The World Beyond Writing
If you can name it you can tame it.
The world can be a frightening place. After serving in Vietnam, I used writing to heal myself. I didn’t get published but I did heal myself well enough to function in society. I have a suspicion that I’m not the only writer to use writing this way.
It seems to me that written language allows writers to not only identify our joys and hopes but also our fears and demons. I really don’t know if this is true. I’m just doing some thinking on the page.
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I always tell people that I suffered two traumas in life: my father beating my mother and Vietnam. By the time I was 18 and able to sign myself into the army my father had not hit my mother in maybe five years. I still didn’t want to be around him. Children don’t forget.
Back in the USA, after Vietnam and living on my own, I would find myself up at 2:00 AM drinking beer and writing furiously with one of several pencils in one of my many notebooks. I wanted desperately to be a writer and to get published. I wrote about war and domestic violence among other things. You know, what you would expect a male in his early twenties in the late 60s and early 70s to write about: booze, sex and rock and roll. I didn’t do drugs.
What I’m trying to get at is that I think very often we writers use writing to identify those things in our lives that we need to grapple with. Writing allows us to do this. It comes out in the articles we write, in the content we produce. No matter how we try, we cannot fake what is bothering us.
My argument is, we writers are not just putting words down on paper. Obviously, it can go much deeper than that. Not always. But enough times where we may even help to heal the reader.
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November 13th, 2009 at 4:25 am
Nice one…
November 13th, 2009 at 4:51 am
I agree. Great post.
November 13th, 2009 at 5:26 am
great article ..very nice….
November 13th, 2009 at 5:51 am
My 2 thumbs up here, I could always relate. Life becomes less boring when you get bored and write about the actual experience. ‘Been there, done that (except Vietnam of course) it is only in writing where I could fight my demons face to face and elaborate my pains and embarrassments. Well, the agony of life is well worth it. Thanks for inspiring always, Guy.
Cheers,
Will
November 13th, 2009 at 5:59 am
Thank you for letting us into your life. I can see how writing helped you with life’s many problems. I didn’t start writing until I was diagnosed with MS and I worried that I would be unable to to carry on with my life style of horses and other physical stuff, writing brought a great deal of comfort, now I can’t stop!
November 13th, 2009 at 6:21 am
Never a truer word was spoken.. I think all writers can relate to this article in one way or another.
November 13th, 2009 at 6:45 am
I can also relate to this and I do find writing a good tool to help with healing. Thank you for a very touching and well written piece.
Christine
November 13th, 2009 at 7:49 am
Interesting post. thanks for sharing such article.
November 13th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Writing is a catharsis. It is our need to fulfill what Plato talked about the need for the examined life.
November 13th, 2009 at 8:44 am
Wonderful write. True words.
November 13th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Writing is certainly therapudic – good stuff, Guy.
November 13th, 2009 at 9:25 am
So true. I use poetry to express all of my emotions.
November 13th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Wonderful story, well written.
November 13th, 2009 at 9:37 am
It’s true. I express my feelings in writing. When i want to tell a person the truth and i can’t say it out loud, i put it in writing. Thanks, you are not alone.
November 13th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Nice article.
November 13th, 2009 at 10:14 am
I’m with ya on that! I use writing to ease the mind, though when i’m sick I can’t really think straight. But I do write well as a drunk…go figure.
November 13th, 2009 at 10:58 am
You are so very right. Writing has a way of healing both the writer and the reader.
November 13th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Well-said and brilliant thought, thanks!
November 13th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Great post once again Hogan..
November 13th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Your story is really pathetic.Thanks for sharing.
November 13th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
great post
November 13th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Writing is the best medicine!
November 13th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Teves, writing can be a sort of medicine. I know it was for me.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Yovita, I believe writing goes far beyond the words on the page. The words can get inside the writer and the words can get inside the reader.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
svishnugopal, I think all writers project onto the page what is causing them the most joy and the most pain. That’s okay. The readers can relate.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
great information…
November 13th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
deep blue, experience is such a wonderful teacher for those who can be taught. I think you and I have learnt a lot.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
lillyrose, writing can be addictive; but it’s a great addiction to have.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
johnnydod, yes we writers try to deal with all kinds of things in our writing; and sometimes it helps readers to deal with whatever they’re dealing with. It’s all good.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Christine, writing can be a powerful tool for healing. It’s a wonderful thing.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Jane, what a writer does for the self the writer is also doing for the reader. It’s a good thing for everyone.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Papa, yes writing is certainly one of the ways we can step back and look at what we’re doing. And it helps the readers to do the same thing.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
chitragopi, while we writers wrestle with the words we deal with the same thing our readers wrestle with.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
J J, it is great medicine for not only what ails the writer but for what also ails the reader.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
tony76, poetry distills language and emotion better than any other art form that I know of.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
diamondpoet, putting words on the page can go far beyond the words on the page. Of course I know you already know this.
November 13th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Writing helps me that way too, and I have a friend with bipolar disorder who finds a way through his down times by writing.
November 13th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Interresting
November 13th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
I very much agree with you. My recent rant was a way to get my feeling out in the open and I felt much better after it was written. I almost did not submit it but my husband asked me why not and I didn’t have a good answer for him. Good article which goes to the soul of every writer.
November 13th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
very interesting article. Well done.
November 13th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
I reckon you will get properly published one day. Some ideas – get a writing coach. A fellow writer who prods you into writing to Publishers.
Focus – approach a publisher with a synopsis, cover letter or work on the same – do this first thing before you start your day
Just keep going, have faith and never give in. Research how to get properly published.
From what I’ve read you really could be a bestselling author.
Good luck . j
November 13th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Great post.
November 13th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
It’s interesting stuff
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November 14th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Great article. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. Yes, you are right. Writing is also a distraction for me. When I am writing, I forget about the world. well-done.
November 14th, 2009 at 1:18 am
A catharsis that has been sustaining the wronged down the ages, many instances I know.
November 14th, 2009 at 2:29 am
Thank you for sharing
November 14th, 2009 at 8:50 am
interesting and informative
November 15th, 2009 at 2:02 am
great article. I shared the same family violence story. There is a lot of violence in my family too. I suffered from the beating. You can imagine how painful it is. But life goes on and problems come to a stop at some point but the scars are there. You should try counseling for your war trauma. the best to get through it is to tell yourself that it’s over and you don’t have to live it anymore. Life goes on…………..
November 20th, 2009 at 11:10 am
I totally agree with this 100%. Guy, you are a thinker, much like myself. I like to deal with reality and I don’t like the idea of being judged or criticized for my true thoughts and feelings, no matter how horrible or unrealistic they may seem. If you get some free time, check out this book by Debbie Ford called The Dark Side of the Light Chasers. Writing is definitely therapy. It’s been the most effective method of healing for me thus far. Thanks for sharing your articles!