Kaarina’s Story: 'Why Ruils Creative Writing Group Helped Me'

Ruils Creative Writing Group is made up of a diverse mix of people who share a love of a story, whether through the art form of a novel, or a play monologue or poetry. Consistent feedback from the group tell us that it gives them a purpose, it makes them think, and at other times it makes them laugh along with their fellow group members. There is also collaboration with our drama group and we hope that some interesting work will emerge between members of the two groups.

Check out Kaarina's Story below about how the Creative Writing Group has impacted her.

"The creative writing workshop has been really beneficial for me. Prior to 2020 I had been unable to attend the creative writing workshop for several years due to mobility issues, so just having it on Zoom meant I could participate.

Additionally, despite training as a journalist and having won a prize in a creative writing competition many years ago, I had lost the ability to write from 2010.

Following the onset of cognitive problems - orthostatic intolerance causing brain fog when upright and the onset at same time of progressive, degenerative checking OCD which became incapacitating thanks to meningitis - and severe cervical migraines, I was unable to read books.

At the time I joined the workshop in 2020, I had not been able to do any creative writing or written any articles for around a decade and had not read a novel since the neck trauma injury that began my health problems.

During 2020 we focused on short stories that I was able to listen to on audio because of difficulties focusing with reading. These were the first creative stories I'd read for about 20 years. This year I wrote a short creative story for the first time since 2010.

Without the support of the creative writing workshop I would not have managed to do that. As I have had no access to any health or social services for my problems since becoming mainly housebound, this workshop has been a real help, both for countering the social isolation of being housebound, and for managing to engage in reading stories and writing.

Ironically the possibility of Zoom workshops during Covid made being housebound less isolating than it had been before Covid. Losing the ability to use skills I used to be employed to do has been devastating, so being able to do that short story was a real achievement for me. I could not have done it outside of the support of the workshop."

Interested in joining the Creative Writing Group? Head over to our activities page for more details and to sign up.