TECHNIQUES

Writing Marathon

Writing helps us to go deep inside, to re-discover ourselves, and to process our experience. Sometimes writing is so intimidating though. So here we go: a marathon to push ourselves to just write… don’t think about it, just observe what comes out of it!

Written by

Gioel Gioacchino

Edited by

Denisse Albornoz

Developed by

Stages:Community Building* Data Analysis* Data Collection* Evaluation* Research Communication

We use this technique regularly in moments we need to give participants the opportunity to download what’s on their minds without filtering or censoring themselves. We also regularly use this as an internal practice at Recrear to connect with what’s moving below the surface and by doing so spark more vulnerable conversations within our team.

What are we trying to understand about the community/group?

This is a flexible technique. Depending on what you decide to write on, this technique will help you surface genuine reflections about a specific topic.

Why is it important for the community’s/group's development?

This writing technique helps to develop greater awareness of our thought processes, and to enter a space of introspection. Writing is a great exercise to practice raw honesty. Community life and group dynamics can be transformed by the courage it takes to connect with ourselves and others more profoundly.

What do I need?

Pen and paper. That’s it. This technique works with a group as small as two and as big as 100 as is easy to do virtually as well.

How long does it take?

One hour.

Introduce the marathon

You can explain this is an exercise of self-reflection and, if you are working a theme in particular, specify the topic you will be exploring with the writing. You can design the marathon around a word or theme. For example: community resilience, practicing care in our team, a specific program you want to evaluate, etc.

Explain the objective of the exercise

e.g. we are doing the exercise to reflect on a specific issue, to give each person the moment to connect to their own experience with 'x topic' or 'x program' before getting into a group process. Make sure to stress that the exercise is not about being a great writer or poet. Instead, the goal is to use writing to let go, to end up in places that you weren’t expecting - to get to know yourself.

Let people know how many rounds of writing there will be. Will you be working with one prompt questioning and deepening the writing based on that prompt or will you work with multiple questions.

Free writing

We have experimented with this sequence:

First round: 8 minutes of free writing in response to one prompt question
Second round: Highlight one or two phrases of your writing that really stand out. Then do another round of 6 minutes of free writing to further explore this idea.
Third round: Once more select a phrase of your last writing that particularly stands out and do another 4 minutes of free writing
Fourth round: Take 5 minutes to bring together key words and phrases across your three rounds of writing that respond to the initial prompt.

You can make the process longer or shorter, depending on the mood and interest of the participants. You can make all rounds about a specific theme, or choose complementary themes/questions for each round.

Note: Let people know when the time of the round is about to finish so they have time to wrap up their thoughts.

Small group sharing

Divide the group into pairs or trios and invite them to share whatever they would like about what emerged for them (20 minutes)

If someone does not feel comfortable sharing their writing, they are welcome to just share the experience of writing: was it frustrating? Was it easy?

Debrief

Final big group reflection (20 minutes).

Ask about people's experience and what key insights surfaced for them.

If you are exploring a specific topic, ask more specific questions, and take notes.

Optional Creation

You might end the exercise here. If you’d like to deepen the process, you might ask people to transform their personal writing into a collective piece.

Here is how we did it:

Form groups of 4-6 people
Ask group to take few minutes to share their experience writing.
Give the challenge to come up with a collective piece to share their reflection.
You can provide the group with a list of options on format they might use while writing. For example: photo essay, poem, video.
Give the group 1 hour to put together their piece.
Share the piece with the other groups.

This is an exercise to reflect and explore ourselves. By later sharing what surfaced for each person, this exercise helps participants to talk about their experiences, build empathy, and discuss a specific theme.

If you are working with illiterate people then you can opt for a free speaking version of this exercise where they speak out loud following the same principles – speak without thinking, to not stop speaking no matter what and to not filter what they want to say.