Today I’m visiting with Susan Rowland at her blog, Journal with Sue. I was honored when Susan invited me to answer some interview questions about writing through pain. In writing memoir, some of us find our writing dredges up painful memories and thus, we must write through our resurrected pain. 

* * *

1)      How do you as a writer deal with hurt or trauma?

Susan, this is a good question. I thought when I started writing that the childhood hurts and trauma would not still be fresh enough to be bothersome. Was I ever wrong!

With each word, sentence or paragraph, I felt myself cringing at some of the memories dredged up with my writing. I began slowly because of the recalled pain and soon realized I needed to find a way to cope with these resurgent memories.

One fortunate occurrence for me was the forgiveness I felt for my mother shortly before her death. There were multiple reasons for this forgiveness, none of which were verbal between us.  Yet to share them here would give away an essential part of my memoir.

Read the rest at Journal with Sue . . .