Mei Leng, on her time as Assistant Facilitator for We are Here to Write

Since I was a small, book-obsessed child, I’ve known I’d wanted to be a writer but it was only in 2020 - the year of pandemic lockdowns - that I had the time and space to take my need to write more seriously. In the years that followed, I honed my craft on writers groups at Soho Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and New Earth Theatre. These groups were led by experienced playwrights who all had their own unique ways of working - some started with character or plot while others started with world-building and intent- and all were generous in sharing their methods and resources.

As each of those writers introduced me to new ways of reading and thinking, my writing changed. I became more playful and in turn, more confident in my practice and if ever there was a moment I became stuck, it was the tools that these writers had given me which helped me find a way through. That’s why, when I joined Beyond Face’s We Are Here To Write group as an Assistant Facilitator, I was excited to take on this new role and for the first time, be in a position where I could share what I had learnt with others.

It was also an opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at how the writers group is run. Although I’d been attending the group sessions for over a year, I’d no idea how much work Corinne was doing that we didn't see as participants. For example, on top of the two hour session plan, Corinne always prepared extra exercises in case we rattled through quicker than anticipated. She also had variations of exercises ready, so that she could adapt to the needs of the room. Sometimes, we had a higher turnout than usual, sometimes everyone (or no-one!) wanted to share their writing out loud, and sometimes the group was in a chattier mood.

This flexibility in Corinne’s session plans meant that there was also room for me to jump in with my own ideas if I wanted. This ranged from me making top-level suggestions about what a session could be about in broad terms (my idea was to spend an evening looking closely at redrafting) to planning exercises of my own that related to that week’s focus. It was here that Corinne gave me a level of freedom and trust that I am still surprised by today.

Ahead of the very first session, I told Corinne that I had a tool for crafting characters that I'd like to share. I estimated it would take about five minutes to explain and then another five minutes to use it in relation to our own characters. To my surprise, the whole activity took closer to forty five! I hadn’t factored in that the group would want time to write down my instructions in full or that they would have questions and then want to discuss what I'd shared and its various applications. Corinne had had her own exercise planned for the last hour of the session but graciously let me keep going until the end of the session, without interruption. It was a long time to have a group of people staring at me from the screen and my heart was racing the whole time but it was a lot of fun to hear how everyone responded to the exercise.

Not all the sessions required so much creative input. There were weeks when Corinne had organised guest speakers and so, I was responsible for the smooth running of the zoom session, so that the speakers could concentrate on their presentation. This included making sure latecomers could join in and dealing with any technical issues that people had. Sometimes, guest speakers had activities planned that required breakout rooms or they had complex instructions to deliver, which I would quickly type out so that attendees could follow along.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience being an Assistant Facilitator and one I would love to do again. Taking a more active role in the weekly sessions was such a rewarding way to give back to a group that had been a part of my writing journey over the last year. Furthermore, it was an opportunity to get to know Corinne and Beyond Face Theatre better, to deeply understand the work they do and to fully appreciate the care with which they hold us as writers.