help you on your way.

See you next time!
Elizabeth

WHY I WRITE – PSSST, IT'S FOR THE ATTENTION

Hi, I’m Elizabeth Ferretti. I’m an award-winning fiction and non-fiction writer, with a special interest in writing’s impact on mental, as well as more general, wellbeing. In this substack post I look at writing and attention. This blog was originally posted on Substack.

For George Orwell, examining his motivation to write led to his brilliant essay ‘Why I Write’ (1949) It was a question that came up in a recent writing class I was hosting. Why turn up and write for an hour? What’s the point?

There are many reasons why I write, and no doubt as many reasons to write as there are people who write, but in this piece my focus is on one – attention, and more specifically where our attention is directed.

As social beings, part of complex societies, it’s natural for our attention to be focussed outwards. And with the arrival of social media, functioning at least in part as a marketplace, our attention is being fought over. This commodity of our attention is worth a tonne of money. To misquote President Clinton’s campaign manager, James Carville: “the attention economy, stupid”. However uncomfortable it is to admit, the attention economy’s effects on our behaviour, decisions and beliefs are powerful and we’re only just beginning to see and understand how deep they go. But what if we saw writing as a way to draw some of that attention away for ourselves? Could that offer another answer to the question of ‘why I write’?

I want to go off on a tangent before coming back to the link between writing and where we gift our attention. One of my most passionate beliefs is that we don’t have to justify why we write or that we write – although justification is a core theme in Orwell’s essay (among many other things). He was writing to be published, for an audience. I interpret some of his thinking as also concerning why a reader should lend their attention to his words.

These are both important considerations, but two points come to mind. First, why do we feel any need to justify why we write? (A sentiment expressed beautifully by Elif Shafak in her Substack today. She likened this to questioning why we breathe.) Second, we don’t have to have an audience for our writing to have intrinsic value. Beliefs about writing for an audience being the only valid reason to write, and feeling the need to justify the act of writing to ourselves and / or others, are a deeply ingrained part of my British culture. Loosening their grip on me has taken a long old time. These stories still lurk around in the shadows.

Yet, we may write simply to express ourselves. An obvious point, but not understanding that stopped me from writing anything at all until I was nearly 40. Since then I’ve loved how writing lets me explore inner dialogue outside normal social interactions. It has helped me know myself. It has given me space to examine, contemplate, think. And here’s the link I’ve been working towards – it’s offered me a space where nothing is clamouring for my attention.

When I write, I’m making a choice about where I place my attention. In using writing as a tool to claim back my attention I’m reminded that other ways of being in the world are open to me than the dominant one that surrounds me. And I don’t even have to be writing anything remotely intelligent or profound for this to be true. No one ever has to read what I write for this still to be true.

I began this piece with one of my writing heroes, whose clarity of language and thought are a lodestone for me, and I’ll end with him. One of the major justifications Orwell found for writing was political. He meant it in a way that I also hold dear in my own fiction, that it is a response to and an examination of events in the world. But I also see that to dedicate even a short time to writing, whatever form that writing takes, is an act of will. Will is one of the most powerful tools we have, and using that will to choose where to place our attention has profound consequences.

Happy writing wherever you are!

PS Want to make more space for writing in your life? On Mondays, I host Write Together – an online writing hour in three time slots across the day – to help people sit down and write, and to love writing!
To find out more: www.writerrevealed.co.uk

ANNOUNCING WRITE TOGETHER – A NEW ONILNE SUPPORT SPACE FOR WRITERS LAUNCHING 2 JUNE 25

Hello fellow writers,

Struggling to fit writing into your schedule? I’m excited to finally launch Write Together – my long-promised support sessions for writers.

Why Write Together?
Almost every writer I speak to struggles to find time or motivation to write. Common issues include:
• not knowing where to start
• overwhelm or lack of confidence
• the need for routine and accountability
• difficulty focusing
• demanding daily lives

What Is Write Together?
A weekly, hour-long session every Monday, designed to help you sit down and write.
Each session includes:

1. A settling exercise – a transition from ‘doing’ to ‘writing’ mode

2. 30 minutes of focused, self-guided writing (option to extend to 45 minutes)

3. A guided review and goal-setting process to reflect, track progress, and develop good writing habits

Optional monthly masterclasses to address writing skills and mindset, shaped by participant needs.

The Magic Key
After 15+ years working with hundreds of writers, I’ve learned that transitioning the brain from everyday activity into creative focus is crucial. That’s where the ‘airlock’ – our opening exercise – makes a big difference.

Who Is It For?
Any writer who finds it hard to carve out writing time – whether you’re working on a newsletter or website, feature, substack or blog, poem, novel, memoir, or nonfiction.

What Can One Hour Per Week Do?
• 1 hr/week x 6 months = 24 hrs (3 working days)
• 1 hr/week x 12 months = 48 hrs (6 working days)
• Add 3 more solo hours a week = 208 hrs/year (over 5 work weeks!)

Details
Sessions start Monday 2 June, with 3 time slots (NB all times are BST):

1. 07:00–08:00

2. 10:30–11:30

3. 20:00–21:00

To join: email me with COUNT ME IN! with your preferred time slot. I’ll add you to the Friday email list. Click the Monday session link at your chosen time – camera optional!

Pay What You Want: Suggested rates: £5.00, £7.50, or £10. Easy via PayPal link in the invite.

Questions? Just ask.

– Liz (Writer Revealed)

Writer Revealed now available on Bluesky

Hello and welcome to Writer Revealed.
If you are new to what I do, I’m about peeling back the layers of the onion (my logo, see?!) that are built up around your relationship with your writing.
It’s not about getting rid of those layers – those layers are what help to make us all unique – it’s more about getting to know them, finding out how they support or hold back your writing, getting inspiration from them...
I’ve started posting regularly on Bluesky – so if you want to explore the Writer Revealed approach, these prompts are a good place to start. It is a gentle process. Revelations may arrive slowly, like the slow changing of a habit, or all at once, in a flash of inspiration. Along the way, you may like to remember the mantra – be kind to yourself.
Let me know how you get on with the Bluesky prompts in the comments or message me – part of the joy of writing for me is building a writing community.
I wish you happy writing!
Elizabeth

Writer Revealed is back!

Hello and welcome back. Over the next few weeks I will be working on new materials for workshops and workbooks. I will be putting these up on the website and promoting them on social media so you don’t miss them.

I’ve been away for a while due to illness, which has meant very little public work. On the plus side, it has given me time to focus on my own writing and I am really pleased with progress on that. How are you getting on with your writing? If you have any writing queries, let me know in the comments or via email (info@writerrevealed.co.uk) and I will try to help.

In the meantime, I wish you all the best in your writing. Here’s to a happy, creative 2024.

Writer's Walks – Inspiration on the Suffolk Coast

This year I return to three favourite places on the Suffolk coast for a brand new set of writer’s walks – three locations that have provided inspiration for my own writing. The Suffolk Coast is a place of constant change – it can be edgy and unsettling, as well as beautiful – perfect material for gripping writing of all kinds.

With one Saturday workshop a month in June, July and August, we will be visiting three very different places, with their own tales, histories, and landscapes to explore.

Workshop 1. Arrivals and Departures – Felixstowe’s Wild Edge

The first Writer’s Walk, on Saturday June 11th 2022, is at Landguard Peninsula in Felixstowe, in the south of Suffolk – a place that is not as well-known as it should be. Jutting out into the sea, under famously wide Suffolk skies, this shingle peninsula has a well-preserved Napoleonic Fort and rusting WWII defences. Nearby is a modern port that hosts the world’s biggest container ships, while in the past famous ships sailed out from Harwich, just across the water. The peninsula is also a nature reserve, with rare plants and migrating birds. It is windswept, wild and very beautiful.

The aim of this workshop is to find inspiration in contrasting landscapes, as well as to begin to explore the benefits of mindful writing.

Workshop 2. Mermen, Bombs and Smugglers’ Trails – Strange Tales of Orford Town

My second destination, on July 2 2022, is another of my Suffolk haunts, Orford Town and River. This workshop is set along the Ore estuary, and in the well-preserved village of Orford. We will uncover its once important past, as well as legends and tales associated with this secretive part of Suffolk. We will also look at the natural landscape of tides, mud and saltings – the Suffolk word for salt marsh.

The aim of this workshop is to use the tales, legends and tidal landscape as tools for creating a strong sense of place in your writing – wherever you are setting your work.

Workshop 3. The Sea Spell – The Lost City of Dunwich

Workshop 3 is on 6th August 2022, at Dunwich Beach. Dunwich is another of Suffolk’s so-called lost towns. This once bustling medieval port is now reduced to a few houses – its harbour slowly silted up, and then much of the town was destroyed by a tidal surge. Here are evocative ruins, tales of underwater bells, the sweeping shingle beach and crumbling cliffs.

The aim of this workshop is to use landscape to create atmosphere in your writing. Like the previous two workshops in Felixstowe and Orford, you will come away with tools that you can apply to your own landscapes, as well as a workbook to develop your ideas.

Click here to find out more details and to book. Places are strictly limited.

I really look forward to seeing you out in the landscape for these writer’s walks. I hope they inspire you to explore writing through landscape, and landscape through your writing! I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have. Email Liz at info@writerrevealed.co.uk.

Overcoming Hurdles

How Spending Time With Blocks Will Move Your Writing Forward
Is something stopping you from starting, or finishing, a writing project? Do you find ‘stuff’ gets in the way? Does writing feel like an uphill struggle? Then you’re not alone – I suspect you may be in the majority. This is a whistle stop tour of a process of discovery that is worth spending time on. I hope you can use it to find a way to start unpicking what is holding you and your writing back.

Awareness is the First Step
If you’re like me, then you’ll spend decades being aware of “not doing”, but not why you’re “not doing”. In my case it took a crisis to push me into writing, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Taking a look at what’s holding you back will be worth every minute you invest in it.

So, What is Holding you Back?
Start with a list, divided into sub-headings. Here are a few that work for me: personal, psychological, historical, social ­– but you’ll come up with your own, and you’ll probably find they change over time.

The Power of the List
Under personal you might put: family and work commitments; grammar and spelling; lack of writing experience; health. The psychological focuses on personality. Examples: lack confidence; sensitive to criticism; not good with focussing on myself, and so on. My historical category might include something said or experienced in my past, particularly as a child, that has kept me from writing (though I have a note on this later).

Widening the Circle
My next category is social. I’d put expectations in here, covering family, friends, and your wider community; social/cultural barriers: for example, do you come from a group that is traditionally less ‘heard’? These barriers can be powerful hindrances; limiting beliefs about writing and writers; and so on.

Acknowledging the Problem
It’s hard to be creative when you have family commitments, or work or financial issues to deal with. It may be that you want to write about upsetting or emotionally challenging topics, but are worried about doing that. It may be that you simply don’t know where to start. It will help to take an objective look at the issues.

Divide and Rule
Next, divide your lists into things that are in your control and those currently outside your control (I like to use different coloured markers for this!). Then, choose one thing (and only one) that you think you might be able to find a way around. Try your idea out. Get some help or advice. Maybe even write about it. Experiment. When you are ready, work on another.

Be Kind
Don’t push it. If you’re busy, set aside five minutes a day to jot down ideas. If you don’t want to explore difficult topics, write about something else, or fictionalise. You don’t have to attack something head on – all writing can be therapeutic (more on this in a future blog).

Look Inside
This exercise will help, but it’s equally important to list what motivates you to write – push the boat out, be honest, be bold. Then use your motivations list. It’s there to help you take those steps into writing you’ve always wanted to.

 
Liz Ferretti is a writing mentor, and award-winning fiction, features, and educational writer. Part way through an MSc in the Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health, Liz is interested in the links between creative writing and mental wellbeing. She posts regular writing tips on her Writer Revealed Instagram and Facebook. Find out more at: www.writerrevealed.co.uk

For more information on mentoring and support for your writing, email Liz at info@writerrevealed.co.uk

 This blog was originally published on the Writers’s Company website. The Writer's Company Blog

NEW FOR SPRING 2022 – THE WRITING SESSIONS ARE BACK!

If you are anything like almost every writer I meet, then you never seem to have enough time to write. If this is you, then read on…!

There are so many demands on our time that writing often gets squeezed out – but if you love writing, then that’s not what you want. I’ve developed The Writing Sessions specifically to help answer that problem. Each course includes inspiring writing exercises; focussed writing time; free workbooks; AND professional feedback on your writing – all designed to give your writing a real boost.

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