The following article may include links to various products/services. Using these links may result in my earning a small commission that helps me keep this site going! Thank you for your support!
Writing is a self-help tool that somehow still doesn’t get as much credit as it well deserves. Whether you’re struggling to stay focused because your mind runs a mile a minute, or you want to try writing to process emotions, or you just want to rant, it can be life changing.
So that’s why I decided to write a novel. Two years ago, one of my best friends in the whole world died in a tragic freak accident. Of course, this happened across the country, and due to the pandemic, I was unable to go to her celebration of life, or visit many other people who were also hurting.
How I started writing to process emotions
I internalized my pain for quite a long time. I actually started a brand new job two days after losing her— I did tell my new employer about it, and they would’ve absolutely supported me needed a little more time, but I dove in and kept myself from thinking about the pain for as long as I possibly could.
That lasted for almost a year and a half. For all that time, instead of processing my emotions, I’d internalize them and have routine bursts of emotion in the form of panic attacks, spontaneous crying, overwhelm… you name it.
Then something changed inside me. I booked a counselling appointment, and I signed up for NaNoWriMo.
How I kept writing despite the rawness
With great difficulty, I’ll admit that. Especially at the beginning of the novel I wrote to deal with these things, when I’d detail an accident that would serve as my fictionalized retelling, I’d be overwhelmed with emotion and try to convince myself that I had to stop.
Thank goodness I didn’t.
I pushed. And because I’m a child, I kept myself going with gold star stickers. Every day I wrote 2000 words, I put a gold star on my calendar.
The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. I felt such a need to push through the grief, trauma, and everything else, that I hit 60,000 words in less than three weeks.
I kept myself focused until I finally hit that target, and then I took a few months off to breathe before revision would begin.
Why I chose fiction writing to process emotions
I’d wanted to write a novel for many years, but I never felt like I could do a novel idea justice. With such a personal story, I had no choice but to do it justice.
Even though my novel is a fully fictionalized version of this very real tragedy, the core concepts are the same. I was able to keep many character traits, bits of setting, and some themes the same while still creating characters, building plot, and making a world of my own to tell this story.
The emotions are real. The heartbreak is real. The love, loss, and grief, is real. But it’s dealt with my way.
I can’t tell you how important it is to to it your way if you want to use writing to process emotions. Don’t let someone tell you it won’t work if you don’t do it in a specific way.
Final Thoughts
While I was tempted to do a section about what emotions I actually tackled within the novel, I wanted to keep this spoiler free. What I will say is that I really think anyone out there also suffering from grief or loss will hopefully be able to take something from my story.
Coming to Amazon and Kindle in 2022! Follow my social media to stay in the loop!
Writing this novel was honestly life changing for me, and I would love to help any of you out there come up with a way to deal with your demons via the written word. I’m always happy to talk, so don’t hesitate to reach out.
It’s a good day to have a good day.