Creativity Workshop

The Creative Writing Workshop got such rave reviews that we decided to commission two perspectives on the day

Julie Davey, Julie Davey Research

I am rarely alone as a freelance researcher. I am with consumers, clients – or both. Even on the late drive home I have Tony Livesey on my radio and a bag of Minstrels on my passenger seat. But ‘writing up’ is lonely. The cursor blinks, the keyboard waits…and I feel alone. Kafka, ever the cheery soul, wrote that “writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself”. What better way to cure the solitude than to enrol on the AQR’s recent ‘creative writing’ course?

If the AQR repeats this one-day course, seize the opportunity to sign up. This course would inspire anyone who needs to commit their views to paper, whatever their level of experience. Speakers from the schools of creative writing, journalism, film production and even the ‘School of Life’ showered us with creative jewels, and stimulated us with repeated writing challenges.

What a joy to start the day sharing favourite first lines from books. We travelled from Dan Brown to Kafka via The Twits in under 15 minutes. What a pleasure to reflect on the craft of writing and to explore new ways to create meaning. This course helps you to find your voice on the page, and to refine it.

Joanna Pocock introduced us to the friends and enemies of writing, the traps to avoid, and the possibilities for honing a better technique. Thanks to Robert Bain I now carry a mental Post-It note to edit as I write. Jonathan Wakeham employed us as teams of budding scriptwriters, applying the techniques of film structure to our writing. How much more exciting does your next debrief sound if you consider it as a ‘screenplay’ rather than a dusty report?

Nick Southgate regaled us with his library of obscure books, and provided a light-bulb moment. He demonstrated that by imposing restrictions on our writing, we liberate ourselves to pen richer, more colourful prose.

I can gauge how engaged I was by the absence of doodles on my notepad. I am not sure whether exercising your intellect releases the same endorphins as a run on the treadmill, but I left the day on a natural high. I carry these gems with me:

• A new respect for the skill of writing
• A rekindled passion to deliver ‘good’ (not just ‘good enough’) reports
• A reminder to look beyond the research world to improve my work within it
• A long Christmas list of recommended books

I will admit to butterflies in my stomach at writing about a course designed to improve your writing. So I will combine some of the workshop exercises to provide a logline for the course (thanks, Jonathan) in haiku form without using the most common letter of the alphabet (thanks, Nick).

“Biro in my hand
World of writing to absorb
Workout for my brain”

Anna Thomas, Define Research & Insight

Champagne, sunshine, art… the AQR’s Creative Writing training event had the perfect setting. Held at the Wallacespace in Central London, and attended by almost 40 quallies, it was very stylish.

But it was also a day of substance; the warm applause for the trainers was well-deserved. The theme of the day was about writing both creatively and succinctly.

Joanna Pocock (writer and lecturer) talked about content and clarity of thought. “Better”, she said “to go and walk around the block for five minutes to get the thought clear in your head. What is it I want to say? Then you can write.”

This sense of drive in creative writing is new: in school we layered adjectives (the golden daffodils). But now adjectives are yesterday’s news. Verbs have prime importance: Where is the book going? Where are the sentences taking you? Where are you taking the sentence? Even adverbs are excised.

Our writing gained more ‘muscle’ as we worked.Jonathan Wakeham (consultant and writer) had us drawing on yesterday’s news for film inspiration. A Daily Mail story of village life spawned a Full Monty-type script tinged with social comment about the stability of cultures and the impact of outsiders. We considered how structures for screenwriting can be applied to presentations. Later in the loos, someone suggested that a Reservoir Dogs debrief, backwards from dramatic conclusions, would be their next response to “We’ve just got 20 minutes, I’m afraid…”

Robert Bain, features editor of Research magazine, uncovered our pretentions with his exercises on editing. We all wrote something marvelous and then he made us delete any bit that gave us a ‘thrill of satisfaction’.

The improvement was clear in the pruned versions. However, almost everyone admitted they’d restore the cut bit if they had the chance. The lesson’s there, but it takes courage and faith to implement.

Nick Southgate from the School of Life closed with a session combining philosophy, art, writing, book-selling, typesetting and Greek vocabulary. Not easy to do justice to in a (closely-edited) review. Very broadly, Nick’s approach is to set arbitrary rules (such as “no use of the letter ‘e’”) which turn the painful writing task into a delicious brain-teaser. The room, loving this, started churning out flawless Haikus and brilliant metaphors practically to order.

Some of the quallies who went on this course will end up best mates with J.K. Rowling. From what I saw, the talent’s there. But even if I don’t dedicate a novel, I already feel the benefits. My task’s more comfortable; I feel more equipped. I’m sitting easier in the writing seat. Bring on that report!