Writing prompts to encourage creative confidence
On February 3rd, 2023, I facilitated a workshop called “Giiweyendam (‘they think of returning home’) to the Artist Within” as part of a Canadian Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity (CCSGD) event called Queering ARTivism. The program, intended to teach 2SQTBIPOC youth aged 16-29 across Turtle Island about “the power of art as a form of activism and 2SLGBTQ+ history and storytelling” was a huge honour to be invited to. Younger, closeted Tay never would have expected to have an opportunity like this.
Leading up to the program, I felt major imposters syndrome; thankfully not about my identity, but rather, about my qualifications to lead a workshop. I have been comfortable with public speaking for as long as I can remember. I had shared my writing publicly for five years. But up until that point, I had never led anything more elaborate than a meeting. How was I supposed to lead a group of youth to make art, especially considering some of them would be older than me?
After a lot of perfectionist procrastinating, I sat in my neighbourhood coffee shop and vowed to myself not to leave until I had a fleshed-out idea. Hours later, I landed on my workshop’s core tenet: I wanted my participants to leave feeling comfortable seeing themselves as artists.
I knew from years of experience that believing in one’s artistic potential was a difficult task without experience, a fully developed personal style, or capitalist accomplishments. Which is absurd, because creativity is meant to be unbridled! As children, we embraced our creativity, and let our imaginations flourish. But somewhere along the way, we traded in these things for logic and pragmatism.
I was determined to shift my participants toward an understanding that they still housed creative gifts, even if those gifts felt buried deep within. We just needed to find ways, together, to uncover them. To return home to them.
I thought intently about the exercises I had done that instilled my own belief that I have always been a writer. I pieced bits of them together until I had seven writing prompts. Twenty slides and eight pages of script later, I had created an hour of creative confidence-building content.
My workshop garnered rave reviews. Now, I gift these prompts to you.
Grab a pen and paper (or your notes app), and get to it.
PROMPT ONE: Naming it
Set a one-minute timer, and write your answer to the following question:
What form of self-expression brings me the most joy?
PROMPT TWO: Owning it
Set a thirty-second timer, and write down the following sentence:
I am a [insert form of self-expression listed in prompt one].
PROMPT THREE: Valuing it
Set a one-minute timer, and write your answer to the following question:
What is a cause that I am passionate about?
PROMPT FOUR: Refining it
Set a five-minute timer, review these roles conceptualised by Deepa Iyer (find them on page six),
and write your answer to the following question:
Which of these movement roles do I see myself in?
PROMPT FIVE: Visioning it
Set a four-minute timer, and write your answer to the following question:
What is one creative thing I can do that ties my cause and my role within it together?
An example to help: If I were to do this exercise, I might say that I value building a violence-free world. I’ll narrow my aims a bit, and say that my role within that cause is to be a storyteller and visionary. And since I’m a writer, I might choose to write a poem envisioning what a world without violence would look like.
PROMPT SIX: Coming home to it
Write down the words past, present and future. Space them apart so you can write a sentence beside each.
PAST: Write one example of you being creative when you were younger.
PRESENT: Write one example of how you are creative now.
FUTURE: Write one example of something creative you can imagine yourself doing in the future.
Set a five-minute timer to come up with the three examples.
PROMPT SEVEN: Finding kinship within it
Set a one-minute timer, and write your answer to the following question:
Who is my creative community?
Note: It does not have to be only fellow creatives in your life; your list can also include anyone who might be able to support you as you grow your creative gifts.
TLDR; A quick pep talk:
You are a creative being.
Your art and your activism are connected.
You play an integral role in your community.
Your creativity has always existed, and will always exist, within you.
You don’t have to create alone.
