Writing Instead
Of Talking



Exercises used in:
Mind Libraries
Describe Marx Again
Socialism is Love
Who Are You Guys?

This technique is used in almost all of our exercises.

Writing Instead Of Talking addresses many problems.
 
  1. Practically speaking, more people can write than speak at once. The advantages here are obvious; everyone is given the responsibility of contribution, and much more can be produced in a given time.
  2. People who are meek or timid about speaking up in groups often have very important things to say. When we all write instead of chat, we can hear from them. 
  3. We find it is useful for people who talk a lot to practise not talking.
  4. When a group of people set out to have a discussion, whoever speaks first intentionally or unintentionally determines the trajectory of the conversation. Every speaker that follows will likely be responding to the comment made by the first speaker. This is the dialectics of conversation; the speaker who follows is left with the choice to either praise or negate the ideas of the first speaker. The disadvantages here are obvious; the point of origin for a conversation may determine a path of reflection that is actually unproductive for the group. When everyone is writing and reading simultaneously, there is no single point of origin but rather a diversity of points of origin, each with their own dialectical process. Of course, a careful process is needed to bring all these things together in the end.



Writing can take a number of forms:

  • Typing in a zoom chat
  • Write on slips of paper and put it together in the same box/large sheet of paper
  • Write privately and don’t share what you wrote. 
  • Chriszine
  • Add words on to sentences, exquisite corpse style.
  • People write directly on the same large sheet of paper. 
  • Using a programme online like Miro

Criticism of this technique:

This critique might be criticised on the basis that writing can be an ‘inaccessible’ form of engagement - many people have stressful experiences of forced writing at school, and it is undoubtedly something that white-collar workers, the middle classes, and university-educated people feel more comfortable with. It’s worth mentioning that writing instead of talking is not necessarily unstressful for more academically trained people who can become “silent” and overwrought  under the pressure of generating something profoundly clear and beautiful, to borrow from Fanon. Additionally, people who are learning to write (whether young people, people who are learning to write in a second language, or people who are learning to write as adults) will face an extra challenge.

We find that even despite these problems, the gap in social confidence for this pedagogical technique tends to be nowhere near as wide as the gap in spoken conversation, and in spoken conversation the potential for the dominance of ‘better-educated’ people is increased to the power of ten. We recommend (where the class is in person) allowing drawing and doodling as well as writing, and being clear that what is written does not have to meet any requirements of formal writing. We also recommend avoiding isolated writing where possible, at least until later on in a class. Instead, allow forms of collective writing which allow people to nestle their words among other peoples’ words (or even copy the words of others they agree with), until they develop more confidence.




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