Speak Up writing groups hit on multiple levels.
They provide individual invitations. These spaces let people discover and uncover things within. Carving out time to pause and write can help us notice priorities, reclaim what is important. For some it is a brief reprieve from the treadmill of urgency and survival.
They are ripe spaces for creativity. Writing skills are sharpened, individual confidence blooms, non-writers becoming writers, we find our voices.
Writing groups are also communal. They are rare opportunities for connecting in person with others. Without forcing it, we cross invisible dividing lines, overcome isolation, build bridges.
One of the things I’ve been so excited to observe over the last year or so is that the community formed within the bounds of the writing groups often spills out beyond the writing time, connects people, and turns into friendship.
But community is hard. People mixing together is hard. Even living with demographically-alike family members is hard! And the folks that attend Speak Up writing groups are a wildly diverse mix—age, gender, race, politics, faith, physicality, financial status. It started as a program for people facing homelessness but grew into something better: a space for everyone. The public writing groups are a motley mix.
But that non-homogenous dynamism only works if there are clear points of alignment, focus, and safety.
It isn’t a wild west free-for-all. There have to be guardrails of practice and approach.
Practices
What we do is narrow:
Write to shared prompts.
Read your writings aloud, if you want.
Applaud each reader, but no other feedback.
Implied in this list is an entire universe of things that don’t happen: critiquing the work of fellow writers, arguing about political ideas, offering life advice in response to a writing.
Values
And as we do this, we aim at a few operating values. These are things that we want to aim at and grow toward.
Presence — In a world of distraction, disruption, and hurry, here is an opportunity to pause and choose to be here now. Present for others, present for yourself.
Honor — Each person, no matter what, gets the default benefit of honor. Full respect. A full voice. Full dignity. It doesn’t have to be earned.
Curiosity — In this space, we lay aside our expertise about ourselves, others, and the world. We choose to be students, learners, expecting to discover.
—
It works. But it isn’t easy.
One of the realities I’ve been seeing, now over two years into this model, is that not everyone wants this. Not everyone wants to choose curiosity about others. Or themselves. Not everyone wants to honor those who are different. Many people don’t want to settle down, disconnect from the firehose, and be present.
That’s just fine. Not everything is for everyone.
But for those who say yes to this approach: it’s a beautiful thing!