The Joy of Writing

Since commencing the MSc in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes course at the Metanoia Institute, I have acquired a number of Gillie Bolton's books and have become familiar with her excellent, ground breaking work. Dr Gillie Bolton is a renowned therapeutic writing practitioner and author of many Jessica Kingsley Publishing books, including 'Write Yourself: Creative Writing and Personal Development'. In this interview, Dr Bolton discusses her book - in the Writing for Therapy or Personal Development series, of which she is also the series Editor - and shares some of the experiences that brought her to the growing field of therapeutic writing. She also shares some of the writing exercises that she returns to again and again for her own personal development and talks about the importance of hearing your own internal mentor.

If you would like to have a go, try starting with a sentence stem. A simple one might be 'Today.' Begin every line with Today and just see where it take you. My offering is:

Today is bright with light and energy.

Today offers opportunity.

Today is a cake making day.

Today started slowly.

Today my eyes are tired.

Today I need kindness.

Today is a bread, butter and jam day.

Don't forget afterwards to read through your writing asking yourself 'what do I notice?' and 'when I read this how do I feel?'

Give it a go!