One of the great strengths of the Writing Out Loud approach is that the prompts are about simple, everyday topics, which give writers the freedom to write on a surface level or engage more deeply. For example, one of the prompts we used was to write about our favourite shoes. One of the women wrote about wanting a pair of knee-high boots that she could wear with short skirts so she could feel pretty, while still covering the scars on her legs. She could have easily written about shoes without mentioning her scars. During the sharing time, she talked about the after effects of some of the more severe beatings she had endured and how they had affected her vision of herself as a woman.

In our last session with Laurie, we asked the women to write about what they had found surprising in the group. Kris wrote about how the prompts had "...made my thoughts and mind produce such meaningful and real subjects," and how the writing had "made me dig deep into my inner feelings about the truth of my life." She also wrote that "we all grew from each writing class and (it) gave us a purpose to be here." Writing and being in the group had helped Kris talk about parts of her life in ways she hadn't before. We also asked the women, "What do you still want to write about?" In contrast to their answers in the first session, the women's responses suggested a desire to use writing to reflect on challenges and possibilities in their lives and to make sense of their experiences: I want to write about the positive, the good, and the genuine in me.

I want to find out what I am afraid of, guilty of, and angry at....I want to write my prayers.
— Doris

I'd like to write about pain and happiness in life, to dream all things, childhood experiences, what we want to do for ourselves, and accomplishments and failures we have endured.
— Kris

If we had something that bothers us, we could write, and have the others share similar thoughts and talk about how to deal with what we wrote.
— Alice

It is impossible to know where an idea will take a person, and sometimes what I thought was a fairly simple prompt led to deep and insightful writing. The following is Kris' response when given a cinnamon heart and asked to write for the length of time it took to dissolve in her mouth: