This first part of this year’s WrICE residency took part in Yangshuo, a tropical, mountainous town in south-east China. Over five days, each writer presented his or her work to the group for feedback and advice.

Sharing your work can be a nerve-racking experience, because you expose your writing and yourself to your peers and their judgement. You’re especially vulnerable when you don’t know your peers very well, so we were all keen to get to know each other.

We had a group dinner and learnt a bit about one other and what we’re each working on; and we took turns at presenting some polished work to the rest of the group. The readings were powerful and thought-provoking, and gave everyone an idea of the amazing talent in the group. It was a brilliant way to introduce ourselves and to connect with each other. By the end of the night, we were all a lot closer and we all realised that we were in a safe space to share our work.

The residency provided something that’s priceless for a writer: time and space to write.

We had free time until 3pm each day and everyone usually used this time to write. Seeing everyone else working hard all around me, I felt motivated to produce something worthy of my new colleagues. I was amazed at my newfound mysterious ability to avoid procrastination, as I forced myself to enter the writing zone. Wanting the respect of your peers is a great motivator.

From 3pm to 6pm we all convened to workshop each other’s work. We could present anything we wanted, but I always find workshopping is a great opportunity to get feedback on something I’m struggling with – I’m often too close to my own work to see it’s problems. Other times, I experiment and try new things – with voice, character, dialogue and form – to find out whether it works or not. There were sharp minds around me and I trusted their creative instincts.

The group was comprised of established writers, early career writers and a few student writers, but everyone’s opinion had equal weight. Writers often have different creative processes, but they often face the same challenges, for example, with plot, pace, consistency, character motivations and so on. There was now a mutual respect and friendship between us, and all feedback was given openly and with deference.

After Yangshuo, we travelled to Guangzhou where we collaborated with Sun Yat-sen University in a number of events. I was privileged to run a workshop with Filipino writer and fellow WrICE participant, Larry Ypil. The students did a few writing exercises and enthusiastically shared their work, and I was amazed by the quality and weight of their work, which for them was written in a foreign language, English.

In the workshop, we discussed with students the importance of finding connections in their work – whether this is a connection to place, such as home, or connections between the themes and ideas in their work. “You might not find these connections until you’ve finished writing a draft of the whole story or manuscript,” I said, “but you will usually be able to find some connections and symbology.”

Now that the residency has ended, I find myself thinking about the new connections I’ve made with the other WrICE writers.

Writing is often a difficult and lonely venture, but experienced, talented writers often encounter the same challenges with the craft. It’s natural to feel vulnerable when you read your work to others, because you’re presenting something raw that has come from deep within you.

If you find people you trust and who understand the writing process, you can feel safe that they’ll respect your writing and therefore you. I’m grateful to have found such people through WrICE.

Story: Ara Sarafian