Even as a novice, writing therapy can be as effective as counselling, particularly if you are stressed greatly or if you are trying to come to terms with serious loss or trauma. The very act of getting your thoughts out of your head onto a computer or down on paper is beneficial psychologically. It is almost as if it triggers some form of writing psychology at work going on within us.
It can be difficult to start with if you have not tried creative writing before. You may feel the intensity of emotion in your heart but seem to be unable to codify in your mind as to how to embark on the first sentence, let alone the first paragraph!
Fear not! With a piece of paper turned on its side, in landscape mode not portrait, start writing single thoughts anywhere on the paper and then drawing a circle round each of them. Go on doing the same as more thoughts seem to be freed up and register in your mind.
No matter that you have had no writing training. As subjects or issues occur to you, unrelated one to another or not, just scribble them down in abbreviated form. Don’t even entertain the eventual writing treatment you might give them. Just stay with your brainstorm to get all these disjointed thoughts out onto the page.
Once the cascade of thoughts and ideas has abated, you will have a form of mindmap in front of you, representing the sum total of your current mindset on your problem. Your first conclusion may be that you now face an impossible task to link all the points together!
Don’t despair! Take a brief break then look over your circled points for key aspects or issues within your overall problem. Draw a circle in the middle of two, three or even four sheets of paper and insert one of your key issues in a circle in the centre of each clean page.
Now revisit your mindmap for each page issue in turn. Look for any points that relate, and transfer them to one of your new issue pages. Write them in a new circle on the appropriate page, then linking them with a line drawn to the central circle.
This sifting process will help you enormously to collate your thoughts. With your three or four new issue sheets you can then focus in more depth on each. More thoughts will come on each. Believe or not, you will soon find that you have more than enough to write about.
Then, using your notes, quite simply write and write and write. Don’t worry at this stage about spelling or punctuation just get it down.
Soon you will find that a writing rhythm develops. Persevere and your ability and style will improve quickly. Once your flow of writing has slowed to a stop, go back over it to punctuate it and correct the spelling.
Then you will have the opportunity to think of committing your issue or drama to a non-fiction article or even a book. You can contemplate writing articles for magazines and newspapers or the internet, profiting by the process. There are a number of very good, and reasonably, priced writing tutorial programmes you can download or have mailed.
You have the chance to gain huge therapeutic advantage by writing down your innermost fears and anxieties, making you feel a sense of release. At the same time you can contemplate being able to profit from your growing literary skills.
Good luck and remember persistence pays off.
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