Yesterday, I ran across a sheet of journal prompts. Covered front and back, so there were lots of choices. As I scanned the list, one caught my eye and I stopped. It reminded me of an exercise that my online writing group did several years ago.
First. let me show you the prompt. You begin writing with the following words:
- My strengths are...
- My weaknesses are...
Of course, I am suggesting you do this in reference to your writing. Notice that the short list begins with a positive thought. Put humility aside. Write about as many strengths as you can think of. Then, bite the bullet, and admit to the places where you are weak. As the day goes on, you'll probably think of more to add to each one. When you do, stop and put it on the list. Do this for just one day or even a few. No doubt, you'll think of new points to add to what you wrote at the beginning.
The exercise that my online writing group did was devised by a wonderful poet from Japan who now lives in the USA. She is a kind, thoughtful person. She suggested that we write (via email) to one another. She said we should tell the person what we liked about their writing, what stood out, what strengths they showed. She did not mention weaknesses; that might have been a bit difficult.
I received a lot of emails that next week from members of the group telling me what they liked about my writing, what my strong points were. Not everyone wrote to every person. We selected the several we wanted to write to and did it privately. No one else in the group saw what had been written. We all like to receive compliments, but reading those emails was such an ego booster that my confidence level rose several points. Some compliments were things that I knew I did fairly well, but others surprised me. It was a kind of "Who? Me?" reaction. Knowing what my fellow writers thought of me meant a lot. As I said, they graciously skipped the things they thought I needed to improve on. Those came across in a nice way when they critiqued my work.
If you're in an online writing group, you might give thought to doing this exercise. Online is perfect as it is private, but if you are in a face to face group, ask members to write to one or more of the people in the group telling them what they like about that person's writing. At the next meeting, the papers can be given to the respective members. The only risk I see in doing this is that a few members may not receive any papers. Maybe, instead, draw names and write to that person only about the strengths in their writing, the things you like about their writing.
When doing an exercise like this, honesty is necessary if the exercise is going to help you see how well you do in some parts of your writing life and where you need to improve. Every writer can contribute to both lists. No writer is strong in absolutely every facet of the writing world.
Be proud of your strengths. Some parts of writing come naturally to certain people, while we struggle with others. Keep that list of strengths where you can be reminded. It's especially good to see it on days when nothing appears to be working right. Or two rejections pop up in your email. You should also keep the weakness list where you can see it so you will continue to work on those items.
I intended to use an image of a strong person and one of a weak, exhausted one next to the first. I finally decided to use just the strong man as I'd much rather we strive to be like him.
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