Hi Writer Team!
I thought I would create a post in this forum so that we could all get to know each other a little bit better. I love to collaborate on work and find that there are plenty of others out there who teach me new things on a daily basis. I'm eager to get to know you all a bit better. Even though we are writing individual articles, I'd love for us to come together as a team and support each other in the 7 Cups spirit.
I thought we could use this space to share what we are working on, support each other, collaborate, and help each other make connections.
Share with us:
1. What brought you to this project, specifically the writing team?
2. What kinds of articles are in your wheelhouse? What do you feel like is your specialty, your jam, your niche?
3. What you want to work on for your first article (or what you've already started)?
4. Do you need any support from the team? How can we help?
1. I came to this project because I am a licensed social worker but my work is not related to mental health currently. I teach work readiness customer service workshops to adolescents who have previously faced barriers to employment. I love it, but I also love the mental health field, and this allows me to stay immersed in it.
2. There's no way to really say what is in my wheelhouse. I just pitched Shannon 6 article ideas and they were all vastly different. Some were related to my work now, some related to my previous work in graduate school and work I did there. Some are just influenced by my personal life, the books I read, and communities I belong to.
3. For my first article, I'd love to do something that isn't going to take a ton of research, so something I'm sort of familiar with. But we'll see what our fearless leader says!
4. I just want to get to know all of you and be available if you need support. I don't think there is much to help out with at this stage because it's just kicking off.
@Katheryn
Your job seems really neat and rewarding. I would like to get my MSW and become a LCSW and do DBT therapy and trauma specific therapy myself. Right now I work with kids with autism providing ABA therapy. I hope you're able to write about things that interest you and it fills that need to have mental health work in your life.
@Katheryn I really like how you have a dedication to combine social work and the deeper mental health field. Your pitches sound so interesting and I cannot wait to see your work!
I decided to apply for the team because I really like writing and now that I'm not in college I don't really write as much anymore so it's a good way to do what I love. I'm also really passionate about mental health topics and have been looking for a way to be involved with providing mental health education to people.
I think articles that require research will be a strong suit for me. I love research. I want to focus a lot on stigma and trauma topics and maybe even some on autism since my job is providing ABA therapy for kids with autism.
My first article is the one about mental health labels that promote stigma. It stood out to me because I've experienced a lot of stigma in my own journey through mental health treatment.
I don't think there's really any support I need. I think it would be cool for us to be our own little community or team and collaborate and support one another.
In continuation of support. I just had an idea of having either individual writing buddies or a forum based process for asking for feedback and brainstorming ideas for our articles. I think something like that would be cool.
@InvaderStitch if @wordgirl73 can agree, it would be super cool to have co-authored pieces as in some pieces with 2 writers collaborating, and so writing buddies can be handy for that or just for support during these roles. I have in the past used random generators for such pairings and can volunteer to help organize it if most of us agree for this!
@SoulfullyAButterfly This is a really cool idea! Collaborating can be so fulfilling as a writer. Something to keep in mind is there is only one author per piece on the site that is visible, (there isn't way for me to put the same article up under two authors without having duplicate pages which is bad for google search).
But thinking creatively, I could set up a pair of you as an author together, so you'd pick an image that represents you both and then the bio would include both your names.
@InvaderStitch It is great that you would like to continue writing, I too understand that sometimes all we need is a prompt and so this team is a great purpose. I like how you will be writing about something that stood out for you, good luck!
@InvaderStitch loving to research will really benefit you as a writer! Even if someone writes fiction, there's always research involved in character development. One of the best things about being a writer is everything I've learned along the way!
@InvaderStitch
That's a great idea! I'd say go for it
@Katheryn This is great, I was thinking to start something like it so I am glad to see this already done! Nice to meet you too.
I discovered I had a passion for writing while in middle school, and I actually was good at it according to my teachers and friends. I was and am a side bookworm so being able to impress others or relate to them with my words was empowering. Fast forward the years, I still write to express and more recently over the years, I have found my talent for writing poetry. Another passion that I developed was the desire to advocate mental health. I feel that writing can be a powerful tool in the current destigmatizing movements, and I actually have found poetry and other styles of writing to be an awesome pairing with mental health advocacy. The writing team on site presented another area at Cups where I could give some of my passions and contribute in some way. I have enjoyed being an intern, listener, and leader on here and thought this was a satisfying role to spend my summer adjusting to as I do think I would love to do this for as long as I am able to.
I currently am an undergraduate halfway through my bachelor's (honors) degree in Applied Psychology and I aim to become a clinical psychologist someday but things like this are ways to already start contributing. I have blogging experience and I really wish to actually also get a side-job in the writing world, so why not do what you love even if it is more than one thing.
For me, I usually do well in all sorts of writing prompts and ideas. I do like using unique presentation techniques, and so rarely discussed topics are important for me to write about as that way, they no longer remain rare. I also like a challenge as it sparks creativity.
I have chosen to highlight someone's story as my first article. It is to be on a person who has a mental health success story and this topic is to later be applied on various mental health challenges, so it is like a series of articles which is very interesting.
One challenge I have faced with that topic is figuring out how to outreach to suitable candidates.
@SoulfullyAButterfly
I want to write about someone too for one of my ideas but I dont want to use a member so I get it.
If you need a story about overcoming mental illness you can PM me. I'd be happy to be interviewed. ☺️ Let me know what you are looking for in a candidate.
@SoulfullyAButterfly It sounds like this is a great way for you to combine your love of writing and advocating for mental health! I think that is that same for a lot of us here, including myself. Applied psychology sounds awesome! I chose not to do psych for my undergrad because of the required statistics classes (math is not my strong suit!).
@Katheryn That's true, and aw, it has always been the same for me in regards to math but that didn't really keep me away luckily and I did great in my statistics classes thankfully. I was initially bound to go for medical school with an interest in neurology, and can testify that students like that are usually weaker in math haha. Luckily, in the future, there is software to help with the majority of calculations.
@SoulfullyAButterfly Depending on the topic, I'm happy to put a post in a community forum related to that topic to see if anyone wants to share their story/journey. People are often open to this as long as it's anonymous (which we are always careful to protect).
Other ideas would be to see if there are groups on facebook, podcasts, bloggers - there are many people who blog about their condition and journey, or other social groups that are for people going through that condition.
I've found when you approach people as a writer looking to write about that topic and get more information, generally, people are very open to sharing.
It's a great idea to also share or ask here because one of us may be open to sharing our story. I could be interviewed regarding panic disorder, for example.
It's an amazing bonus of being a writer, all the amazing people you get to meet along the way!
@wordgirl73 thanks for repeating and guiding! I have started to understand that is true, and it helps knowing that we could anonymously ask the community too if needed.
You guys rock, thanks Katheryn for setting up this thread!
Hi other writers! Sorry for replying to this thread a little late-life has been slightly chaotic.
1. Writing has always made me feel more in touch with myself, and the want to write comes naturally. Since I also love learning new things, especially about psychology, sociology, and theology, and 7cups has helped me so much personally, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to write for 7cups!
2. I love writing pieces that inspire or come from self-reflection, factual articles, and articles that promote awareness and and are supportive. I feel that when it comes to mental health and social work in general it's important to be kind and want to learn and be accepting. I'm always up for a challenge though, I'm down to write any sort of article!
3. I've written an article on situational vs. clinical depression/anxiety. I think I learned a lot! I hope other people find it helpful.
4. You all seem so nice and well-spoken! I'm excited to get to know you all better and read your work. No support but I hope if I have questions about the project I could ask someone on the team? As someone with anxiety too I'm always double-checking to make sure I do things the right way ^^
@vexy Hi, I really enjoyed reading your answers - no worries on being late though, we understand that we are all volunteers and have other matters to attend to! You are most welcome to post a thread in the writer's sub-forum >> HERE << with any questions etc. and we will be glad to try to help!
@vexy Hey Vexy, we're glad you're here. Writing is great for looking inside oneself as well as taking the time to be with yourself and really listen to what your body, mind, experiences, and all that have to say. Also, I'm sure you're doing things the right way because, well, you're doing it!! And there really isn't a right or wrong way it seems because it's so flexible and you can really make this you're own thing, whatever that means for you. 💐🌼🦋
I love writing within in itself, and helping people has always been something I wanted to be a part of, 7 cups helped be me a better person through writing, so when I found a way of pursuing my writing forward in a way that would make a more postivie impact, I was exited and couldn't wait to connect with other amazing listeners who shared the same hobbies as me.
I've been writing ever since I was a young girl because I'd express myself that way, so any writing that had deeper meaning and touched a reader would be what I could do best.
I want my first article to be on mental health, I want the mental health society here to be able to relate to my wrting and feel understood.
I'd love support from the team. I was wondering if I could get some ideas on wether I could write about mental health in general or one specific one? Any ideas?
Thank you so much once again @katheryn for this amazing opportunity! Also to the rest of you amazing people, like I said before, I cannot wait to keep working iwth you all!
@Zeeisallears Hey Zee! Yes, one of my favorite things about this project is knowing that people will read my articles and in some way or some how, it will help them feel something. My hope is that they read my articles and know they are not alone. Mental illness can be very isolating.
If you want to write about mental health, I guess I would start by thinking about what specifically I want to convey through my articles. I think that's what I would do. Because mental health is a huge topic and there is so much you can talk about on the subject. What is it specifically that you want your readers to know or feel. Is it about coping with specific situations or mental health diagnoses? Is it dealing with being a mentally I'll person in the world and navigating that in life at work, school, in relationships, etc... is it taking a subject or author you love and making their work more accessible? What books, blogs, do you read about mental health? Movies, podcasts, etc???
🌈🌟💐
@Katheryn This is great advice!
Hi Writers!
Just a quick note as I popped into the forum today to thank you for all your ideas and advice sharing. As a fellow writer, I know the trade can be kind of isolating and it's great to have other creative writers to bounce ideas off of.
I think as writers we all share the same kind of kindred soul. It sounds like most of us have been writing our whole lives. I know I use it as a way to work out my feelings.
A poster above mentioned the fulfillment of reaching someone out in the world going through something and being the thing they find to know they aren't alone. That is my main motivator as well...it's actually all of ours working on the 7 Cups mission.
I wanted to also let you know that some of the articles get shared not only by our social media to reach more people but also listeners use them to guide members to more info, as well as therapists! That's why quality, and making sure the information we include is well-researched and fact-checked is of such concern here.
Thank you again for all you do, I'm really enjoying reading your pieces so far!
@wordgirl73 thank you for this note. Writing is truly very powerful. The pen, our thoughts, all that can really be used to bring about change and I am so glad we can do it on this platform too.
@Katheryn
Finally I can post in the Thread, sorry for being this long, this past month was really chaotic to me, due to I was completing the credits for my bachelor's degree in educational arts. Since that's over, I have more time to finally work with you guys.
1. I really can't remember how long I had been on and off 7 cups, but it was really helpfull to read, chat and understand what me and my relatives where going through. So this is, in part, a way to say "Thank you" to this lovely community, and being able to comfort others. Writing had been a powerful tool to me, to understand myself, and comunicate; another of my passions is reasearch work (I will talk more about this in the fourth point), having the oportunity to combine the work I enjoy to do and help others makes the Volunteer Writer's Team, like a huge opportunity.
2. Enjoy topics about self knowledge, to observe ourselves and understand why we have the actitudes, what makes us change, and how we actually live, it's really interesting (kinda overwhealming sometimes) but essential in other to be better and calm with ourselves.
3. I'm starting with the "Best Self-Care Inspirational Quotes" because it remind me about a little book I did at the beggining of this year, I want to show you guys, but (since I'm Mexican) it's in spanish. It's a little manual to love yourself, with random drawings all over, I will try to translate it or, at least put over here some pages.
4. You guys seems like a really cool community, and that's always good. I think my biggest problem could be about the reaserch work, because what I'm used to do is a more social-politics reasearch, but I'm sure I can ask any of you If I ever feel lost in the research.
Hope you all having good days.
@laradioactivaa Welcome and congrats for completing your degree related work! We surely are always available for any help you might need. Good luck!
@laradioactivaa That book sounds amazing and congrats on completing your degree!! So happy to have you here.
