Daily Archives: August 1, 2012

WRITING AS A TRANSFORMATIONAL TOOL

by BRUCE HALE

source: http://www.brucehalewritingtips.com/

When we tell stories, we hope we are touching the lives of our readers, making them laugh, cry, wonder, or ponder. But what if, by your writing, you could also touch your own life, help your own emotional or psychological growth?

To some extent, this happens organically. We’re drawn to subjects that have a certain resonance for us, after all. And if you write about topics that touch on your own traumas and past challenges, you’ll sometimes find that you feel better. But if you want to take it further, here are a couple of ways to go about this process more deliberately.

PROBING PAST PAIN
Ever had a sore tooth that you just couldn’t leave alone, even though it hurt when you touched it? Same principle here. Look back at your life, at those incidents that make you cringe even now — the time you embarrassed yourself in front of the classroom, the death of a friend, your first painful breakup. That’s your raw material for story.

Now spend some time writing about the memory that has the biggest charge on it. See if you can recall specific sensory details that make the experience come alive. After setting it aside for awhile, rewrite the incident from a fictional perspective, changing or inventing details to suit your story.

Voila — you’ve just created the seed for a powerful scene (or at least some potent backstory for your character). Now, this incident may not even directly appear in your story — you may use just the emotional tone — but you’ve managed to come to grips with something from your past while adding emotional depth to your tale.

Want an example? Growing up, I had a frequently challenging relationship with my stepdad; we rarely saw eye to eye. In my new book, SCHOOL FOR S.P.I.E.S.: Playing With Fire, I gave the hero, Max, a difficult relationship with his dad. Did I borrow actual incidents from my own life? No. But I used the feeling tone, that love-hate vibe, to deepen my story, and in some ways it has helped me feel more peaceful about my past relationship with my dad.

THE PENNEBAKER METHOD
If you want to get more directly therapeutic, you can also write in a directed way about what’s bugging you today.

For nearly 20 years, Dr. James Pennebaker has been asking people to write down their deepest feelings about an emotional upheaval in their lives for 15-20 minutes a day, four days running. In his book, WRITING TO HEAL, he states that many who have followed his instructions have had their immune systems strengthened, grades improved, or even lives changed.

The 4-day writing process, he says, helps us translate an experience into language, and in doing so, we essentially make that experience graspable. “Emotional upheavals touch every part of our lives,” Pennebaker explains. “These things affect all aspects of who we are, and writing helps us focus and organize the experience. When people are given the opportunity to write about emotional upheavals, they often experience improved health.”

Sound intriguing? Give it a try. You may find it improves your life as well. Or at least your stories.