‘‘Great writing is about noticing. It’s about really picking up the details and the nuance. That’s where the stories are.’’

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This week’s guest is Laura Stroud. Laura is an author, a ghostwriter, and a doctoral student at the University of Derby. She runs the Derbyshire Writing School, and is passionate about opening up the world of creative writing for beginners. Through her courses, retreats and workshops, she makes writing feel joyful. Laura is also an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has lectured in Creative Writing at the University of Derby.

I loved this episode, it was my first discussion with someone who doesn’t come from the ‘agile world’ and Laura is a great advocate for creative writing. At the beginning of our conversation we had a couple of false starts in which Laura tried to find the right way of talking about her early entry into creative writing. I left it in, because it felt really real, and it shows how it sometimes takes multiple drafts and attempts before we get the final result we want.

In today’s episode we discussed:

* The messy ways in which we introduce ourselves and redraft our thoughts

* Laura’s journey into creative writing

* What creative writing is and why your teams should try it

* How creative writing can help you become a better listener

* Hosting psychologically safe participatory workshops

* Creative writing and Cognitive Science

* Short creative writing techniques you can use in your team

* Storymapping and the hero’s story for your customer

* Personas and user stories

* The value of the big picture

* Creative writing ideas for an away-day

Links

* Derbyshire Writing School - derbyshirewritingschool.com

* Begin – the podcast from Derbyshire Writing School - derbyshirewritingschool.com/podcast

* Some of Laura’s books – www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Laura-Stroud/author/B08HPM6ZB4

* Expression of interest form for Laura’s doctoral project – https://forms.gle/gpeomQj7e4WQ2LnUA

* Matthew Dicks’ website and a great storytelling tool https://matthewdicks.com/homework-for-life/

* Matthew Dicks books https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Matthew-Dicks/author/B002P92M64

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Caesar | 4. Honourable men

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