Cons and Monks

Okay, so that's a strange heading for a blog? Well it relates to the reflection I often had when working as a writer in prisons. Monks spent hours alone and contemplating the eternal verities, we are told. Well, some prisoners do the same. Not all, mind, but some. Those who do, in my experience, really need something to write down. There are stories swimming around their heads, and that's fine, but their own story needs most attention, and that's where journaling comes in.
This is yet another dimension to my new book, Write Your Self, which would lend its content and ordered writing to that readership I think, though I never used this when I worked inside the walls.
People inside prisons are not all like Harold Shipman or Jack the Ripper. Many have made horrendous mistakes; many have lost their way in life. What most have in common is a need to do something, achieve something, start afresh - and words are our best tools for that.