Writing

Writing for wellbeing

I have a special interest in the power of writing to enable us to express ourselves as part of our wellbeing and emotional health. My book Writing in Bereavement, A Creative Handbook is a source of creative ideas and practical help for people who are supporting others after a bereavement.  If you are a practitioner in counselling, psychotherapy or some other aspect of health and social care that brings you into contact with people who are grieving, this book is for you. People who have lost someone or who are supporting friends or family after a bereavement may also find it helpful. You can read more here about the training I offer for counsellors and volunteers who provide bereavement support.

My backstory: corporate writing and marketing

Before I ran away to join the creative writing circus I had a long career in marketing, PR and corporate writing, including for Saga Holidays plc, Oxford University Press, the Society of London Theatre, Arts Council England and The Home Office. I have written numerous pieces of journalism, magazine features and arts reviews.

This is a brochure I wrote for a Government campaign, Together We Can. I devised that campaign and produced a series of conferences, launch events and publicity to promote it, such as this Newsletter.

This is the Official London Theatre Guide, which I edited in print form from 1987-1993. I wrote the first ever detailed Disabled Access Guide to London’s West End Theatres which went on to be updated in accessible formats. Here’s an example from the original guide.

Between 1995 and 2005 I wrote for Arts Council England. Here’s an example from a pocket guide for staff about the organisation’s values, and a document in which the CEO talked about the organisation’s ambitions.

I have written extensively about arts and cultural visitor attractions. Here’s a flyer I produced for the Lord Mayor’s Show in the City of London, and an extract from a leaflet about the historic Guildhall, one of the City’s most iconic buildings.