There is a particular kind of courage that rarely gets talked about.
Not the loud kind.
Not the heroic, headline-grabbing kind.
But the quiet courage it takes to sit down with a blank page and decide to write.
To write is to risk being seen.
Whether it’s a poem scribbled in a notebook, a short story shaped over months, or a memory finally given words, writing asks something very human of us: to bring what lives inside our heads and hearts into the outside world.
That’s why I’ve always felt that writers, at their core, are brave.
Over the past months, I’ve been spending time with the Alloa Writers Group, a long-established local group who meet regularly to read, share, and gently critique one another’s work.
The group is diverse in background, age, experience and style, but what connects them is a shared willingness to learn and to listen.
Some are published, others are just beginning.
Some write for personal satisfaction, others with professional ambition. But all of them take part in the same quiet ritual: reading their words aloud, and allowing others to respond.
That moment, when someone hears your story for the first time, is no small thing.
The Alloa Writers Group, which has been part of the town for more than 30 years, reminds us that creativity often survives not through grand institutions, but through people simply showing up for one another over time.
This month, the group are launching their new anthology, Journeys.
It’s a collection of short stories and poems exploring themes many of us recognise: travel, loss, new beginnings and imagination.
Some pieces have previously been broadcast on the BBC, showing that powerful creativity doesn’t only come from big cities or famous names.
As one member, Brian Fearon, put it: “We’re a friendly, supportive group, and this book is a chance to share our stories with the wider community.”
In a world that often feels rushed and performative, there is something quietly radical about people choosing to sit together and share their inner worlds through words.
And perhaps courage doesn’t always look like standing on a stage. Sometimes it looks like opening a book and saying: “This is something I made, I hope it means something to someone else too.”
The Alloa Writers Group will be launching Journeys on Sunday February 22, 2pm to 4pm, at Resonate Together, Carsebridge Cultural Campus, Alloa.
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