Face the Page

“Storytelling is healing. As we reveal ourselves in story, we become aware of the continuing core of our lives under the fragmented surface of our experience. We become aware of the multifaceted, multichaptered ‘ I ‘ who is the storyteller. We can trace out the paradoxical and even contradictory versions of ourselves that we create for different occasions, different audiences… Most important, as we become aware of ourselves as storytellers, we realize that what we understand and imagine about ourselves is a story. And when we know all this, we can use our stories to heal and make ourselves whole.”–Susan Wittig Albert

Storytelling is healing. Writing is healing. (Did you notice how cleverly I recycled yesterday’s theme? It is worthwhile enough to bear repeating.) Whether you are writing fiction or memoir or a blog, if you write what calls to you, if you write honestly about the light places and the dark places, you will learn to understand yourself, and you will start to untie knots in your perceptions and feelings. If you are courageous enough to explore those dark places within yourself and then share those discoveries, others will benefit from your experience.

“I write because something inner and unconscious forces me to. That is the first compulsion. The second is one of ethical and moral duty. I feel responsible to tell stories that inspire readers to consider more deeply who they are.”—David Guterson