When I went to go read today except, this was the first line: “The fear of going back into your past — reliving trauma or grief — sometimes can block writing about the most important part of your story.” This struck me to the core.

I have so many things in my past, the good, the ugly and the tragic. All of which have shaped and molded me into the person I am today. The unfortunate part to all of this is there has been those very ugly things that no one ever wants to have happen to themselves or anyone else. For me, the ugly parts started from the time I was a little baby. Different things happened through out my childhood.

As writers, in order for us to truly tap into the right emotions for whatever we’re writing, we have to be able to go into our past to under them.

As I start from scratch on the fiction book I’m writing, I will be taping into the emotions I had of Mari in the hospital, when she died and then my grief journey that has followed. Even thinking about this as I’m writing this post, I have tears welling up in my eyes. I know this will make my story that much more powerful, but it still doesn’t make it any easier.

I know I will not drown in these memories. I will dive right in and use them in such a way they will be conveyed powerfully in my writing.