10 Reasons I Love Writing Fiction to Heal
Healing
Obviously at the top of the list is why I champion writing fiction so whole-heartedly — because it does help you heal. By leveraging the power of your experiences, your pain, and putting it on the page, you’re doing the hard work of healing those wounds. It’s more nuanced than what I can describe in this tiny paragraph, but trust me when I say that I’ve healed more through writing fiction than I have in the years of therapy or trauma recovery coaching I’ve been involved with. And the best part? It’s all self-paced and self-directed. It always meets you where you’re at in the recovery process.
Distance
I think one of my favorite aspects of writing fiction to heal is the amount of distance it offers us from our real-life situations. Yes, the ultimate purpose of writing fiction to heal is to...well, heal, but it doesn’t have to look like rehashing the situation exactly as it is. In a way, we can write, observe and work through what needs to be healed without directly touching on the real-life events that caused it in the first place.
No Previous Requirements
It’s a bit rebellious to say this but I’m going to do it anyway because it’s what I believe — writing fiction does NOT require you to have a degree or education in writing or storytelling. It doesn’t even require being a “good” writer. Some of the best storytellers in the world aren’t even writers — they’re oral storytellers. I get this kind of pushback a lot from other writers, teachers, and students but the truth is — you don’t need to know a damn thing about writing. What you need to know already lives inside of you — and that’s how to bring yourself to the page in a way that’s authentic to you.
It’s fun
I absolutely love the fact that writing fiction can be as fun as it is healing. Take for instance my Back to Bad Series. I had SO MUCH FUN writing the characters and the story because in fiction — anything goes. Bank heists? Check. Running from the law in a creative and clever way? Check. Having a quickie in the bathroom stall while sirens are blasting? Check. Writing fiction can be such a great exercise in having fun. Letting loose on the page. Having characters do things you would never do in real life. Want to write a fantasy book where there’s a cat-dog character? You betcha. It’s fun to let your imagination take charge on the page instead of living in a constant state of “reality.”
Safe
The page can be your best friend, your therapist, your sounding board, your secret keeper. There is nothing the page can’t handle and in that way — it’s the safest place you can be yourself. Worried about someone reading what you’ve written? No problem... the page doesn’t care if you “trash” the document once you get it out. The page won’t be mad at you if you decide to burn your secrets and scatter them amongst the wind. The page serves you and only you. And you get to make the decision whether or not someone else gets to see it.
Affordable
I once wrote an entire novel in a $.67 notebook with a $2.43 pen. Writing is cheap in terms of financial investment. It requires more sweat equity than anything else, but what doesn’t these days? Writing is literally the cheapest form of therapy and friendship I’ve ever encountered and I believe that it will always remain one of the cheapest ways to do something you love and get massive healing results from. I don’t write with paper/pen any longer, but it’s still affordable given that I use free writing programs.
Accessible
Writing fiction to heal is one of the most accessible forms of healing that has ever existed. If you have access to a writing utensil and paper, you have everything you need. Going back to #2 on the list — you don’t even need to write it down. You can verbally speak your story on the fly with no need for any materials at all. If you are concerned about “documenting” your story — there are many free speech-to-text or voice memo apps that can help you out. When I had to commute for my corporate job, I would tell myself stories in the car and record them to listen to later. Many of them ended up being the seeds or themes to larger stories I’d write later in life.
Increased Self-Awareness and Introspection
Writing fiction to heal encourages the writer to come to the page honestly and in doing so, it’s inevitable that it improves self-awareness and introspection. When we ask ourselves (and our characters) “why” they’re doing, saying, acting a certain way, we’re really asking ourselves what we think about it. We’re learning to hold paradoxes in our writing and working out on the page who we think we were, who we are and who we want to be.
Poses a self-directed challenge
One of the things I love to do with fiction is an experiment. It offers the perfect opportunity to infuse a little bit of challenge into our lives. Want to play around with writing a neo-western-style novel in outer space? Go for it! Want to write a romance with a shipwrecked cast of characters? Do it! One of my favorite ways to challenge myself is by trying to write something I’ve never written before or in a way I’ve never done before like my 30 Day Fiction Challenge using the cards (you can read my debrief on that).
Milestone marker
Writing fiction to heal is the gift that keeps on giving because after you’ve finished laying it all out on the page, the story morphs into a “milestone” for you. You can literally see through the pages how much growth and healing you’ve done and if you decide to keep the story when you look back at it years from now, you’ll be able to notice the growth even more clearly. It’s a “milestone” that can bring you back home to yourself or your “why” for writing it in the first place.
Interested in learning more about writing fiction to heal? Consider checking out the relaunch of my Writing Fiction to Heal Workshop. It’s a workshop designed to teach you how to take reality and turn it into fiction to heal.
