Writing on a theme...

In my teaching I have found that one of the most enjoyable and fruitful ways to discover a life story is to set writing exercises on a theme. My courses are structured around topics that progress chronologically: I was Born, A Childhood Memory, The Moment When I Grew Up, Riding the Teenage Years, Finding My Way in the World, My Working Life, Someone I have Loved, In the Present Moment: A Self-portrait. At the conclusion of a course I help writers establish their own writing groups.  There are now a number of these groups flourishing in the city. Some have been writing together for nine years now and over that period they have accumulated hundreds of short pieces writing on a theme that the group dreams up. The possibilities are endless. 

Recently I visited a writing group that formed following my summer life writing school at the University of Auckland Creative Week on Campus.  For this meeting they had written on the topic, ‘A Window.’ It occurred to me that I could devise a further setting on the Your Story page of this website to feature collections of group writing on a theme.   

Here is a selection of stories on the theme of ‘A Window.’