Parallel Writing Club
Parallel Writing Club is a twice monthly online body doubling space for writers and creatives. Our two hour sessions take place over Zoom and are led by Ennis Welbourne.
I first began body doubling in cafes alongside strangers and other writers. When I was experiencing internal resistance with a project, I found the social accountability of working in the company of others helped me challenge myself to make progress. I had difficulty maintaining in-person sessions due to the costs of beverages and travel, as well as the impact on my sensory system and mobility. When I switched to online sessions, these barriers fell away. From the comfort of my own home, regular scheduled parallel working has become the back bone of my creative practice.
Over the last three years, I have lead over 100 parallel writing sessions for writers. I’ve developed my session structure to support the following three activities:
We begin with a 10 minute group check-in, an opportunity for everyone to share how we’re doing and how we plan to spend our writing time. I find verbalising my intentions a good way to start an internal conversation with my creativity which helps me transition into writing.
In the parallel writing section, we have 90 minutes of mics-off, individual and private creative time. The length of allocated time means I can do things like tidy my creative space, locate documents I need, get a cup of tea, fuss my cat, and still have plenty of time left to make progress with my writing!
For our final activity, we have 20 minutes of group time to reflect and discuss. An informal space to share further details about our writing process, reflect on challenges, ask for opinions or advice, share recommendations, and more :)
The power of regular external support from others has had a massive beneficial impact on my creative practice. I’ve developed in my ability to communicate about my creative process and grown in confidence with my identity as a writer. I find it deeply rewarding to have my relationship to writing witnessed over time – including all the complexity, challenge and success that make up my creative experiences.
To those who haven’t tried parallel working before, I suggest giving it a go! If you have any questions, please get in touch with me at: enniswelbourne@gmail.com
Schedule
10 min Group Check In – share our intentions
90 min Parallel Writing – individual private creative time
20 min Group Discussion – share details about our projects, creative practice, writing news, arts opportunities, and more!
Participation
All activities are optional and no one will be asked to share their writing. Having our cameras turned on is preferred (but not compulsory) to help aid feelings of transparency around who is attending. Although the main focus of the session is a writing task, you are welcome to engage with other creative activities – like thinking, doodling, reading, crafting, and moving around the space!
If this if your first time attending – please take a look through the Access Narrative Handbook which covers some of my considerations around participation and accessibility, as well as information on how to join a Zoom meeting. If you have any access needs you would like to share ahead of the session, please get in contact via email.
Suitable for all experience levels. Open to writers and creatives aged 18+. Maximum group size of twelve. Our sessions often contain a mixture of regular and new members :)
Bookings
Upcoming session dates: May 8th and 22nd | June 5th and 19th | July 10th and 24th 2026. If you’re interested in receiving listing updates for future dates, please join the monthly mailing list.
You can find individual booking links via the Access Narrative listing page, which is hosted by Ticket Tailor. To take part, you can select either a free or £3 ticket for the session you’d like to attend. If you use the 'Add to cart' feature at checkout, you can get tickets for multiple sessions in the same order.
The session Zoom link for our meeting room is emailed out two days in advance and is also available via your Ticket Tailor booking confirmation email.
If you book a ticket to Parallel Writing Club, I will add your email address to the list of recipients for my monthly newsletter that contains upcoming club session dates and booking links. You can opt-out of this by replying with 'X'.
By booking a ticket, you agree to the booking terms and conditions.
Testimonials
“I am loving these sessions. It’s nice to be facilitated and have Ennis hold the time boundary for us. It feels like a casual, supportive and relaxing group. So far I’ve been happy with what I’ve achieved at the end of each session and more importantly, the creative and relaxed way I’ve achieved it!”
“Every two weeks on a Friday morning I have a date with my laptop. However much the chores and admin are piling up, the two hours of the Accountability Club are set aside for me and my writing. Being with a group of people who are all doing the same thing is a great motivation. I type like mad, review old pieces, play around with writing prompts, or just sit and think. I can feel my mind expanding into the space. No excuses, but no pressure either. Brilliant.”
“Having a shared slot and commitment to write was super helpful in actually making it happen! I’m looking forward to this being part of my weekly routine, to keep the words and stories flowing.”
“Thank you so much for this space – I’ve definitely got far more done than I would’ve left to my own devices! So pleased I made some progress! Thanks Ennis for hosting and everyone there for holding space. Lovely to chat in the small group after the work session too. Recommended!”
2024–2026 participants from Accountability Club
About Ennis
My name is Ennis Welbourne and I use they/them pronouns. I’m a writer and artist from Bristol. I have been facilitating online creative writing workshops and courses for the last five years. I am passionate about delivering groups and workshops accessible to marginalised creatives. I am a Survivor of sexual, physical, emotional and neglectful child abuse. You can find out more about me by visiting my website, enniswelbourne.com
