Week 2 Instructions

Catching What Rises

I am so excited to be sharing this with you. This is my very favorite writing technique. Here’s how it works:

• Write down your prompt or choose the scene or story you are going to be writing through

• Take three deep breaths

• Close your eyes

• Let whatever the scene the prompt gives you rise up around you like a theater set

• Wander around the scene for a moment

• Focus on one detail about the scene

• Begin free writing with concrete details about what you noticed

• If you get stuck, let the scene rise up again and pick a different detail

Notes:

• For those who are visually impaired, you can choose to use noise cancelling earphones to give you the immediate reduction of stimuli that a sighted person gets from closing his or her eyes. The point is, reduce the input so your imagination can soar.

• This is a wonderful technique for writing through grief or trauma. Just go slowly. Grief is not a sprint.

• If your writing takes an off topic turn, follow that! You want to write wherever the energy takes you.