📝 How to Make the Most of the Co-Writing Space 📝

If you’re thinking about coming to the Writing & Thriving Co-Writing Space – Welcome! Here are some ideas and suggestions to help you prepare, so that you can make the most of our time together during YOUR reclaimed writing hour.

First, I recommend having a clear intention for what you’re going to write in that time. It may feel like a loooong time stretching out in front of you, but that hour will go by pretty quickly – especially as we’ll spend a few moments dropping in, settling, and sharing our intentions before we start. (It’s a good idea to have one of those intentions ready for the sharing part 😉).

To set your writing intention, consider what you’re writing or what you’d like to be writing that you can spend some quality time with in the session.

Having an intention, knowing what you will be focusing on, and sharing that intention with others in the group can help keep you accountable – and it means that you’re good to go as soon we’re ready to start writing.

And hey, it’s ok to show up and just see what emerges as we move through the settling-in process – if you want to come to the session and you don’t know what to write, come anyway and trust that something will call out to you as we go.

Second, related to your clear intention, is doing some prep in advance. Again, this is not compulsory, but it will probably help you to get more out of the session if you come prepared. By which I mean, complete your relevant reading (or at least start it!) before the session, so that in the writing time you are ready to write in response to what you’ve read if you need to. Your prep may also include making any notes you might need to help you to follow or re-find your train of thoughts through your writing.

I’d written a list of bullet points that I wanted to cover in this article before the session started. In the five minutes before we went online, I opened up a document – which I named and saved – and created a title and a list of relevant bullet points to guide me through writing this piece.

Third, set the space. Do you have access to a quiet space where you can drop into your body and your breathing, be present with your writing? Do you have some water and a few snacks to keep you going? Do you need to move your body – or use the bathroom – before we start, so that you’re settled while you’re writing?

If you don’t have access to any or all of these things – that’s ok. You can still enjoy the writing space and get the most out of it according to your circumstances. You’re in the library in the middle of a study session and you want to check in for some accountability and support? Great! Come anyway, use your earphones and follow along, create your own writing space wherever you are.

You’re on the bus or in a café? Good. Likewise, make the space your own in the ways that you need to.

Wherever you are, you may like to have access to the following:

·      Laptop or writing tech (whatever that looks like for you)

·      Notebook & Pen (or paper and pencil, or whatever)

·      Music/earphones/space to immerse yourself in writing if you can

If you genuinely can’t do any of these things, maybe ask yourself if the Co-Writing Space is the right space for you today. And if it is, come along anyway!

What you’ll find is that – once we’ve arrived, settled, dropped in and allowed our hearts, minds and nervous systems to open and settle through a process of soft transitions into the writing space – you will probably have around 45 minutes of uninterrupted writing time to really get into some focused work.

What you might also find is that you can write a lot more than you probably realised, even in just 45 minutes of focused writing time.

At the end, we’ll check in, wrap up, and celebrate your success. And you might even feel inspired to keep writing after the session finishes.

I’ve written articles, stories, and started drafting a research proposal, so far in the Co-Writing Space. Other people are writing poetry, short stories, thesis chapters, interview transcriptions, funding applications, and more.

The more often I show up to the Co-Writing Space, the more I get written. I am averaging about 1000 words per session so far – or a slightly shorter piece if I also edit it to completion. This document is 808 words now, including the original notes I made before I started writing the article. After I’ve edited it, I’ll cut those notes, and I will still likely have about an 850-word article to post.

These are quick writing sessions that can generate short, useable, content; or raw first draft material; or build up to a longer, more focused text over several sessions. I’ve used the Co-Writing Space for all of these things.

What’s important for making the most of your reclaimed writing time, is to have a clear intention, be prepared, and give yourself the space to write.

Then at the end, you can celebrate your successes and evaluate your next steps.

Short, regular writing time like this can soon add up to a lot of writing time overall.

The real gift of these sessions is that you get to participate in a shared writing space with other writers – all just as focused on getting their own writing done. You get to become part of a community of writers for support and accountability – why not bring your writing friends?

I genuinely find that having this commitment to show up and write with others has been my biggest breakthrough in making writing a consistent daily activity in my life.

I’m even looking for ways I can apply this in other areas of my life where I could do with more commitment and accountability. I’ve actually talked my Beloved into creating structured time around getting up in the mornings, to keep us both accountable and on-track (I need more help with this than he does 🙃).

Now this piece is over 1000 words, and we’re close to checking in time at the end. So I’ll do the check-ins, the soft transitions out of the writing space, and then I’ll come back to edit and complete this before I hit publish and share it with you.

The Co-Writing Space is open for current clients on Wednesdays at 4pm UK / 8am PT / 11am ET / 5pm CET.

I look forward to seeing you soon!

 ~

P.S. Here are some of the things people said at the final check-in from today’s session:

“Despite my initial resistance… to actually sit and give myself the time to reconnect with my creativity and my voice, especially outside, it's just been so beautiful.” (Morgan)

“That was fantastic. Thank you. It took me on a journey to making lots of notes that I need to embellish on, but it shows me where I'm going with [my thesis] because I felt like I was writing from my heart and from my own embodied experience.” (Emma)

P.P.S. Here’s what Anna said yesterday:

“I had negative emotions at the beginning. But the session grounded me to [edit my transcript] – without suffering!”

If you want to focus on YOUR writing, join us in the Co-Writing Space.