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<p>This article describes the development and testing of a novel creative and reflective writing task. Following the rationale of sand-tray and play therapies, participants were asked to meaningfully incorporate four objects from a randomly generated matrix of options into a creative short story. They then composed a second story that incorporated four possessions from home associated with important memories. Afterwards, participants produced interpretive statements or reflections on what the stories meant to them. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted based on narrative data from 15 young adult participants in Canada. Our goals were to: (a) explore the extent to which object familiarity was associated with qualitative differences in stories and interpretations, and (b) investigate for connections between features of participants’ stories and depth of interpretation. Analysis of creative stories resulted in a scheme of four response categories with ten subcategories. Participants’ interpretations of their own stories were coded based on self-described sources of inspiration, such as critical life episodes or popular media. Results are accompanied with excerpts of participants’ stories and reflections, and percentage comparisons are reported. Findings are presented in dialogue with established interpretive frameworks originating in depth psychology. Manipulation of object familiarity resulted in demonstrable differences at the levels of word length, point of view, narrative forms and features, self-disclosure, and reflection. Use of familiar objects in such a task appears to be a largely untapped resource that shows promise as a route to insight.</p>
</abstract>

This article describes the development and testing of a novel creative and reflective writing task. Following the rationale of sand-tray and play therapies, participants were asked to meaningfully incorporate four objects from a randomly generated matrix of options into a creative short story. They then composed a second story that incorporated four possessions from home associated with important memories. Afterwards, participants produced interpretive statements or reflections on what the stories meant to them. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted based on narrative data from 15 young adult participants in Canada. Our goals were to: (a) explore the extent to which object familiarity was associated with qualitative differences in stories and interpretations, and (b) investigate for connections between features of participants’ stories and depth of interpretation. Analysis of creative stories resulted in a scheme of four response categories with ten subcategories. Participants’ interpretations of their own stories were coded based on self-described sources of inspiration, such as critical life episodes or popular media. Results are accompanied with excerpts of participants’ stories and reflections, and percentage comparisons are reported. Findings are presented in dialogue with established interpretive frameworks originating in depth psychology. Manipulation of object familiarity resulted in demonstrable differences at the levels of word length, point of view, narrative forms and features, self-disclosure, and reflection. Use of familiar objects in such a task appears to be a largely untapped resource that shows promise as a route to insight.

“The Story is My Life”: Bridging Symbol to Self in a Novel Creative and Reflective Writing Task

Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology

Creativity. Theories – Research - Applications

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This article describes the development and testing of a novel creative and reflective writing task. Following the rationale of sand-tray and play therapies,...

“The Story is My Life”: Bridging Symbol to Self in a Novel Creative and Reflective Writing Task

Published Online: Nov 20, 2021

Page range: 4 - 19

Received: Sep 13, 2020

Accepted: Apr 20, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ctra-2021-0014

Keywords
creative writing, narrative, expression, insight, self-reflection, imagination

© 2021 Jacob Lang et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

“The Story is My Life”: Bridging Symbol to Self in a Novel Creative and Reflective Writing Task

Published Online: Nov 20, 2021

Page range: 4 - 19

Received: Sep 13, 2020

Accepted: Apr 20, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ctra-2021-0014

Keywordscreative writing, narrative, expression, insight, self-reflection, imagination

© 2021 Jacob Lang et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
creative writing, narrative, expression, insight, self-reflection, imagination