Building a Successful Writing Community
Speak Up writing workshops are simple gatherings where people from all walks of life gather in person, write together, and listen to one another read their work aloud.
Unhoused and housed, demographically diverse, hailing from different corners of society. In the weekly writing workshop we put down our devices and echo chambers and algorithmic outrage and lean into purposeful writing, sharing, hearing.
Each gathering has a narrow focus: writing from shared prompts and then—optionally—reading that work aloud, followed by applause for each reader.
For people facing homelessness, it is an exhale, an opportunity to feel human and heard and seen.
For people not facing homelessness, it is an exhale, an opportunity to feel human and heard and seen.
We make a point to lean into the values of honor, curiosity, and presence.
It is a launchpad for creativity, relationships, voice-giving projects, and collaborations. Social capital is shared. Even better than that, friendships form.
A Simple Model
Here’s how it plays out over the course of a 90-minute gathering:
We start with three groups of writing prompts, with three prompts per group. (See below.) Writers then choose one or more prompts from each group and write for 10-15 minutes together. We share aloud with one another. Then we move on to the next group of prompts and write again.
A few simple constraints make space for everyone’s voice.
Write freely. Write whatever you want. Be authentic.
Read aloud and listen. Read your piece if you’d like. No pressure if not.
Applaud and thank. Generally: no feedback, just gratitude for your sharing.
The workshops are free. All supplies are thanks to your donations. There is no cost for attendees. No economic or ideological barriers to entry. Notebooks and pens are provided. Good coffee seems essential.
Now, as we think about multiplying into other communities and spaces, here are two essential ingredients.
1 — The Right Location
This first Speak Up writing community started at a local public library, which was already a place of gathering and traffic. The public library is one of the few remaining places where everyone belongs. This particular branch was already a daytime “home” to many people facing homelessness.
That right location, wherever it is, should accessible and welcoming and public. It helps if it is already a point of friction: the writing community will be meeting an unmet need.
Perhaps most important, the hosts of that physical gathering space should also share the vision.
2 — People Who Believe In It
Forming, launching, and facilitating a workshop can be both simple and difficult at the same time. The approach is simple: Write, share, write, share. But the process of establishing something from nothing is not easy. Early on, organizers may face challenges like low attendance and resistance from skeptics.
It will require joyful endurance.
Another essential. The launch team for a new writing community should personally need the workshop for themselves. It isn’t just about helping others. Helping others is good, but you don’t want to slide into the us-and-them mentality. This is about erasing divisions. We work to avoid amplifying the “helped versus helper” dynamic, which requires humility and vulnerability from the leaders. Facilitators are also full participants—which makes each week’s gathering refreshing instead of exhausting.
Thankfully you don’t have to do it alone.
—
We’re in the early stages of this multiplying process, there’s lots to discover.
But if you see yourself in this story, we would love to start talking now.
❤️ Support Speak Up
Sustain and plant life-changing writing communities that give a voice and bring people together across cultural, social, and economic divides.
Speak Up is a 501(c)3 Public Charity. Your gifts are tax-deductible.