by: Eric Carasella
Writing as catharsis is not a new idea. Most important art studies some kind of pain. But the idea that we can heal ourselves, and possibly others, through our craft is something I believe in.
How I’ve Healed Through Writing
I’m a child of divorce, so I was exposed to the hypocrisy and lies of not only my father but also my faith at the time. I was barely ten years old, a little chubby, and unsure about why mom was sad all the time. So I turned to writing.
Imitation
I was always a reader. My father built an entire bookshelf along one wall of our basement. It was filled with books. I used to study these like they were forbidden fruit. And some of them were, according to my mother.
In my young brain, getting lost in books was a great escape. So I naturally leaned into writing. Spending afternoons in my room, trying to write like Stephen King.
I loved movies, so a good portion of my early work was my attempt at ripping off horror movies and ghost stories. I kept these pieces in a box up until about five years ago. And then I got rid of them.
I couldn’t bear to look at them anymore. Not because they made me sad, but because the writing was simply awful.
Feeling
And then, as things at home became uglier between my mother and father, I started to write about what I was feeling.
Most of it was sadness, because it was the only emotion I could actually understand at that point. I felt sad, and lonely. So I wrote about that. I felt scared sometimes, so I wrote about that too.
And over time, I started to understand it. That was my catharsis.
It took almost twenty years for me to reconcile completely with my father. And some of my writing as a teenager in high school reflects this. I was still angry and unsure. Not to mention I was a teenager with normal teenage issues. But my writing got me through that.
And over the years, it has gotten me through all kinds of issues and concerns. The fact that I’m writing this now tells me that I may have a few things to say on the matter.
Writing through Revelation
Rose McGowan, in her aptly titled book Brave, had this to say about why she wrote the book,
“I am writing this book because I want to have a real conversation with the public and most especially you. I am honored that my words will enter your consciousness and conscience, that my thoughts will rest in your mind. I take that responsibility seriously.
Call what I’m doing a public service and you’d be correct. It is.
Hollywood is a dirty town up to some dirty tricks.
This is not a tell-all.
This is a tell-it-how-it-is.”
McGowan spent years in Hollywood before sharing these horrible stories. She lived with the shame of what had happened to her. Until one day, the pieces began toppling down and she shared her story. She wrote her way to happiness, or at least paved the road that will lead her there.
Writing through Connection
As writers, we use the healing power of words to first help ourselves, and then others who may have gone through similar struggles.
We use these words because we believe that they have magic. And that whatever storytelling wizardry we can invoke will only benefit our readers.
One of those readers is the writer herself. We’re the first pair of eyes on the page, so we get the immediate results of our labors.
But as we edit, and preen, and make the words oh so pretty, we also come to an understanding that we have evolved in some small way. And that evolution may just bring about change.
Writing through Experience
My first two novels involved people trying to overcome their past. The characters struggle with what they’ve done and how they can make things better. This is just me projecting onto the page. Both of those books were written roughly ten years ago.
My newest endeavors don’t involve characters who struggle with their past, because I no longer struggle with that past. I’ve grown and moved on, emotionally anyways.
And none of this would have been possible without the healing power of words.
Share your story. Someone will listen.
Eric Carasella is a freelance writer, editor, content creator, and blogger for hire. Follow him on his website here, or Twitter.
