by Nancy Casey
Begin your work today by drawing a great big chair. Any chair, real or imaginary, ugly or pretty. The important thing is to draw it as big as the whole page, so the top of the chair is at the top of the page and the bottom of the chair is at the bottom of the page.
You don’t have to be elaborate or even accurate, just sketch out a great big chair.
Squeeze in a line near the top that saves a space to write a title later.
Notice that your drawing has divided up the page into several different sections. In each section, write something about a chair.
Perhaps you recall a chair that you have known and loved (or hated) for a long time. Maybe you have a favorite chair. Is there a chair you long to own?
What makes a good chair? It’s shape? The stuff it’s made of? Where you are when you sit in it? Its history?
What other kinds of things do people sit on? If someone sits on it, does it automatically become a chair?
Maybe you can think of a time when a situation was awkward because there were no chairs.
Skip around the page, writing tidbits about a chair (or chairs) in each of the sections you accidentally made when you drew the big chair on the page.
Maybe you will end up with a collage of ideas about chairs. Maybe they will combine to tell some kind of story. Whatever you do, it will be interesting.
You can jazz up the page by using different colors to write in the the different sections. You might want to decorate the chair you drew.
When the page is full, read back over all your work. Make small changes if they are needed. Then think up a title. Write it on the line near the top that you reserved for the title. Put the date and your initials on the page, too.
Here is an example of what someone could write.
You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.
Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. Since it’s not possible to have an in-person Write-For-You class at the Recovery Center, if you are interested in writing coaching, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center.
Latah Recovery Community Center, Inc. 