Connecting Words: group writing project

November 15, 2007 · by Joanna Paterson · in

Here’s your invitation. It’s to the first group writing project at Confident Writing.

It’s a special kind of project. Special because it’s new to me and I’m curious and excited as to where it’ll take us. Special because there isn’t too much writing involved. (I realise you might find this a little odd coming from a writing coach.) Special because I’m running it together with a great blogging friend of mine. Special because it’s all about conversations and connections – not least as that’s where the idea came from in the first place.

Read on to find out more…

Words.

We love words.

We love the nuances and possibilities of words, their hidden, multiple layers of meaning. We like playing with them, writing them, learning about them, exploring them, seeing where they take us.

Words are the connecting blocks of conversation. (Can you imagine a conversation without words?)

And words can be the start of a conversation too – if you come across a word you don’t know and ask someone about it, in a spirit of openness, curiosity and respect.

I first got to know Brad Shorr by taking his word nerd tests. He humoured me when I tried to get top score. We got to know each other better when he came back to my site and asked me about some of the odd words I was using. Like when I said something was footery – or described him as a dab hand at writing for cartoons (it was a compliment, honestly!)

And this got us thinking about the words we see and read in other people’s blogs. Words that are new to us, that surprise us, that we’ve never heard before. Slang words, idiom, dialect.

Sometimes we let them by. Sometimes we look them up. And sometimes we go back and ask the author what they mean – because we’re curious, and want to learn. And because it can be a great way to start a conversation.

We nearly always learn from the answer – from a word that shows us new ideas or possibilities. Casts light on an old situation. Opens up a window into the world of someone that we’re talking to – close by, or on the other side of the world. Helps us to understand things better. To get a bigger, richer, funnier – quirkier – picture of the world that we live in.

And then we thought – if words can help us to make all those connections, maybe they do for you too?

So there it began, the first joint writing project from two bloggers who love to write… but this time are asking for nothing more than your connecting words.

That’s it!

Couldn’t be simpler.

All you need to do is share with us (and the rest of the blogosphere)

1. A word or words that you’ve learned, read, noticed, been gifted

2. What it means to you

3. Who you got it from

4. Any conversations or connections that followed

Keep it simple (and clean!) and – with those two short words that have allowed a thousand blogging friendships to form and blossom – be nice.

Once you’re done… tag your post ‘connecting words’, link both to the people you got the words from and back to this post, and invite other people to join in if they want. (We’re not keen on tags over here but we like invitations.)

Get your entries in by midnight on Friday 30th November (your time) and in return we’ll do a round up of the words by mid December – plus a summary of the learning, conversations and connections that have followed. (Quite what shape this will take will kind of depend on how the project unfolds…)

In return you’ll get:

  • Your name going into the hat – for a chance to win your choice of Brad’s favourite (in print) business books
  • The chance to start up new conversations with writers, readers and bloggers all over the world

We know which one we think is the biggest prize.

We’ve tried to keep the project simple, fun and easy for everyone to take part. Please let me know (in the comment box) if there’s anything that it would be useful to clarify – I know that sometimes what seems obvious to the organisers isn’t so clear to the participants…

Best wishes with the project – I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!