The use of creative writing as a route to personal or professional development is a powerful therapeutic tool, yet often the most difficult part is knowing how and where to begin. The experiences of others, and the strategies and approaches they have used in their own writing, can provide tried-and-tested models for practice, and 'ways in' that facilitators might wish to recommend to others.

Writing Routes is an essential roadmap for anybody setting out on the journey of self-discovery through words. This diverse collection of short pieces introduce and demonstrate many different ways of getting into and thinking about creative writing for personal or professional development. Seventy contributors from a variety of different backgrounds and circumstances explain how they came to write a particular piece and why, how they found ways of transforming their experience into writing, and how it was beneficial to them. Their writing ranges widely, from journal entries and stream of consciousness to autobiography, poetry, fiction and drama, and the pieces are organised by theme and genre for ease of navigation, designed to be 'dipped into' as and when they are needed.

This rich and varied collection will provide writing practitioners, counsellors and other related professionals with ideas and techniques to share with their clients, and is a useful resource that individuals who write for their own personal and professional development will return to again and again.

Foreword by Gwyneth Lewis. Preface. 1. Getting into Writing. 'Writing a journal: a way to my soul', Satu Nieminen. 'Natalie's Golden Mantras', Alexandra Boyle. 'Writing Yourself Forward', Debbie McCulliss. 'Writing 'Kingfisher', Abi Curtis. 'Poems invite us to write them', Kate Compston. 'Relaxing into Writing', Ray Russell. 'Happily ever after...and then what?', Sarah Salway. 2. Forging Identities. 'Writing Dreams', Juhani Ihanus. 'The Whole Picture', Angela Stoner. 'Letter to a Stranger - Processing the Momentary', Cheryl Moskowitz. 'The Mincer Character', Myra Schneider. 'A rose by any other name might not smell as sweet', Shelley McAlister. 'Lucy', Andrew Rudd. 'Dodging Rednecks with a Grudge', Tim Metcalf. 'Writing Barefoot', Shirley A. Serviss. 3. Writing the Self. 'Black Sheep in the Family', Larry Butler. 'People on my Bus', Fran Creffield. 'Midnight Robber', Dominique De-Light. 'Writing as a process of coming-to-knowing', Rosie Alexander. 'Writing Inspired', Sue Glover Frykman. 'AlphaWrites: 26 Days to Transformation', Kay Adams. 'Writing Loops', Briony Goffin. 'Finding Your Racket Voice', Sandy Hutchinson Nunns. 4. Writing the Body. 'Finding Beauty in an Ugly Situation', Beverly Kirkhart. 'Listening to Body Signals: Triggers from the Past', Jane Pace. 'Straight from the Hip', Sue Ashby. 'Dealing with Chronic Pain', Miriam Halahmy. 'Broken Face: A Poem', Bryony Doran. 'In watching you I see myself', Jay Carpenter. 'Creating a Legacy Out of Everyday Living', Claire Willis. 5. Writing the Troubled Self. 'Cracks', Rebecca Atherton. 'The Blue Gate', Rose Flint. 'Giving Perspective', Yona McGinnis. 'The Year the Wall Came Down', Maggie Sawkins. 'Stories from the Silk Tent', Lucy O'Hagan, Gilly Pugh and Lizzi Yates. 6. Our Families, Ourselves. 'Time Capsule', Linda Sliwoski. 'When Melancholia Strikes, Poetry Steps in', Glynis Charlton. 'The Legacy of Mothers', Marliss Weber. 'For Those who wish to Sing, There is Always a Song', Margot Van Sluytman. 'The Clock and Me', Nigel Gibbons. 'Come In - to the Life of the Poem', Graham Hartill. 'Never rub out, never throw away', Jonathan Knight. 7. Relationships. 'The Healing Fountain', Penelope Shuttle. 'Burning Want', Les Murray. 'Leaving Tortilla, my cat', Claire Williamson. 'Wall Writing', Monica Suswin. 'Invoking the Ancestors', Reinekke Lengelle. 'A Heart-Shadow Fell at our Feet: Writing a Sequence of Love Sonnets', Robert Hamberger. 8. Personal Loss. 'To a Gold Ear-ring. Head of Nefertiti', Wendy French. 'The Final "Good Bye"', Sarah Birnbach. 'Something we need to learn to live alongside', Yvonne Watson. 'Close up, From a Distance', Deborah Buchan. 'Writing my mother's obituary', Leone Ridsdale. 'I'll never forget', Joanne Robinson. 9. Managing Transitions. 'Writing, Waiting, Rocks', Mary Lee Moser. 'The Door', Gillie Jenkinson. 'Do the Work - a writing exercise that turns you around', Reinekke Lengelle. 'Using Dialogue toMove on with my Life', Lynda Heines. 'Writing a Sketchbook', Angie Butler. 'When I Get Old', Judy Clinton. 10. Developing Mindfulness. 'Mindful Moments', David Oldham. 'Writing a Haiku', Carolyn Henson. 'Lost Heart', Elaine Trevitt. 'Loneliness', Julie Sanders. 'I have a Dream...', Ronna Jevne. 'Conversation with a Ponderosa Pine', Susan Wirth Fusco. 'Frustration and Me', Janice Putrino. 'Searching my Soul through Cyberspace', Christine Nutt. 11. Signals, Lines, and Reflections: Writing on Trains', Fiona Hamilton. Appendix I: Writing Route Map: Themes. Appendix II: Writing Routes Map: Types of Writing. Appendix III: Contributor Biographies. Bibliography.