I love writing, but it’s fair to say I wage war with procrastination. When this happens, it’s good to find a way of making writing fun again. With this in mind, I got very excited when my friend Nichola, of Creative Writes announced on Facebook a new writing workshop, Words and Wine. Not only did the combination of writing and having a glass or two appeal, but the session was to take place in a summer house at a secret North London location. I signed up immediately.
Nichola’s workshops are about inspiring creativity. They have few rules, but one important one is there’s no feedback. It allows you to write whatever pops into your head, and have the courage to read it out without fear of judgement. Because of this, writing in a room with strangers is easy.
The wine and cheese were winners, but so too were the activities Nichola conjured up. In my favourite writing task, we donned random hats and wrote as if we were the person wearing them. I wasn’t sure what someone wearing a woolly hat, knitted in the pattern of the Union flag would be like, but I soon found myself giggling at the character’s story as it began emerging in my notebook.
Like all good things, the evening finished too soon, leaving me with lots of snippets of new ideas and joy at meeting inspiring fellow writers. Hello words, goodbye procrastination.
Visit the Creative Writes website for details of all their workshops – you won’t regret it.