Full of it, as usual

Last week, I led two writing workshops -- my weekly one at GEMS, with a group of girls age thirteen through twenty, and a private one, with a group of women in their late twenties. I managed to recycle a few exercises between them, including one of the hardest: Write nice things about yourself for five minutes. 

The GEMS girls groaned; "I can't think of anything." I made suggestions. "Just make a list of things. Try. Five minutes." Some of them got down to it right away; others flopped around on their forearms, exhaling a lot. Seven minutes later, they were all still writing. 

The twentysomethings groaned; "This is hard." "Don't worry," I assured them. "We're not going to read these out loud." This helped, but not a lot. "I know it's hard, but you need to practice it. I'm going to do it, too." Seven minutes later, we were all still writing. 

I always try to do this one; I do most of the exercises along with the group, and sometimes find myself writing nice things about myself for ten or twelve minutes in a given week. I still don't get it right. I find myself qualifying, waffling, talking about things "I wish was better at," criticizing the writing itself in my head. But I think I'm getting better through practice. 

I know; it's twee. It's uncomfortable, it's embarrassing. Unfortunately, it works. You write nice things about yourself for five minutes, you feel better, and you feel more inclined to write. Sometimes, you even go for eight.

Comments

[Georgia]

FORTUNATELY it works!