Five words of comfort for writers of memoirs

I’ve always believed that it takes an incredible amount of courage to share your personal story. Sometimes, the challenges and traumatic experiences we’ve encountered are often hidden and they remain that way until we address them either through counseling or unintentionally. When a person decides they want to write their story in a book, they are saying, “I have been through this terrible situation and I want to use my story to help somebody else.” It is a very brave and selfless thing to do.

Deciding to share your story is one thing, but taking the steps to do it is not easy. You see, you’ll need to go back– deep into the archives of your past and remember relive experiences. Then, you’ll need to find the right way to communicate each scenario. It is often a very painful and incredibly challenging task because it requires detail.

Several years ago, I worked with an author who was writing her memoir. Her life story involved kidnapping, sexual abuse, trafficking, and toxic relationships. I was so impressed by how gracefully she told it. She already had a lot of content written down, but we worked together to write the rest of it. During our Literary Coaching Sessions, she would often pause and take a minute to remember her reality. We were so deep into her story that it felt like it came alive right in front of the both of us. I reminded her many times, “You survived, by the grace of God. Keep that in mind!” I wanted her to know that although this terrible, awful thing happened in her life, she survived. There is a necessary season of recovery after trauma, and within recovery there is hope.

Here are five words of comfort for writers writing a memoir:

1. You are a blessing and God will use your story to help many people, including you. Thank you for your desire to serve through sharing your story.
2. God gives us the strength to do hard things. Writing your story can seem hard, but you can do all things through Christ who give you strength.
3. You are proof that there is hope and healing after trauma. We don’t understand why certain things happened, and I’m so sorry for what you experienced. There is hope. Things can get better.
4. You are not alone. God is with you and there is support available to you!
5. God has a plan for your life. That plan may include writing your story in a book and helping many others see the hope that’s available to them too.

I hope this post has encouraged you today!