It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent. -- Madeleine Albright

Writing about Writing

Today is your last day of open ended therapeutic writing prompts. (We will do some free writing, but it will get a bit more structured after today.) Today you reflect on what you’ve written in the first half of this course. After you are done with today’s writing, you select the story you are going to write. Your selection may not be easy or obvious, but it is time to make a choice!

Read the questions below. Select the one that resonates with you most. After you’ve decided on your writing prompt, close your eyes for a moment and reflect on the question and your experience. Allow your feelings to come up. Open your eyes. Write at least one minute. You may choose more than one prompt, but please don’t write for more than 15-20 minutes.

• Something that has come up in my writing that I wasn’t expecting was...
• In my writing, I was happy to discover...
• In my writing, I was shocked by...
• I didn’t know that....
• The thing I really cannot write about is...
• I am afraid that my family won’t like it if I write about...
• One of the recurring themes that is coming up for me is...

Great work! You are halfway through. Tomorrow is a big day!

StoryList

This is your last day to add to this list for this class, but I encourage you to keep this notebook as a place to jot down story ideas beyond this course. Add or modify anything that has come up for you today.

If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people. -- Virginia Woolf