Our blogs

Regular news and insight from our many poets, writers, educators and facilitators

25 March 2026

Posted by Alice Flynn

The Poem No One Will Ever See

Moving Beyond Fear and Blocks in Our Writing


Towards the end of each term, we take time to reflect on our writing journey. This can be invaluable as writing is often a solitary practice. In the busyness of life we might not make time to remember why we write, how our work is progressing and what blocks or habits may be influencing what we do, or don’t, create. 

 

We spent 10 mins reflecting on the following, perhaps you might like to, too:

 

-       the skills you’ve gained this term

-        your intention and how that is progressing

-       your desires for future writing

-       any fears/blocks/frustrations in your writing

-       what will support you in meeting those fears and overcoming blocks eg ‘I can do this’, seeking out exercises and articles online and applying them to your work, making a weekly artist’s date.

 

Each member of the group was also invited to set one simple goal: write a scene. Write two more pages. Send a poem to a competition with the coming month etc.


Liberation!


We spoke about how sometimes our fears can hold us back, how we might censor ourselves or our work in some way. We then followed an exercise created by Maggie Queeney on the Poetry Foundation website, which was inspired by Sandra Cisnero’s approach to writing poems as if they were not to be published in her lifetime. Cisneros shared “It was the only way I could free myself to write/think with absolute freedom, without censorship”

 

Queeney sets the task of writing the poem one is afraid to write, while knowing, in advance, that you are going to delete/destroy the poem you write!

 

Everyone wrote for ten minutes and then, after destroying our poems, we shared how the process was. You can find the exercise and the reflection prompts we used via the link at the end of this post for The Self- Destructing Poem. Some writers found it challenging at first but then go into the flow of it and surprised themselves by what they wrote. Others found it freeing from the start, enjoying the lack of pressure or outcome, knowing they weren’t going to keep it. Does the idea appeal to you? What if you gave yourself permission to write the piece, or in a style, that feels way out of your comfort zone? What do you long to say/write? If you feel the inner calling to explore, why not give yourself ten, fifteen or even twenty minutes today and see what comes!

 


Link to Source Inspiration: The Self-Destructing Poem: A Creative Exercise Inspired by the work of Sandra Cisneros’ by Maggie Queeney.

Previous

Archive

Back to blog

What's on

Find out more

Our projects

Find out more

Our films

Watch now

Headlight Press

Find out more

Latest news

13 March 2026

March Newsletter

News and Opportunities for Solent Writers and WritingLitFest26: Acts of Resistance - The Power of Art to Create a Better World Friday 13 March - Sunday 15...

Read more

Our blogs

Regular news and insight from our many poets, writers, educators and facilitators

Find out more

Resources


Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the New Forest

Why not get in touch?