Generating new writing

One of the most difficult things I face as a playwright is finding time to write each week. Having a submission deadline helps as does having an ongoing writing project to return to or a reading/production deadline. Generating new writing is particularly challenging. Last May, I joined a “writing practice” group in Toronto called The Moving Pen.

The group meets weekly and is run by writer Sharon Singer. Each week, Sharon provides the group with a prompt and we write to the prompt for a designated period of time, keeping our pens moving. Then, without editing our work, we read our writing to one another. Sharon believes that the process of writing, reading, listening, and being heard creates a “powerful alchemy” that supports both the creative process of writing and personal growth. The process allows us to uncover our uncensored inner voices, away from the restrictive demands of ego.

Sometimes my writing produces an interesting phrase or idea or dialogue that I can use in a piece I am currently writing. Sometimes it produces the beginnings of a new story or a new character or tells me something new about a character I’m developing. Sometimes my writing allows me to write out something that is bothering me, freeing up more psychic and emotional space for creative writing. Most importantly, writing each week with my Moving Pen group keeps me writing weekly. No matter what else I’m able to accomplish or not accomplish in a given week, I know that I’ve spent some time that week writing. For more information on Sharon Singer’s Moving Pen groups see www.sharonsinger.ca

In my next blog, I’ll continue writing on the topic of writing groups and tell you about my colleague Ann Eskridge’s playwriting group.