I write books to relieve myself of pain. That's the prime motivator to write. Period.
Writing is a way of processing our lives. And it can be a way of healing.
One reason writers write is out of revenge. Life hurts; certain ideas and experiences hurt; one wants to clarify, to set out illuminations, to replay the old bad scenes and get the Treppenworte said -- the words one didn't have the strength or ripeness to say when those words were necessary for one's dignity or survival.
I do find it therapeutic, writing about stuff that was frightening and painful as a child, and managing to see it from an adult's point of view. To get it out of the closet onto paper, metaphorically speaking, is therapeutic.
I'm entranced by Amanda Lovelace's work. She wrote two wonderful books, 'The Princess Saves Herself in This One' and 'The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One.' You can feel your heart opening because she says things that you thought only you felt.
Some people have written that my writing has helped them go on. It has helped me too. The writing, the roses, the 9 cats.
I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.
I was sick all the time, one exotic illness after another, which lasted throughout my twenties. My worst decade. But from the day the first book was accepted, I never got sick again. Writing changed my life.
If I didn't write in my journal every couple of days, I felt like I was going to burst. Later I learned the research about how important journaling can be to recovering from trauma and grief. That was definitely true for me.
To write is to give meaning to suffering.
One sheds one's sicknesses in books - repeats and presents again one's emotions, to be master of them.
writing is how I understand everything that happens. Writing is the only way I know to move on.
I redo the body of my poem like someone who tries to cure her own wound.
So often survivors have had their experiences denied, trivialized, or distorted. Writing is an important avenue for healing because it gives you the opportunity to define your own reality. You can say: This did happen to me. It was that bad. It was the fault & responsibility of the adult. I was—and am—innocent.” The Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass & Laura Davis
Writing is medicine. It is an appropriate antidote to injury. It is an appropriate companion for any difficult change.
