This method was developed after training I did over a five-year period in methods used by the Quakers for community support in problem-solving. After participating several times during these training sessions in a process called The Clearness Committee, it occurred to me that elements of the process were similar to small steps I had taken with my students in writing classes, and that the process, if altered to direct attention to issues relevant to writers, could be useful to my students. I adapted the process for writers and implemented elements of it in my writing classroom, to remarkable results.
Over the years, as I've participated in writing groups, both good groups and bad ones, it also occurred to me that there was an element missing from what we have come to see as the standard writing group process, and that adapting the Clearness Committee process, as used for my students, for a more experienced writing group, could help fill that gap. Most writing groups focus on feedback on an individual piece of work, rather than on helping a writer to clarify their purpose in a particular piece or in their overall work. The Quakers, in developing Clearness Committees, believe that there is, in each person, "an inner light" that will help them to solve their own problems, if they simply have the help of their community to help them access it. The principle behind RiverWords process is similar - use of the techniques and strategies of the Clearness Committee are used to help writing groups to help each other to find their own inner answers to their search as writers - either around an individual piece or around their work in general.
A River of Words contains full information on all the strategies used in this writing group process, worksheets and check sheets for each step of the process, and full information on the 'hows and whys' of each step to guide a group in preparation for a RiverWords session. To find the workbook on Amazon, click here: A River of Words
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