Writing Practice Prescription

One of 40 contributors to the just released book, Voices of Alcoholism: The Healing Companion: Stories for Courage, Comfort and Strength, is writing buddy Kim Mallin, MD. The book’s publisher, LaChance Publishing, is donating 100% of profits from the sale of its Voices Of series to The Healing Project (www.thehealingproject.org), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the education and support of those living with chronic and life-threatening diseases.

Kim and I met at the Maui Writers Conference a few years back. She is a family practice doc with heart and courage. Most of her writing work focuses on fiction, but she does not hold back her pen when a chance to help others by advocating comes along. A recovering alcoholic, Dr. Mallin captures her ownership of her problem with these encouraging words: “Gifts don’t always come in pretty packages, tied up with big colorful bows. Sometimes they don’t even look like gifts at the time. Sometimes they look like the worst things that could possibly happen, and only with the passage of time does the gift becomes apparent…such was the case with my alcoholism.”

Her contribution to this important book serves as a good example of “bibliotherapy” through memoir writing. The basic concept of bibliotherapy is that reading can be a healing experience.

Click here to review the Press Release for this book.

Leon and I were in the same writing retreat group with David Fryxell a few years back at the Maui Writers Conference. Since that time our group stays loosely in touch. What a joy to get Leon’s email a few days back in which he reported:

“Hot off the Press: ZigZag Pass: Love and War, is a memoir of my experience as a teenage soldier in combat in the Philippines during World War II and, subsequently, with the Army of Occupation in Japan. Interwoven throughout the book is a love story. After returning home, as soon as I turned 21, Florence, the girl I left behind, became my partner, lover, inspiration, and wife of 62 years.”

Leon was kind enough to send some info from the back cover of his forthcoming book:

An Endearing Love Story that Blossoms during World War II

A compelling account of a young infantryman’s experiences in combat in the South Pacific during World War II. His later work as a combat medic provides insight into what was and still is one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in war. Readers also will find interesting the story of his boyhood days on an Indiana farm and his return to ‘the girl he left behind’ at war’s end.

–Dick Stodghill, author of Normandy 1944

I loved reading ZigZag Pass. It was great! I related to so much of it.

Peter Thomas, Oscar-winning radio and TV narrator

I finished your memoir … It is terrific! I wish I had learned WW2 history in that way. … ZigZag Pass definitely will appeal to teens. If I were an 11th or 12th grade history teacher, I would use your book as required reading.

Jane Kiester, author of books for children and youth

Your memoir is superb, a wonderful balance of history/fact and personal story that brought tear, laughter and learning for this reader. … This is … a real gift to those of us who didn’t live thru any of those horrors and only knew as teenagers ourselves through history courses, dry with dates and numbers.

Estelle Rauch

Apart from this work, I have not seen such a mix of solid history and first-hand experience. I do like it.

Tony Arnold

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Leon Hesser, semi-retired State Department Foreign Service Officer, is the award-winning author of nonfiction books, including the best-selling biography of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug: The Man Who Fed the World. Learn more about Leon and his book by clicking here:

www.zigzagpass.com

Bavender House Press
P.O. Box 770883 www.bavenderhouse.com Naples, FL 34107-0883

Here’s a nice blog post I found while surfing the net this morning. Enjoy.

Writing as Therapy

by

Laura Woodruff, LCSW

I have found writing to be such a good tool for emoting. It is such a great way to cleanse the soul! There are some things that are not appropriate for the blog, as we all know. So, I have had to find some other writing outlets! I just wanted to suggest to anyone that may be having rough times—- write, write, and write some more. I think some of the most beautiful writing is done in painful times. It can also be a great comfort to others as pain is a universal emotion we have all felt. So, when in pain—write, write, and write some more. I have also discovered that it feels better than eating, eating, and eating! So, those are my words of wisdom for others! I know, such a nugget of wisdom! Luckily, there is always humor too, which is also very helpful. I rely on humor a little too much. Thank goodness for kids and the rigors of life, that force you to forget about problems and delve into reality. I never thought I would be thankful for poopy diapers, but sometimes the mundane can be a relief from reality. Frightening but true. These are my thoughts for today!

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Laura is a 35 year-old mother of five who lives in Utah. You can check out her blog by clicking here.

At the most recent Maui Writers Conference event I attended one of the speakers noted that the most frequent mistake she encountered among new writers was that of getting edited too early in the process of writing their books. So just when should you submit your work to an editor?

Check out this article from editor Barbara McNichol:

Not sure if your book is ready for editing?

Ask Barbara McNichol for a Sample Edit or Manuscript Review.
Call 520-615-7910

“Make Your Voice Sing” Sample Edit
My “Make Your Voice Sing” Sample Edit shows how editing can add power and persuasion to your writing while still capturing your voice and personality.
When you review your sample edit, you can see—
•    the quality and degree of editing provided
•    how editing adds clarity, precision, and artistry to your ideas
•    how we would partner to make your writing dreams come true!

“Make Your Voice Sing” Sample Edit Pricing - $100
You will receive:
•    A thorough edit of several manuscript pages
•    An editing Action Plan for copyediting your complete manuscript

A $100 credit toward your overall project fee when you order your “Content Complete” Copyediting.

“Hit Your Mark” Manuscript Review
You’ve labored so long over your manuscript that you’re too close to “see” its content clearly. It’s the perfect time to receive an expert review of your book—before you start the precision copyediting process.

Willing to invest in the ultimate success of your manuscript upfront?
An upfront review or critique lets you know if your manuscript succeeds in meeting your objectives early on. Find out what “big-picture” problems may lurk before copyediting begins and avoid pitfalls that will save time and costs in the long run.

You’ll receive all this and more by asking for a “Hit Your Mark” Manuscript Review, which will tell you:
•    if your manuscript includes all the content your intention calls for
•    where the structure of your manuscript needs improving
•    how well your ideas are presented to meet your objectives
•    how well your concepts address the needs of your readers
•    how you could magnify your ideas to make them bigger and better
•    how we can partner to make your writing dreams happen!
You’ll also receive a free “Make Your Voice Sing” Sample Edit

“Hit Your Mark” Manuscript Review Pricing
$  600 (up to 25,000 words)
$1100 (up to 50,000 words)
$1600 (up to 75,000 words)
You’ll find that a manuscript review will more than pay for itself with reduced editorial costs and increased sales.

______________________

Barbara McNichol offers expert editing of articles, book proposals, and non-fiction books. Contact her at 520-615-7910 or editor@barbaramcnichol.com or www.BarbaraMcNichol.com

By

Barbara McNichol

As writers, we can get caught up in an idea or feel particularly attached to a word or phrase. Our writing can suffer as a result. When editing your own manuscript, dare to be brutally honest with yourself. To help you, here’s a list of tips and techniques for steering clear of common pitfalls and strengthening your manuscript along the way.

While you’re editing, ask these questions:
• Is every word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, section, and chapter necessary?
• Is the message clearly understood?
• Can your ideas be expressed more simply?

Miracles do happen, but you likely won’t say yes to these questions after your first round of writing. So incorporate the following five “rules of thumb” in your revisions. Doing so will eliminate 90% of the weak writing editors see every day.

Make subjects and verbs agree.
Incorrect: A group of writers were in town. (“group” is singular while “were” is plural)
Correct: A group of writers was in town. (“group” is the subject here, not “writers”)

Use parallel construction.
Weak: We’ve learned to read, write, and we’re making sure information is shared.
Stronger: We’ve learned to read, write, and share information.

Make the subject obvious.
Incorrect: Driving down the highway, the new stadium came into view. (Who was driving
down the highway…the stadium?)
Correct: We saw the new stadium as we drove down the highway.

Use the active voice.
Passive: It was decided that everyone would take the class.
Active: The principal decided every student would take the class.

Select the write word every time!
Do you ever confuse “further” with “farther” or “accept” with “except”? I offer a handy reference guide called Word Trippers. It features more than 300 word pairs with definitions and examples to make their meanings clear.

For your free Word Trippers ebook, email me with 2008 Word Trippers in subject line.

Remember these tips to edit your work with a keen eye and a sharp pencil (or keyboard).

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Barbara McNichol offers expert editing of articles, book proposals, and non-fiction books. Contact her at 520-615-7910 or editor@barbaramcnichol.com or www.BarbaraMcNichol.com

“Just the facts, Ma’am, just the facts,” may be good advice to keep your writing simple and on track, but there’s no reason why you can’t arrange those facts to put color and a little grin into the essence of things.

Consider the standard tagline used by many authors: “XXX is YYY who ZZZ. He/she lives and works in Mysterland and can be reached through his/her website www.bestwebsiteever.com.” Brief and to the point to be sure, but do you have any idea whatsoever about who the writer is?

Some authors breathe a little life into their taglines by mentioning hobbies, pets, and small children. Anne Bingham, pictured in this post, has a short tagline that stopped me in my tracks. In less than 40 words she tells the reader what she does and where she lives. And her detail-rich copy hints at who she is: a person with quite a healthy sense of humor:

“Anne Bingham writes business copy on the computer, edits manuscripts with a 9mm mechanical pencil, and reflects on faith and family life in a spiral bound notebook with a rollerball pen. She lives a few miles west of Lake Michigan.”

What does your tagline say about you?

Mindstorming, sometimes called prospecting or the “20-idea method” sets the stage for letting your creative juices call forth suggestions for your writing as well as ways to improve your fortune and productivity. The process of mindstorming involves taking a question and then doing some personal “brainstorming” with your writing. This exercise is a great jogger of creativity why you find that you have run up against a wall with your writing.

Here’s how to do it:

• Formulate a question and write it at the top of a page
• Then, as fast as you can, write at least 20 to 25 answers.

While you write. Just write. Don’t think, judge, or edit. The more far out an answer that appears on your paper, the better.

After you stop writing, take a few minutes to review the answers that spilled onto your page. Some of the answers will guide you and others may even provoke an “Ah Ha!” realization. Often you will find the answers at the end of your list better than the first few.

Then there will be some days when the answers appear on the page but fail to turn up anything new. On these days when you strike out, just be patient. Set the question at hand aside for a few days. Then return to it and repeat the exercise.

On a personal note, I find that if I strike out too many times, the problem is not with finding the right answer but the right question. If you suspect that this might be what’s happening to you, try this. Take your question, XXX, that you were writing on the top of the page and then start with a new question at the top of the page: “What is a better way to ask XXX?” Then write to turn up 20 to 25 answers and reassess.

For productivity, consider this approach offered by career guru, Brian Tracey:

Begin by writing a particular goal or problem at the top of the page.

For example, if you want to increase your income by 50 percent over the next year, you would write something like, “What can I do to increase my income by 50 percent over the next 12 months?” Or, you can be even more specific by writing the exact amount. If you are earning $50,000 a year today, you would write: “What can I do to increase my income by $25,000 over the next 12 months?” The more specific the question is, the better the quality of answers will be. So don’t write, “What can I do to be happier over the next 12 months?” That kind of question is too fuzzy for your mind. Be specific, detailed, and focused in your questions and you will find practical, effective answers.

Once you have written the question, jot down 20 answers. Let your mind flow freely. Write down every answer that comes to you. Don’t worry about whether it is right or wrong, intelligent or foolish, possible or impossible. Just come up with at least 20 answers.

Whatever you write, keep writing until you have at least 20 answers. If you get stuck after writing the obvious answers, write about the opposite solutions. Don’t be afraid to be ridiculous. Very often, a ridiculous answer triggers a breakthrough thought that might save you years of hard work.

Next, go back over the answers and select the one that seems to be the most appropriate for you at this moment. You will often have an instinct or feeling about a particular answer. It appeals to you for some reason. This is an unconscious suggestion that you are on the right track.

Once you’ve selected the best option, here’s a way to double the creative impact of this exercise: Transfer the answer to the top of a new page and then write 20 ideas for implementing it in your life. You will be astonished at the outpouring of creative ideas that flow from your mind through your hand and onto the paper.

One of the great joys of engaging in an ongoing personal writing practice lies in getting to know yourself better. With pen and paper at hand, you begin to live an examined life. Mindstorming questions for living the examined life might include the following:

• What is your life about?
• What do you want your life to be about?
• What purpose do you want to guide your life?
• What do you want to happen in your workplace?
• What do you want to happen in your career?
• What do you want to happen in your relationships?
• What do you want to happen in your spiritual life?

When using mindstorming to improve your health and well-being, consider these questions:

• What is the one healthy thing I do that helps me best cope with my chronic pain?
• What can I do to make the most out of the available energy I have while undergoing chemotherapy?
• What changes in my life can I make to honor the passing of my loved one?
• How can I take more charge of my own health?
• What’s the number one thing I can do that will most help me with my weight, sleeping problems, etc?

Once you begin to use mindstorming and achieve some success with it, you will find yourself turning to it more and more.

Happy writing.
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Information about Brian Tracy’s Mindstorming technique came from this website http://www.growingcoaches.com/briantracy2.htm accessed on 3/29/08. To learn more about Brian Tracy, visit his website at http://www.briantracy.com/

Author Shannon Brownlee in her book, Overtreated–Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer, notes that our American Healthcare system cost us $2.1 trillion in 2006. The 2016 prediction of cost soars up to $4.1 trillion.

Worse, in spite of numerous past attempts to fix the system, 47 million Americans or one in six under the age of 65 have no health insurance. Uninsured cancer patients receive less care than cancer patients with insurance and thus may be more likely to die from their cancer. We have one of the finest trauma care systems in the world but uninsured auto accident victims receive less care and have higher mortality rates.

What’s left? An “unfair, dysfunctional, and spectacularly expensive system” that does not suit or fit. In fact, the 2006 cost of our healthcare was “almost as much as the worldwide market for petroleum.” Most shocking, our annual cost for this healthcare system exceeds what the United States spends on food.

Is there any hope?

Indeed, hope exists and lies in the wisdom of knowing when to access and use the healthcare system and when to turn to self-help that might work just as well. In spite of the fact that every other advertisement on TV tells us about new pills and cures for all sorts of ailments, simpler and less harmful healing aids exist.

Consider the lowly pen and paper toiling on without the benefit of costly advertisement, just waiting for us to engage them in the act of writing as therapy. They beckon us to write our personal stories to frame our plight and capture insights that provide healing.

One of the case histories in my book, WellWriting for Health After Trauma and Abuse,  features “Debra” who began to have severe migraines after a traumatic period in her life. She turned to writing to resolve and accept her situation, deal with the confusion and ambiguity of her emotions, and develop the wisdom she needed at that point in her life.

Debra sums up her experience this way: “Writing is something you can do for yourself. It’s not expensive, and it doesn’t hurt anybody, but you can gain personal benefit from it.” She ends by laughing and offers this advice, “You can’t afford a therapist? Write.”

Heart-health expert and CEO of the American Foundation for Women’s Health, Mellanie True Hills, sends an email noting that, “maybe writing can not only cure chronic disease but also keep you from getting it in the first place.” Her comment stems from a blog entry she read on the SHI Symbol International’s Weblog:

“Research from Arizona State University has shown that writing could lower your cholesterol and give you a healthier heart. Yes, by simply WRITING. It seems that if you write affectionately about loved ones for 20 minutes, 3 times a week you could receive this added bonus of a reduced cholesterol level.”

Can this be so? I cannot at this time find the original study, so in mulling this over, I find myself reflecting on Miller’s Law of communication: “Assume the communication is true and then imagine what it can be true of.”

My take on this blog entry, when I assume the presented information to be true, generates theses reactions:

• Stress can influence cholesterol levels. (read more)
• Expressive writing can lower stress because such writing often results in disclosure, emerging insights, and the ability to reframe and learn from what has happened to us.
• When we write to honor others, we honor ourselves. This can raise self-esteem and lower or prevent depression–a very bad emotion for heart health.

Most of all, this news underscores that we can use a writing practice to help ourselves prevent illness and distress which trumps having to turn to writing to recover from illness and distress.

There gets to be a place in chronic illness where you realize that being ill is not going to stop you from living well.

–Rachel Naomi Remen

When you carry the burden of a chronic disease or health condition, life can be downright hard and seem quite unfair. Still a ray of freedom resides in the form of choice. You may not choose to be a diabetic, but you can choose how to respond to your diabetes and manage it to the best of your ability. In an interview published online in Share Guide, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, author of Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfathers blessings notes that “the place in chronic illness” mentioned above is “where your freedom lies.” She goes on to say, “Yes, I’d love to see perfectly, I’d love to be able to run three miles. I can’t do those things. But the quality of my life is so much deeper than it was when I was able to do those things. So there’s a freedom to transcend your illness, not by curing it necessarily, because a cure is not available to everyone, but by making your life larger than it is. Growth is possible for everyone, even if a cure is not.”

Note that she speaks to the fact that a cure may not be available to everyone, but healing can be activated nevertheless. “Curing” speaks to the elimination of disease or disease symptom, often through the use of medicine, surgery, or psychotherapy. “Healing,” on the other hand, refers to restoration of being whole, aware of the rhythms of the the world and in our lives, and being empowered by this understanding. Healing brings peace, acceptance, and love.

The Healing Power of Writing

You can use your writing practice to heal a chronic problem that sets you back. The goal of your daily 15 minute writing sessions will be to bring into focus the problem that now haunts you. Remember to write fast. Don’t think.

At the very beginning, just write about your problem using speed writing to let your angst take form on the page during your writing sessions. No right or wrong answers exist here–just “write” answers. Do this for at least a week writing at least 15 to 20 minutes a day, three times a week. You can write more than three times a week and you can do this for one week or more. It’s your call.

On the last day of your writing sessions, dedicate that writing session to describing how you felt when you began this exercise and how you feel now.

author of Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfathers blessings.

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DrT notes: You can learn more about Dr. Remen by visiting her website at www.rachelremen.com. This post quotes Dr. Remen from an interview posted on the Share Guide website which you can access by clicking here. To learn more about Share Guide, click here.