Girlbomb: Welcome to Writing Group (A Syllabus)

A. What is writing?

Writing is just putting words on the page or the computer.
Any time you are putting words on the page or the computer, you are writing.
Writing makes an idea into something physical, something you can see and/or hold in your hand.

B. Writing makes your life better

Writing is time that’s spent on you.
You can communicate with yourself in the future and in the past.
It helps you to remember things that happened, or things you want to make happen.
Writing can be therapeutic, but it doesn’t have to be.
You can communicate with more people by writing than by speaking.
It helps when seeking employment.

How do you think writing could help you?

C. Tools for writing

1. Pen and paper or computer

When you’re writing, you have to actually put words onto paper, or into a document or email. Otherwise, it’s just “thinking about writing.”
It has to be something you can read later on.

2. Time

Writing takes time!
You can’t write while you do other things (like talk or watch TV).
You can listen to music while you write, but you can’t write while listening to music – the minute you take your main focus off writing, it doesn’t work.
Even writing for five or ten minutes is a big accomplishment.

3. Privacy

If you feel like somebody is going to read your writing and you don’t want them to, it will make it very hard to write.
If you feel like you will be judged for what you write, or for not being the best writer in the world, it will be hard to write.
You don’t have to write for an audience. You can write just for yourself, and you don’t have to share it with ANYBODY.

What else do you need for writing?

D. Rules of writing

1. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar. Spelling and grammar do not count in creative writing.

Most people are not good at spelling and grammar.
You can always fix those things later, or ask someone for help.

2. Originality counts. Good storytelling counts. Being real about your emotions counts.

When you read something, you will like it more if it’s something you didn’t read before, if it’s not too long or boring, and if it makes you feel what the writer was feeling.

3. Anything you write is better than writing nothing.

Even writing for five or ten minutes a week is better than not writing at all.
It’s like those TV commercials for exercise equipment – get results in just minutes a day! Except with writing, it’s actually true.

4. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

(Well, it’s still hard, but you get used to it.)

Exercises

Write a letter to a friend. The friend can be somebody you haven’t spoken to in years. The friend can be dead. You do not have to send your letter. In fact, it’s probably better if you don’t.

Write down an important conversation from your life. What did you say? What did the other person or people say? How did it make you feel? What other details about place, time, and setting can you remember?

Write something on the subject of "The first time I ever..."

Remember

1. Write it down so you have it for later.

2. Something is better than nothing.

3. You don't ever have to show your writing to anybody. You never have to publish anything. As long as you write, you are a writer. So keep writing.