Online Wellbeing and Writing Sessions

 

Hornsea Writer, Shellie Horst, has teamed up with the region’s NHS Recovery College to deliver free writing sessions to help boost creativity and well-being. 

As writers, our cognitive ability to juggle all our characters’ needs (yes, they want to be heard!) on top of those of family, work, and home is precious. Thanks to the move to working from home and limited opportunities to hide in an author’s favourite coffee shop doesn’t do good for the word count. 

But we are more than authors, we’re human beings. 

Most people overlook the importance of taking time for themselves, especially with the impact of the pandemic. Now many of us are racing to pick up the pieces we happily set down for the sake of our loved ones, wondering how we managed it all before. Our well-being affects our mood, and as writers, our creativity.

The nation is still recovering from the stress and strain of being confined to our homes, standing on one too many Lego pieces, and being able to fathom what rules apply to us from week to week. There’s only so much TikTok and sourdough a person can consume before it reduces them to a twitchy mess. Now more than ever, we have to be kind to ourselves.

Of course, we as writers know just how difficult it is to find time to write. Sessions run every Thursday from 1pm until 2.30pm. Each session merges the need to set aside that time with exercises to spark a story and journaling to help get you on track. 

Journaling is a technique authors often used to capture the essence of a mood and it can often prove useful when developing characters or honing your descriptive skills.

Regular attendees will discover how to grow stories and prepare them for publication. Not everyone writes for publication, but those writers who wish to see their work published will then be able to see their work in print as part of the course. 

You can join in using your computer’s web browser, or Teams. No knowledge of the software is needed, just your favourite writing tools.

The sessions take place at 1pm until 2.30pm on Thursdays, online. Click here to see more from the College

The Recovery College offers a range of self-paced e-courses and live video-call sessions on our e-learning platform. It’s at your pace and without pressure. So whether the writer in you needs to stretch physical muscles, the writing ones, or chat with other creatives, there’s a session to help. 

You can find out more about Shellie and her explorations into enabling creativity and equality on her website www.shelliehorst.com or follow her antics on Facebook or Twitter