Portobello Writing Circle

Writing from the soul free workshop at Urban Bliss . Artist Eleanor Lindsay-Fynn explains.

Having taken part in the wonderful Jane Brunette's writing from the soul workshop in Ubud Bali, I am bringing the format to London to share with you in London.

The workshops are going to be held every Thursday at Urban Bliss and will be free with the purchase of a tea and cake. 

If you can't make this one but are interested in future events join this group: 

About the Jane Brunette style workshop:

Whether you’re working on a book or just beginning to find your voice as a writer, practicing intuitive writing in a supportive group can help you open the channels to deeper, more soulful expression and access the abundant source of powerful material hidden inside.

Every week we gather in a circle free of any critical evaluation and freewrite for the joy of it, playing with evocative starters as well as memorable phrases harvested from our own writings. The resulting deep play opens up a whole new landscape of possibilities for expression and provides a creative, nourishing space to connect deeply and support each other as writers.

Please note that this is not a writing critique group—it is a writing practice group. We do timed writings that begin with evocative prompts, and alternate these with reading our work out loud. We get to know each other through writing, reading and listening, not through conversation (though we can socialize afterward).

Please bring a pad of paper and a pen or a laptop with you. 

In our writing practice, we follow the seven principles of writing from the soul:

1-Don’t think. Just write. Keep the pen or keyboard moving.

2-Be sloppy and break all of the rules you learned in high school English class.

3-Don’t listen to your inner editor and critic.

4-At any time in the timed writing, you can change the prompt to: “What I really want to write about is….”

5-When it’s your turn to read, go slow and listen closely to yourself.

6-When it’s your turn to listen, notice what strikes you, what moves you, what phrases or images stay with you. Remember them, or jot them down. (This is what we give as feedback.)

7-We avoid evaluative comments–positive or negative.

Why no positive feedback? If someone says, “That was amazing! I loved it!” It might feel good in the moment, but it’s a drug. If no one says that about your next piece, you’ll start to wonder why. In this circle, we are cultivating an extreme indifference to praise and blame, and to do that we have to first give up the habit of relying on praise for validation. Instead of vague opinions, we are given a feel for the places where our language was memorable or evocative. That’s much more useful information. As a bonus, being in an atmosphere of non-evaluation can be such a relief–it’s easier to relax and open together.

The more you trust the process, the less your conscious mind will interfere and you will begin to access work from another region of your mind and heart. It is not unusual for people to be completely surprised by what they have written, for a story to pop out of nowhere, or a poem, or the answer to a dilemma. You might even get the first sentence of your memoir in the middle of the fourth paragraph of a timed writing on a totally different subject.

There are many ways to use these writings, but the most important use of all is to let go of control, open the channels and let come whatever wants to come so you can see how endless a supply of material you have, and how the gems can be mixed in with the junk. (You’ll know the gems when you see them—you can pluck them out later.) Writing doesn’t have to be so precious and protected and laborious once you learn to dip into this well and trust what comes out. Then the whole writing process is transformed into deep play—as well as great practice in quieting the judgmental mind. 

Jane Brunette's website: www.flamingseed.com

Urban Bliss's website: http://www.urban-bliss.com​/

 

 

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