{"id":977,"date":"2009-08-04T09:52:47","date_gmt":"2009-08-04T17:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=977"},"modified":"2013-08-20T14:34:35","modified_gmt":"2013-08-20T22:34:35","slug":"5-reasons-your-life-will-improve-through-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-reasons-your-life-will-improve-through-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Reasons Your Life Will Improve Through Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Before I began to write, I didn\u2019t fully understand the effects of the past on the present.\u00a0 Instead, for years, the past appeared in my mind\u2019s eye like faded black-and-white photographs, in which no one, especially me, seemed to be fully alive.<\/p>\n

Growing up, I lived a double life.\u00a0 On the face of it, we seemed like a normal, happy family:\u00a0 My father had an important career.\u00a0 We lived in nice houses and wore pretty clothes.\u00a0 But all this seeming perfection was a veneer, masking the reality that my father sexually molested me, a reality never spoken aloud.<\/p>\n

Later, as an adult, I continued to live a double life: this time as a sex addict.\u00a0 Again, in public, I appeared normal, with a seemingly good marriage.\u00a0 No one knew that the shiny fa\u00e7ade hid dark secrets: I cheated on my husband.<\/p>\n

Then I started putting words on the page.\u00a0 Finally, I chose to examine my past.<\/p>\n

In Fearless\u00a0 Confessions: a Writer\u2019s Guide to Memoir<\/em><\/a>,<\/strong> <\/em>I encourage you, and you, and you, to explore, through writing, your life, as well.\u00a0 Whether your childhood was traumatic or not, whether your current life is in disarray, chances are you do<\/em> have a story to tell.\u00a0 Whether, say, you\u2019re figuring out a divorce, taking notes about a recent illness, exploring the disruption caused by a parent in the military, or worrying about a visit with an estranged mother, we write memoir to better understand ourselves, as well as to bring a reader with us on our journeys.<\/p>\n

Here are five reasons why your life will be improved by writing a memoir, by telling your own story:<\/p>\n

One:\u00a0 Memoir Helps You Understand the Past<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I gain much clearer insights about my past when I write, then if I simply sit around thinking about it, in the abstract.\u00a0 What was the relationship between the sex addiction and being molested by my father?\u00a0 How did the past cause such emotional devastation?\u00a0 I discovered the answers to these important questions through the written word.<\/p>\n

Writing is a way to interact with\u2014and interpret\u2014the past.\u00a0 It helps us make sense of events, whether they are traumatic, joyful, or maybe just confusing.\u00a0 Writing sharpens our senses so that images and details from the past emerge in a new context, one that illuminates events for ourselves as well as for our readers.<\/p>\n

Two:\u00a0 Memoir Organizes Your Life<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Just living my life day by day, I never stop long enough to question events.\u00a0 There\u2019re errands to run, meals to cook\u2014to say nothing of emotional clutter!\u00a0 Who has time to stop and think about events swirling around us?<\/p>\n

Only when I put my everyday life on hold, so to speak, sit down at my computer and write, can I even begin to see a pattern to the rush-and-tumble of life.<\/p>\n

Memoir writing, gathering words onto pieces of paper or on a computer, helps us shape our lives.\u00a0 By discovering plot, arc, theme, and metaphor, we give our lives an organization, a frame, which they would not otherwise have.\u00a0 Memoir creates a narrative, a life story.<\/p>\n

Three:\u00a0 Memoir Helps You Discover Your Life Force<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Before I wrote, while I kept secrets, I didn\u2019t feel as if I were really living my <\/em>life.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have a clear grasp as to who I was.\u00a0 What, and who, was the essence of \u201cme\u201d?\u00a0 There are thousands of other incest survivors.\u00a0 How was my story different?<\/p>\n

When writing, if I forge even one good sentence on any given day, I have discovered a kernel of emotional truth.\u00a0 I feel that life force of \u201cme,\u201d as if it\u2019s my pulse.\u00a0 To write is to give birth to a more complete self.<\/p>\n

There is only one of you.\u00a0 Your voice is unique.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t express yourself, if you don\u2019t fully explore who you are, that essence of you will be lost.<\/p>\n

Four:\u00a0 Memoir Helps Others to Heal<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

One thing I most love about writing memoir, is that it affords me the opportunity to meet many courageous people, still struggling.<\/p>\n

For example, after I completed a reading at a library in Athens, Georgia, one woman waited until everyone else had departed.\u00a0 Approaching me, she was so scared she began to cry.\u00a0 She confided that I was the first person she\u2019d told that her father had molested her.\u00a0 She was too traumatized even to tell a therapist.\u00a0 Why did she confide in me, trust me?\u00a0 Simply because I had written my story.\u00a0 Through this meeting, both of us were empowered.<\/p>\n

Five:\u00a0 Confessing, through Memoir, is Good for the Soul<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Telling family secrets\u2014any intimate secret\u2014can be scary.\u00a0 Finally, however, I reached a place where not <\/em>telling the secrets was worse.\u00a0 I felt heavy, weighted down.\u00a0 Finally, then, it was more a relief to write my life, then ignore it.\u00a0 So even though at times I felt scared or uncomfortable, I ultimately felt a sense of release and power.<\/p>\n

In short, with every word the pain lessened.\u00a0 It was as if I extracted it, one word at a time.<\/p>\n

As you challenge yourself, you\u2019ll feel more courageous every day. Writing memoir energizes your psyche, nourishes your soul.<\/p>\n

Sue William Silverman is a Guest Blogger for PickTheBrain.\u00a0 memoir, Love Sick: One Woman\u2019s Journey through Sexual Addiction <\/em>(Norton), <\/em>is also a Lifetime TV movie.\u00a0 Her first memoir, Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You<\/em>, <\/em>won the AWP award in creative nonfiction.\u00a0 She teaches at the Vermont College of Fine Arts and has appeared on such programs as The View and Anderson Cooper \u2013 360.\u00a0 Her most recent book is Fearless Confessions: A Writer\u2019s Guide to Memoir<\/em>.\u00a0 Please visit www.suewilliamsilverman.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain on Twitter! <\/a><\/p>\n

Related Articles:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

How To Stop Your Thoughts From Making You Depressed<\/a><\/p>\n

The Six Components of a Happy Life<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before I began to write, I didn\u2019t fully understand the effects of the past on the present. Instead, for years, the past appeared in my mind\u2019s eye like faded black-and-white photographs, in which no one, especially me, seemed to be fully alive. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":12783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[23],"tags":[56,53,4650,4642,55,51,52,4635,54,4629,4636],"yoast_head":"\n5 Reasons Your Life Will Improve Through Writing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Before I began to write, I didn\u2019t fully understand the effects of the past on the present. 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