Life doesn’t always go to plan. My father always insisted that the best stories came from times that were not planned, those moments or events that changed the course. No one shares anecdotes about things that turn out perfectly. Those stories would be far too boring. Instead, we all turn to the unexpected, the traumatic, the absurd turns life can take when we want to share a story of our lives.
The problem isn’t in finding the story (at least, not with time), but in finding the motivation to write or craft that story when life takes that traumatic turn. How do you keep writing when everything has changed and everything has turned upside down?
You don’t. Or you just do. Even if only for clarity’s sake.
This past year has been a challenging one for my family. We’ve all been a bit numb, I think, and that makes writing harder. Sometimes even impossible. So I didn’t write. I stepped back. Originally, I only meant to take the summer off, but that came and went and I still didn’t feel like writing. I couldn’t make myself care about it. I even stopped reading for a while.
I needed a break from life, words, work.
But eventually words helped me start to make sense of things. It was only when I picked up a pen again that I started sorting through what had happened and was still happening.
At first, I started writing out my frustrations and fears. Then I started writing about what happened. Finally I started putting the story into narrative form. That is when I started feeling better. That’s when I could find my footing again and begin to move forward, or at least through. It wasn’t a linear process. It took time. There were still many days I didn’t feel like writing. Days when getting through took all I had.
I’m not going to go into what happened. It’s personal and not my story alone. But I will say that writing during moments of trauma and shock won’t be easy. You might need to take a moment to gain perspective. But once the shock goes, picking up a pen (or tapping the keys) can help.
I am going to keep writing my story in narrative form, more for me my family than for any public release. But I am also going to come back to this blog and start writing about writing again. It’s my passion and defines my life. I need that definition now more than ever.
I’ve also launched a new online aspect to my in-person writing business. I’ll talk about that here too or you can find out more by looking around the newly updated Figments & Fables website.
In the meantime, if you are facing any form of hardship, try writing it out. It does help. You don’t need to frame it as a story or even have it make sense. Just putting words down can help you sort out your emotions.
The holidays and a new year are a great time to pick up a journal and create that daily writing habit. I plan to start one myself to get through tough days and to celebrate the good ones. There’s a lot to be grateful in this world. Capturing it on paper sounds like a smart thing to do.
Will you join me?
How do you handle writing when life has taken a turn? I’d love to hear from you.
