Wild Words: Unlocking your writing potential

Engagement Officer, Ross Brannigan, reflects on Merryn Glover's writing workshops held in our Wild Space in Pitlochry

Merryn has one workshop left in Wild Space on Monday 14 October. Book here.

This month, I am like a kid in a sweetshop, or - to stay on brand - like John Muir in a redwood forest.

As a former Scottish Literature student and bookworm since as far back as I remember, the John Muir Trust's month of Wild Words has helped get my pen on paper and inspired me through the pieces already published on our website.

Throughout the month, I am fortunate enough to be tasked with creating some events to support Wild Words - but I also get the chance to attend some, such as Merryn Glover's writing workshops in Pitlochry.

Merryn is the Cairngorm National Park's first writer in residence. She is a wonderful writer, and each country she has lived in throughout her life threads into her work.

Her work at the National Park sees her facilitate the 'Shared Stories: A Year in the Cairngorms' project, bringing voices together to create a mosaic of experiences in one of the most sublime parts of Scotland.

So it was I went to Merryn's first two workshops (the third I cannot attend on 14 October): the first on land, the second on wildlife.

Merryn made it clear that your imagination and pen were the lead. Don't try to stop it. Write without rules, doubt, expectations or embarrassment. It was extremely therapeutic. We were given a topic to write on for three minutes, and another for four.

This sounded scary to some people, but all of us were surprised at what we created (and how fast the time went!). We read work to one another, sharing our thoughts, never one of us judging the other but giving genuine feedback and interpretation.

We were taken outdoors for the land workshop, walking and talking to the edge of Loch Faskally where we were asked to sit and open our senses up, drawing on our surroundings.

I am a terrible sit-er so, as this was a creative workshop, I got up and moved around. I typically do this in the hills, smelling things and touching, sometimes following Nan Shepherd's advice to "bend with straddled legs till you see your world upside down. How new it has become!"

We wrote our observations up, in whatever form we wanted. For our wildlife exercise, we were indoors (thankfully, as the weather was sub-optimal for sitting out in), and imagined a scene - real or imagined - and wrote that up.

I wrote a poem in that second session, letting my hand lead the way, avoiding judgement and second-guessing. I often write my poems and forget about them, thinking the moment is lost, but I might go back to this one.

The Gannet's Storm

Sea to sky,
Fall and rise,
Keeling flight,
Thundering dive.

A lightning solan,
Sparks a rumbling wave,
The tiny dipper,
Sea's wrath he braves.

In whispers across,
Tall seaside grass,
Breathes of a storm,
That will never pass.

As sea swells under grey skies,
The gannet storm,
Forks,
Dives.

Please do give writing a shot. I do believe that, in every person, there is a story. You just have to find a way to let it out. Perhaps that could be at one of Merryn's workshops, which I highly recommend.

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Celebrate our Wild Words month with this special offer: 25% off for your first year of John Muir Trust membership* if you join us during October 2019. Use the promo code: WILDWORDS (*Ts & Cs apply).