Two Sylvias' Weekly Muse: September 24, 2023

Issue 74

Hello Poets and Writers!

We often receive letters in our inbox from Muse readers seeking advice on how to write about difficult and traumatic subjects. Most of these inquiries can be summarized in a single important and overarching question: How do I write about the trauma in my life without retraumatizing myself?

Writing about the traumatic events in our lives is not only cathartic, but it can be crucial to our healing journey. Naming, identifying, and describing the difficult events we have experienced can help us to integrate the lessons learned from our trauma, and importantly, our stories might assist our readers in dealing with their own trauma, opening doors for their healing process to begin.

We found a helpful article authored by a Polish writer named Jaga Czub, who describes the strategies she employs for writing about her own trauma. Czub offers the following advice for writing about difficult circumstances without retraumatizing ourselves:

1. Acknowledge the hardship and complexi…