Text, Set, and Setting: a Psychedelic Writing Workshop

This workshop will explore the intersection of writing and psychedelics, and is open to writers of all stripes and levels of experience.

‘Drug, set, and setting’/‘dose, set, and setting’ have become the dominant rubrics for evaluating factors that can influence a drug experience. I propose that these rubrics can also be applied to the writing process. Where you choose to write, the setup/ambience of the space, and the length or intensity of a writing session, can impact the writing process in subtle and/or abundant ways. And your state of mind will influence any writing you produce, so preparations or enhancements might be employed to shift your mindset (e.g. music, visualisation, downing a cup of coffee—or something stronger!)

The workshop will include a grounding meditation as a preparatory step towards writing. Participants will then be invited to write about a past psychedelic (or otherwise mind-expanding) experience. (Pens and paper will be provided, but also feel free to bring your own preferred writing implements/devices.)

The writing we undertake will be an opportunity to observe your writing process and the influence of set and setting. There will be no pressure to share your writing or ideas, but space will be offered for sharing and questions.

Further questions the workshop will seek to address include: How can we write about mystical or seemingly ineffable experiences? How can ‘writing under the influence’ be done fruitfully? What can psychedelics teach us about the relationship between creativity and receptivity? How could journaling before, during, or after a psychedelic experience morph into other forms of writing/art/media? And how might we approach processes of research, writing, editing, and collaboration from multiple states of consciousness?

If participants are interested, we can also explore other tools that can be used to shift set, setting, and intention for writers, including divinatory/aleatory practices such as tarot, I Ching, bibliomancy, cut-ups, or the use of dice. These might be used as part of preparation or intention-setting, or in the midst of a writing session, to shift emphasis or open up new possibilities. Provided an appropriate space is held, such practices can provide openings for (depending on your worldview) the arising of chance, spontaneity, the unconscious, or manifestations of spirit/divinity.