If it’s the first time you’re sharing your story online, it can be really overwhelming! You might find yourself staring at a blank page, an empty tweet, or sitting in front of the camera a bit lost…
So here are our tips for helping you to find a bit of focus and start your story:
-
Check in with your emotions
If this is your first time sharing your story online, it's important to recognise that it might be an emotional experience. For those of us who have experienced mental health stigma, we might have internalised the message that we're "not allowed" to talk about our stories and experiences, or that no one wants to hear them.
If you struggle with anxiety or OCD symptoms, you might find it difficult to create something in fear of how it will be perceived by others, or you might have high expectations for yourself and find you're quite critical of what you create.
So firstly, take some time to acknowledge the emotions and experiences that might be making it difficult to start. And then try to give yourself permission to experiment, to make mistakes, and to try something new.
-
Start small
During StoryCamp we're really encouraging you to respond to the themes in the way that's most comfortable for you.
For some people that might be a long written blog or video - but for others, a thoughtful tweet, a photo and a quote on Instagram, or a small drawing might be a good option, and can be just as impactful at changing attitudes. At Time to Change, one of our most successful posts is a post-it note we shared on Instagram!
-
Free flow
If you’re struggling to figure out where to begin, it can be helpful to just let yourself write or talk or doodle - about absolutely anything at all! Think of it as a 'warm up' for the storytelling part of your brain:
1. If you prefer to write things down, grab a pen and paper, or if you prefer to talk out loud you could record yourself on your smartphone, tablet or computer.
2. Start by sharing what you did today as an ‘icebreaker’ - describe your breakfast, your daily routine, what the weather was like, how you were feeling - then start to move on to the topic you want to focus on. You’re not trying to create a perfect story at this point, you’re just getting your general thoughts out of your own head, by writing them down or talking to yourself out loud.
3. After 10 minutes, stop and take a look at what you’ve shared so far. It might seem quite random or unstructured, and you might have jumped between a few different topics – and that’s absolutely fine!
4. Look for anything that stands out in particular, any patterns or themes in what you’ve explored, and write those down in a list. From there, you might be ready to start creating your story, or you might need to repeat your ‘free flow’ again to explore your thoughts further.
-
Team work
If you have a close friend or partner who you’re happy to discuss your story with, you could sit down for a conversation and talk about the theme and your experiences, and make notes as different thoughts pop up.
Sometimes by talking and reflecting with others, we’re able to think of things that would normally be difficult to discover by ourselves.
Remember, you can share your story in any way that feels comfortable to you – you don’t have to write a long blog, you could express your thoughts in a poem, a drawing, a song, a tweet or an Instagram post, or anything that feels comfortable for you. And there’s no ‘right’ way to share – this is about changing attitudes to mental health based on your experiences.
Let us know if you try one of these techniques, or if you have a suggestion of your own!