Unlocking Creativity: Elissa Altman Reveals the Radical Power of Saying ‘Yes’ in Memoir Writing
I also think that not everything is meant to be shared; not everything is meant for public consumption. And so, when I talk about emotional resilience, I think that there always has to be a kind of creative demilitarized zone around you that you fashion for your own safety, like a bumper on a bumper car. A lot of my students are writing about traumatic experiences. In order to write about trauma without re-traumatizing yourself, you need to truly first understand whether what you are writing is in service to the story, is out of retribution, or because you’re venting your spleen.