The Story You Need to Tell by Sandra Marinella, MA, MEd
“Our words create us. Our stories create us. And our writing can re-create us.”
Wise words from Sandra Marinella, a writer who has taught several people how to use personal writing to come to terms with, overcome, and learn from past traumas. And now through the power of this book, she can teach all of us. Every chapter ends with a few writing prompts and exercises that can help us to use personal writing to heal.
She reveals the five stages of writing . . .
- Experience your pain and grief
- Break your silence and find your voice.
- Accept and piece together a difficult or broken story.
- Find meaning and make sense of this event or story.
- Rewrite your story and find ways to reconnect with your well-being.
and hopes that the “book will give you the following gifts – the power to find your voice, the ability to transform your story when needed, and the well-being that comes from renewed meaning, resilience, and creative living.”
Marinella explains the deep power of story and how the act of reading can help us live our day to day lives. She mentions Keith Oatley’s brilliant metaphor comparing stories to flight simulators. Just as pilots can use flight simulators to train for all sorts of scenarios , we can use stories to help us get through life experiences. We learn from a character’s response to a situation and can then use that knowledge to help us get through a similar time.
Creating our own self-stories is a powerful experience. The writing process allows us to make sense of what has happened to us and to move forward. Marinella puts it this way, “Our brains allow us not only to create our personal story of self, but to edit, interpret, and find meaning in what we are creating.”
So, pick up a pen or open up your word processor and start writing about your life. You have a story you need to tell.
My List of 2017 Reads – updated regularly with every new title I read this year