Writing for self-expression and wellbeing
Writing can be a great way to express yourself and make sense of your experiences, especially if you’ve been through something like cancer. Professional storyteller Jude shares some tips to help you get the words flowing.
Writing can be a great way to express yourself and make sense of your experiences, especially if you’ve been through something like cancer. Professional storyteller Jude shares some tips to help you get the words flowing.
The information on this page is adapted from our virtual Find Your Sense of Tumour event, originally broadcast in December 2020.
Hello everyone, I’m Jude Lennon and I’m a professional storyteller and author. I write mainly for children, but I’ve expanded into writing short stories for adults and I’ve just finished the first draft of my full-length novel.
Writing can be a great tool to express yourself and to address things that you want to get out of your system. I’ve used writing all my life for this, but I know that sometimes you can sit there with a blank page and think: well, what do we write?
This workshop is all about just picking up your pen and being able to have a go. I’m going to share some techniques to help you get started with your writing and get the words flowing.
Watch the full workshop
It’ll take you around 30 minutes and you’ll need:
- A notebook
- A pen
- An interesting object of your choice
Jude's top tips and advice to help you get writing
- Sometimes there’s nothing worse than having a blank page in front of you and sitting there thinking ‘I don’t know where to start’ – but sometimes just picking up a random object and starting to write about it can help.
- Sometimes you might choose a random word – or photographs are another great way to start off your creative process.
- If you’re really stuck for what to write, try starting halfway down the page – then you’ve only got half as much space to fill before you can turn over!
- Any writing is always valuable – it’s never a waste of time, it’s never been for nothing. It’s always something useful, productive and creative, and that’s really great for every part of your brain.
- Remember, your voice and your experience are important – and writing is a great way to express those things.
- Even if nobody ever reads your words, they are still words that you have taken out of yourself and put onto paper or a laptop, and there’s something really therapeutic about that.