Reflecting on the Munich Writing Workshop: A Journey Through Time

The passing of my wife Ruth a quarter of a year ago prompted me to write a tribute here in the blog. However, it soon became clear that our nearly forty years of shared experiences—both together and individually—deserve deeper reflection. This new blog post is dedicated to her memory, as without her, the Munich Writing Workshop we established in 1979 would not have come to fruition. As I embark on a new chapter in my life, I feel compelled to examine the origins and significance of our work at the Munich Writing Workshop. When contemplating a new direction, it is beneficial to pause and ask oneself: ° Where do I come from? ° Where am I now? ° Where do I want to go? Accordingly, this article will be divided into three parts: 1. Past 2. Present 3. Future. ** Writing and Theme-Centered Interaction Initially, Ruth and I conducted seminars on broader topics related to self-exploration. Our methodology was rooted in a training program we both completed: Theme-Centered Interaction (TZI) as developed by Ruth C. Cohn. It is worth noting that this training brought us together as co-leaders and eventually as a married couple in September 1976. It was not long before a new focus on themes and methods emerged, leading us to explore Creative Writing, a term often used in German-speaking areas. We named our small institute the Munich Writing Workshop because our residence and work center were located in Bavaria's capital, a city recognized as one of the world's major media hubs—reportedly the second most important after New York. The choice of this name also served to enhance our own professional identity. The serendipitous nature of our journey unfolded as follows: ** A Fortuitous Coincidence While I was training as a seminar leader in TZI (and concurrently studying Gestalt therapy), I co-led sessions with a highly experienced TZI graduate and Gestalt therapist, Elisabeth von Godin. During a workshop in the summer of 1978, participants expressed frustration, stating, “we are just talking here.” In response, I suggested, “Well, let’s write instead of just talking.” This proposal was well-received, leading to our first writing session, which left everyone satisfied. This success inspired me to offer a writing workshop called Writing as an Adventure the following year, which also garnered positive feedback, resulting in a subsequent workshop titled Writing as Encounter the year after that—thus beginning my adventure in writing seminars. Hold on! I must correct myself. These seminars were developed in constant exchange with my wife, and we co-led most of them together. Ruth created a unique format for self-experience writing groups specifically for women, which was soon complemented by her talent for painting. (It is also worth mentioning that, inspired by Ruth’s activities, I conducted parallel writing and TZI groups for men.) The Munich Writing Workshop is certainly among the early foundations of what would later be recognized as a movement during a gathering of writing seminar leaders at the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing in 1987. Three years later, in 1990, the movement was formally characterized by the question: “What drives the writing movement?” All of this occurred long before the Internet revolutionized writing, making concepts like blogging seem like mere science fiction. At the time we invented group writing in Munich and its surroundings, we were unaware that such initiatives had already been established across the Atlantic in the United States, where Creative Writing had been gaining traction since around 1900, intensifying in the 1920s at various universities. In 1937, the University of Iowa established the “Master’s program of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop,” which allowed students to complete their studies with a novel as their dissertation (whether this is still possible today, I cannot say). Notable authors such as Flannery O'Connor, John Irving, Jane Smiley, and T.C. Boyle have studied there. Established writers often utilized such teaching positions to bridge creative pauses and financial gaps. A notable film example is the comedy The Wonder Boys, featuring Michael Douglas as a writer grappling with a creative block while serving as a CW instructor. I have detailed the historical development of creative writing in a dedicated timeline. This timeline outlines the evolution of writing, tracing its origins and physiological prerequisites for language, through narrative and mythological concepts like the hero's journey, to modern forms of creative writing. Timelines serve a crucial role—not just in non-fiction—by organizing material from a fresh perspective, namely chronological order. This approach often provides a more organic logic than a thematic structure, particularly in historical contexts. It is also beneficial in biographies and autobiographies, as exemplified by the life stories featured in the Rowohlt Bild Monographien series, which include a timeline at the end. Even novelists would benefit from maintaining a chronological outline of their plot for personal reference. (More on the timeline method can be found in my book on the subject—see sources, Scheidt 2004.) ** Storytelling Precedes Writing A hallmark of Creative Writing is that it takes place not in isolation but within a group. This format not only encourages diverse mutual inspirations but also provides the advantage of having an audience present during the creative writing process. Historically, the storytelling groups that preceded today’s writing groups—both real and fictional—can be found in celebrated story collections such as Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (circa 1387) and Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron (between 1349 and 1353). Lastly, they are epitomized in the ultimate storytelling anthology: the tales from One Thousand and One Nights, where Scheherazade narrates for her life in an incredible heroic journey of storytelling, ultimately taming the murderous Sultan through her art of narrative, leading to a happy ending. What a plot! What a framework! ** The Birth of Creative Writing: A Literary Phenomenon … and a global bestseller. The first historically documented writing group took place in 1816 at Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva, where Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley began her novel Frankenstein (which Brian Aldiss considers the dawn of modern science fiction). Much later, from 1900 onward, writing groups proliferated in the United States, and by the 1940s, established science fiction authors were conducting specialized workshops for newcomers in both the U.S. and England. I hold a different view from Aldiss: for me, science fiction began much earlier, with the genius Daedalus and his unfortunate son Icarus, who escaped the Minoan labyrinth through human invention of flight. However, one could trace the origins of storytelling back to the campfires of humanity. People have been telling stories since they could speak, conveying essential knowledge for survival, fostering social cohesion, and providing entertainment. The myth of the solitary genius writer still lingers in literary circles and among aspiring authors. However, it should be increasingly recognized that there exists another way: writing alongside others on the same wavelength. This collaborative aspect is a defining characteristic of Creative Writing: it thrives in self-directed groups. ** Celebrating Milestones I note with pride that this marks my #300 contribution to this blog. Almost simultaneously, another significant milestone occurred—largely unnoticed by the rest of the world: the 500th virtual writing workshop was held on May 21, 2016. ** What does all this have to do with the theme of the labyrinth? More on that in the next installment. The reference to Daedalus and Icarus in the footnote about Frankenstein already hints at this connection. (To be continued: The Munich Writing Workshop Part 2: Present / The Munich Writing Workshop Part 3: Future)