What is Write Thinking?

‘Write Thinking,’ is a fresh and unique facilitation methodology using creative writing prompts and exercises to unlock thinking and help groups come together, dig a little deeper and come up with surprising insights, fantastic ideas and often, more than one new perspective.

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Largely inspired by free-writing techniques, this methodology also draws on creative writing exercises, journaling and coaching techniques.

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This methodology requires no interest, experience or talent when it comes to writing, and it certainly requires no grammar, spelling or even sense. Writing in this context is simply a tool to access deeper thoughts.

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Interestingly, people who don’t write as a rule, tend to find it easier to ‘jump in’ as they’re less preoccupied with being creative, good etc. It’s not only incredibly dynamic and useful; it can also be great fun, sometimes moving and always energising and enlightening.

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What it involves

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Participants are given writing prompts - tailored to the purpose of the session, for example idea generation or team- building, and set an amount of time to write, as freely as they can. People can also doodle, colour, use mind-maps etc. if they feel compelled to. They then share in pairs before coming back to plenary to share further if people want to.

It’s not just what people write either. Information can come in all kinds of forms. It can be hidden in how people are writing as well as what they're writing. There are clues everywhere from how fast people go, how long they stop and think for, whether they experience resistance, or enthusiasm, have energy, or are dragging their pens across the page reluctantly. It's all information.

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How it works

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By throwing out the writing rulebook and using writing simply as a tool, people are free to write without editing themselves, which they generally do when speaking. People almost always write more than they would say. This allows all kinds of thoughts, insights and information to come forward. In addition, the act of writing - keeping the pen moving within a set amount of time - brings us into the present.

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Benefits

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People are more honest on the page, especially when writing by hand. This allows them to connect more deeply with themselves, the task at hand, and themselves. Rather than tackling a topic or challenge head on, working in a more creative opens up broader thoughts, insights and perspectives.

It's fun and enlightening and can sometimes unleash long forgotten creativity.

All voices are heard and the group leaves feeling united, energised and inspired.

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When people share - regardless of whether it's the writing itself or the experience - something truly magical happens. Deeper parts of themselves are - perhaps for the first time - witnessed by others which can be wonderfully liberating. Regardless of the purpose of the workshop, this can be the most meaningful output of a session.

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Using these tools gives people new resources they can use in their lives to build connection, resilience, solve problems, reconnect to their creativity and get some good old fashioned stress-relief.

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What it's good for

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This methodology is great for:

1. Coming up with new ideas, insights and perspectives

2. Solving problems

3. Team-building

4. Supporting well-being

5. Group coaching (writing prompts are also great in one:one coaching)

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As well as a stand alone tool, Write Thinking can also be used in collaboration with other facilitation tools to deepen exploration, leading to more dynamic outputs. 

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More about writing

* Engages both our creative and analytical brains

* It's multi-channel: Includes sound (sharing/discussion), physicality (the act of writing), Vision (colour, doodles), Reasoning (questions, writing)

* Develops our identity and strengthens our voice

* Builds confidence Allows us to be honest (especially when writing by hand)

* Promotes mindfulness by bringing us into the moment

* Improves memory (our hands actually hold memory)

* Builds relationships (with both ourselves and others)

* Supports our well-being

* Helps us to process thoughts and experiences

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People could speak out loud and even record themselves People can use single words or images/doodles

Alternatives to writing

Responding to prompts can happen whether written or not. For anyone who may find writing more challenging, there are alternatives ways to capture people's response to a prompt (and don't forget you can invite people to come up with their own alternatives.) 

As long as people have the capacity to share their experience in some way, any of these methods will be valuable.

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What inspired me and acknowledgements

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​Whilst I’ve created and adapted my own exercises  and prompts, most of this content existed - as most content does - long before my time, in another form. I’ve simply repurposed, repackaged and applied it to different contexts. I therefore want to share it freely and have now made these tools available with a Creative Commons licence essentially asking that you credit me should you use my content and that you share any revised versions in the same way - mainly because I’d love to hear how you’ve used the content.

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I’d like to acknowledge the following sources that have contributed to my own experiences and education in free-writing and creative writing: Gestalt Centre course: Freefall writing (gestaltcentre.org.uk,) City Lit course: 'Inklings' (based on exercises from the book ‘Journal to the self’ by Kathleen Adams), Big Magic workshop (based on book of same name) with Liz Gilbert (that actually inspired me to start running workshops - I thought "I can do that!") The Artist’s Way (book) - Julia Cameron , Ira Progoff’s Intensive Journal Method (intensivejournal.org), inspiration from members of Lapidus - words for well-being (lapidus.org.uk) and AMED (amed.org.uk.)

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I've been running workshop for self-discovery, idea generation, well-being, team building and more since 2018.