Writing Activity For Pre or Post Xmas Dinner

 

 

 

 

 

You’ve had the turkey, the rice and peas and the Christmas pudding with brandy butter sauce and you’re wondering what to do with all the energy and different age ranges gathered in your home for Xmas. One idea I shared in a radio interview last week was the idea of holding a pre or post Xmas dinner writing activity I’ve called the I Remember Writing Salon.

Here’s what to do:

You’ll need blank sheets of paper, pens, felt tips or crayons. Give everyone permission to write in a medium that feels right so people could use write on backs of envelopes, sheets of paper and encourage younger members to write on their iphones, ipads or tablets.

It’s a good idea if before hand you write out your prompts on slips of paper in advance of the activity or alternatively why not get suggestions from your group in the moment. Place you prompts in a box, a cup or an envelope. The idea is to create  a little bit of ceremony around the activity.

Writing prompts are a collection of either one word or a sentence that you share with a group and then invite everyone to write their own interpretation, real life story or memory triggered or associated with the word or the prompt.

Give everyone permission to write in a form that comes easily to them. For example the response to the writing prompt could be written in the form of a poem, a song, a rap, a short story or narrative or simply a few sentences.

The idea is to come up with a range of themes for your I Remember Writing Salon. Because of the festivities keep it light and come up with themes that everyone can relate to. It’s good to remember that however light a theme may seem be open to what stories or memories could emerge:

Here are some writing prompts to get you started:

• Throw out the line…..  I Remember and invite everyone to write about whatever memory comes to mind
• Worst memory of a teenage outfit. Describe it in as much detail as you can remember
• Write about the one hairstyle from your past you’d rather just forget about
• Describe a happy memory or moment from your past
• Someone you admire and why
• Throw out the line (choose a year) It was the summer of 1972 ……………………………..
• Where do you see yourself and your life twelve months from today
• A memory of a past Christmas
• The year I turned 16 (base this on the average ages of your group or family)
• Lists are great to do in a group. Write lists of favourite songs, books, places to travel, foods etc

Everyone writes to the same prompt each so get someone in the group to randomly pick a prompt and invite everyone to write as fast as they can without stopping for 5 minutes based on the selected prompt.

Set the ground rules before hand that there’s no editing, so no focusing on spelling, grammar or what your handwriting looks like. It’s all fun and remind everyone that whatever they write will be fine.

Get one member of the group to keep time. Once time is up. Invite everyone if willing to share, but no pressure. Share the guidelines that each person reads out loud to the group, one at a time without any interruptions.

Once they’ve finished and been applauded, invite each person to share one thing they liked or stood out about the piece. One person records all the comments and then gives it back to the person at the end. Then invite the next person to read and so on.

Other variations on this could be to purchase a book and invite everyone to write something over the course of the day or your time together and then have a reading of all the different narratives, comments and stories.

If writing is a challenge or someone present doesn’t enjoy writing invite them to share their writing prompt to video or audio and have them share with the group in the same way.

There are endless possibilities so get creative and get writing but most of all whatever you do enjoy the spirit of the day.