Working Wordsmiths (Series/2)

What is Writing for Wellbeing?

Writing for wellbeing is about exploring and expanding knowledge and understanding of our own health and wellness through the power of words. Too often we dismiss or undervalue our everyday thoughts, feelings and experiences. Yet research has shown that reading and writing activities actively promote health and wellbeing. Writing for wellbeing can even help us manage long-term conditions and can help with a range of issues including mild to moderate depression, isolation, dementia, recovery from stroke and other illnesses that impact on individual identity.

This approach to writing is accessible to anyone who is willing to have a go. It's not about trying to write the perfect story. No-one is checking up on your punctuation, grammar or spelling. The emphasis is on getting down thoughts and feelings and making connections and discoveries—without judgement. It is personal writing that encourages us to look into ourselves, which is not always easy, but often surprisingly helpful. It’s a way of nurturing oneself and to keep track of how you are doing. Often people find they discover solutions or new approaches to situations or problems. That is why this kind of writing is often referred to as “writing for personal development.”

There are many different ways of writing for wellbeing, and keeping a journal is the one that most people are familiar with.

Why Keep a Journal?

Kate Thompson’s book Therapeutic Journal Writing provides powerful reasons for keeping a journal:

1 A journal is available at any time; it does not rely on the availability of other people or their willingness to listen or on someone’s ability to pay for therapy.

2 Stories can be told and re-told ad infinitum in a journal. Repetition can be a valuable part of any healing process, but human listeners may get bored before the speaker does or before a point of change is reached.

3 A journal provides a map of the journey towards growth, healing and change. Re-reading it gives a record of how and when change happens, a reminder that things do change and that change can happen gradually and almost imperceptibly and perhaps change can only be seen in retrospect.

4 A journal helps find a voice and to give voice to the previously unknown, unspeakable or unacknowledged. An authentic voice can first emerge in the journal.

5 A journal helps develop intimacy with the self. It allows different parts of the self to emerge and step forward from the unconscious (the familiar cry “where did that come from?” testifies to the power of this process).

6 A journal is a powerful organisational resource. It is a means of helping stay in control of life and develop coping strategies. It is invaluable as a time management tool for personal and professional activity.

7 A journal can be a rehearsal platform – for events, conversations, other writing, life itself – and this helps to ameliorate anticipatory anxiety.

8 A journal validates experience – writing it down makes it real and confers existence on the writer. It makes the writer visible and will not judge what the writer says.

9 A journal can contain uncomfortable states such as ambiguity or indecision and make them more bearable. In this way people can begin to mature.

10 A journal is a way of developing and understanding a coherent narrative. It can repair a fractured life by giving shape to experience. When trauma causes a rupture in the narrative of a life, keeping a therapeutic journal can restore it.

Here are some exercises, ideas and tips that might be helpful. 

• Keep a pencil and notebook close by so you always have one to hand, particularly at night, when you close your eyes and all those thoughts come pouring into your head!

• As you go through your day, jot down your feelings, memories, observations & sensory experiences; interesting or important conversations; be sure to write in or as close to the moment as you can on anything you can get your hands on if you don’t have your notebook handy! Serviettes, bus tickets, the back of your hand – anything goes!

• Write in lots of different places so you get a feel for the kind of environment you like best.

• Try fun stationery or just different kinds of paper and pens!

• Use a timer at first to keep things simple, and perhaps increase the amount of time you spend writing as you become more confident.

• Date your work, so you have a record of what you were thinking and when.

• Find your best time to write. For some people, this is first thing in the morning. Many people find it easier and feel more open writing in the morning, before we start thinking about all the jobs that need to be done. But you need to find the optimum time for you.

• Collect and keep anything that might prompt further writing – mementos, other people’s work, references, thoughts, images, newspaper or magazine cuttings. Everyday items can be prompts – your favourite objects at home, for example.

• Listen to conversations and see if a phrase prompts writing, use words from poems or song lyrics as a starting point. Write down words or phrases that you particularly enjoy or speak to you whenever or wherever you come across them – cut them out of magazines and stick them in a diary/journal or copy them down.

• Practice contemplation, the art of looking thoughtfully at something, thinking more deeply about it. Try this with a favourite poem or even an advertising slogan.

Freewriting

1. Set yourself a period of five minutes and just start to write whatever comes to mind – don’t stop to reflect – don’t go back and correct. If you get stuck, just repeat the last word until the flow starts again – the object of the exercise is to write continuously without stopping.

2. Read through what you have written – underline strong or significant words or phrases – choose one of these and write it at the head of a clean sheet of paper – do another five minutes of continuous writing

3. Read through – underline significant words/phrases again. Is there an overall theme or feeling emerging from your writing so far, or a word or idea that is repeated? Choose another word or phrase to put at the top of another clean sheet – do another five minutes of continuous writing.

4. Now reflect on what you have written in the three pieces (15 minutes of writing). Can you pull together anything significant, and arrange it in a pleasing order – can you give it a shape? Is there a poem emerging, or a short piece of prose on a theme? Write connecting passages – spend at least 15 minutes on this or longer, until you have a piece of writing that you are happy to read to others.

Freewriting Prompts

1. Find time and space where you can be alone with your writing for at least 20 minutes, ideally somewhere where you feel relaxed and comfortable.

2. Forget about punctuation, correct spelling, or using the 'right word. Much of this writing will feel like you've started in the middle. Great! The middle is where most things happen! And if the middle seems like a muddle, you are doing something right!

3. We think we know ourselves well. But there is always something new to learn. Here are sentence beginnings for you to start a piece of writing. Turn off your internal censor and let your hand do what it wants; put the pen on the page and see what comes. No-one else will read what you've written unless you want them to.

• I know…

• I think…

• I believe…

• I remember…

• I feel…

• I want…

• I wish…

• I can…

• I wonder…

• I hope…

• I was told…

• I promise myself I will…

JOURNAL WRITING: THE RENAMING GAME

This is a fun exercise to do by yourself or with family, friends or colleagues.

Some people call a spade a spade; some call it a shovel. But have you ever heard it described as a long-handled muck-mover? Or the slicer of earthworms?

Probably not.

When we speak we tend to use quite simple and direct words to get the communication job done. For instance, we use nouns – naming words – as shorthand. But in journal writing it can be a lot of fun, and very expressive, to make up our own ways of naming and describing things.

For example:

‘Put the wood in the hole!’ is a great way of saying ‘Shut the door!’

or

‘A four-legged friend’ is a very expressive way of naming, but also describing, a dog or a horse. There’s even a song by the same name.

But is that how you might describe a cat?

And what would come to mind if someone said: ‘Take the falling floor to the basement.’? A lift? A stairway?

Renaming can be fun. It can also help us see things in a different way.

Try renaming the following, either in your journal or with a friend or family member. You can make them funny, romantic, poetic – whatever you want.

Water ……………………………………………………

Music ……………………………………………………

Chocolate ……………………………………………………

Politicians ……………………………………………………

And what about feelings, emotions? The writer Samuel Johnson called his depression ‘a black dog’, which was definitely not a four-legged friend.

Describing feelings and emotions can be a bit trickier, so try starting something like:

Pain is a ……………………………………………………………..

or

Joy is a ………………………………………………………………

Or use some other feeling you want to rename:

……………… ……………………………………………………………..

One last thing! Whether you try these exercises with others or alone, remember:

In your journal you can write the world as your own unique place.

Because that‘s exactly what it is.

HEARTS AND MINDS IN JOURNAL WRITING

WRITING FROM THE HEAD

When you write from your head, you are much more focused on conscious thinking, facts, logic, reason. You may try to be as objective as possible. When writing your journal, you will sometimes write from the head, and that’s okay. You may want to record the date, the place, the time, what someone is wearing … all these may be important facts. You may want to record a relationship in terms of family relationship, or work hierarchy. You may want to record want you THINK about something that has happened, to record what you see as the logical argument.

Writing from the head has its place in keeping a journal.

Now, take a moment to point to yourself. Hold your hand there for a moment. What part of your self are you pointing at? It’s quite possible you are pointing to somewhere near your heart.

WRITING FROM THE HEART

To write from the heart requires you to write about something you’re passionate about. Heart, passion, emotions – these are very closely linked.

Try listing things you have been passionate about during your lifetime: as a child, a teenager, a young adult. Keep listing until you reach the present day.

Using these past and present passions, write as much as you can about how you feel. The emotions could be anything from happy to sad, from embarrassment to pride, from excitement to horror. The key thing is to reconnect with the emotion, the passion and explore it through writing.

WRITING FROM HEAD AND HEART TOGETHER

Writing that comes from the head and the heart together is probably what we enjoy most about stories and poetry. They have structure, facts, argument (head) and passion, emotion, feelings (heart).

When you keep a journal, you can revisit any entry from any point in time and ask, is this written from the head or the heart? Can I add to it? Expand on it?

After all, your journal does not have to be static. It is a living thing.

Exercise devised by Elaine Ruth White 2016