How to Start a Retirement Home Writing Group
Walk into any retirement home and you can almost feel the stories waiting to leap from the memories of the residents and land on a fresh sheet of writing paper. Starting a retirement home writing group should give the residents the opportunity to get those memories down on paper in a supportive environment where they will receive lots of positive reinforcement for their efforts. Particularly important to the development of such a writer’s group is the inclusion of volunteers who can assist with the actual physical act of writing when necessary.
Instructions
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1
Arrange for permission to sponsor a writing group. Make an appointment with the activities director of the facility. Be prepared to discuss your basic ideas and your goals for the group. Also bring a short printed overview of the activity.
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Line up some volunteers who are willing to attend meetings of the writing group for the purpose of assisting those residents who have stories to tell, but have difficulty with the physical act of writing. Ask volunteers who have them to bring their laptop computers.
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3
Make a couple of posters promoting an organizational meeting of the writer’s group, and ask to have the activity publicized in the facility’s newsletter. Emphasize that no one will be required to write at this meeting, which will simply be a gathering to talk about the idea of a writer’s group.
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Introduce yourself at the meeting and talk about any credentials you have which qualify you as a writing instructor. Explain that the writer’s group will provide residents with an opportunity to express their ideas and relate their memories in writing. Emphasize the fact that members will never be required to read their work aloud. They may simply come and listen, or they may ask the instructor to read the work aloud. Also explain that you will serve as editor, so there is no need to worry about spelling ability or grammatical accuracy.
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Plan an activity for the first meeting. Use an upcoming holiday as a focus for the activity. For example, in the month before Valentine’s Day, you might ask if any of the residents would be willing to tell one specific memory about that holiday. Give some prompts by providing examples such as the following: The memory might be about signing penny valentines, receiving a box of chocolate-covered cherries from someone special, or the transformation of a high school gym into a Valentine dance palace. Explain that transferring those kinds of memories into the written word will be the focus of the writing group.
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Meet with members and volunteers a second time, and begin the routine of the class which will consist of short instructional material along with writing prompts. Members are given time to write (or dictate) brief pieces of writing. Those who want to can read their work aloud or have their pieces read aloud for them.
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Tips & Warnings
Consider “publishing” work of the members who show an interest by assembling pieces of writing into a booklet.
Be proactive about criticism. Spend some time explaining appropriate ways to comment on other members’ work.
