Introducing Write Who You Are: a brand-new email course

I’ve been thinking for a while about how to circumvent the ravages of social-media posting and AI-writing.  Write Who You Are is my attempt: a guided email course during which you’ll write deeply personal words you’ll never show to anybody else.

(You might want to use some of those words afterwards, in different ways and in other pieces, but you won’t be writing them with that intention).

But… why bother writing anything, if no-one’s going to read it?

When you write for an audience, you’ll write what you most want them to hear.  Those are the aforementioned ravages of social-media posting and AI-writing.  We’re writing (or asking a LLM like ChatGPT to write for us) more than we ever have before, but how much of that writing reflects who we really are, or what we honestly think?

It can seem strange, even a waste of time, to write words nobody will ever read.  But if you’ve been losing touch with yourself – as so many of us have in this strange new world – then that’s exactly what you should do.

“Writing is a connection between how you feel, where you are, what happened in the past and what will happen in the future.”

This quote, from the poet Lemn Sissay(opens in new tab), inspired me to create a course for people who want to re-discover who they are and how they feel.  I have always used writing for this, ever since I could hold a pen, almost without thinking about it.  I want to help others do the same, because it’s needed, because it works (and honestly, because it’s a lot like magic!).

I’d also like to see a lot less of the bland social media posts and half-formed ideas I’m seeing online, everywhere I look.  I want to read confident, charismatic writing with a clear point of view.  AI can’t do that, but you can… if you want to.

Scientific research shows(opens in new tab) that expressive writing helps “transform mental states into concrete form”.  In other words, you’ll catch those thoughts, ideas, and worries that swirl aimlessly around your mind.  Then you’ll put them on the page, where they will come together and start to make sense.

You’ll write by yourself and for yourself, without fearing others’ judgements.  Without wondering if it’s good enough, or agonising over spelling mistakes.  Without worrying if what you’ve just written would make sense to anyone else.

Rather wonderfully, it won’t have to.

Write Who You Are goes like this:

Each week, I will send a carefully-chosen writing assignment, by email, for you to schedule and complete by yourself.  You’ll need to set aside 1-3 hours per week, whenever suits you best.  There will be gentle guidance notes on how to complete each assignment, though if you need more help you can email me back with questions.

(It’s important to remember, though, that all you have to do is write!  There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to do that; the words simply have to come from your soul.  For this reason, I recommend you hand-write your assignments rather than type them out).

What you won’t be doing is sending me your writing for comment or feedback.  You aren’t writing for external judgement or approval, remember?  You’re writing to re-discover who you are, and that’s nobody’s business but yours.

You might worry that if nobody is marking your work or offering feedback, you might be tempted not to complete the assignments, especially if they feel challenging.

You won’t have to complete the assignments if you don’t want to.  Nobody will know.

But if you do, I guarantee that you will have at least one “a-ha!” moment – a brand-new revelation that appears as if from nowhere – that inspires you to carry on.  You might even find an exhilarating (and delicious!) sense of freedom in writing whatever you feel, without anyone else suggesting, commenting, or criticising.

I also guarantee that when you’re finished, you’ll feel that warm inner glow that comes from trusting yourself to do something, then actually doing it.

(But if you’re really stuck, you can email me with any specific assignment ‘blocks’ and we will work through them together).

The benefits of Write Who You Are include: 

• Gaining a deeper understanding of who you are.
• Discovering what you honestly think.
• Finding answers to some of the challenges in your life.
• Learning more about what lights you up.
• Unleashing your creativity.
• Becoming a better writer.

 “Becoming a better writer?”

Understanding who you are and what you think will improve the writing you do intend for others to read.  Why?  Your words will be sharper; infused with personality, confidence, and a clear point of view.

(Trust me, readers love all that!).

This means Write Who You Are is, in essence, a course about how to be a better writer, but I’ve left that element until last because it will happen almost by stealth.  And although you won’t be showing your writing to anyone else, not one word will be written in vain.  Those words will create a path towards a richer, clearer version of yourself: not just as a writer, but as a human in the world.

I’m in the midst of developing (and perfecting!) Write Who You Are.  If you’d like to be one of the first to take this course when it’s ready, you can sign up for my monthly newsletter (below), or send me an email.

(Don’t worry: if you decide you don’t want to do the course once you have the details, you can unsubscribe or let me know, and I won’t take offence… or set my cats on you).