Customer Reviews

Writing to Save Your Life: How to Honor Your Story Through Journaling

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I've read Michele Weldon's previous work, and I've heard her speak, so I ordered this book as soon as I heard about it, long before the actual publication date. When it came, I wasn't disappointed. Here's a book that speaks honestly about writing and what it can mean in our lives.

This book works on so many levels. Even the title is layered. When I first read that phrase, "Writing to Save Your Life," I thought it referred to Ms. Weldon's own heroic struggle to survive her abusive marriage. But as I read through the book, I realized that we all can write to save -- to preserve -- our lives. When I write in a journal, I'm creating a private historical document. I'm saving my life as I experienced it, even if no one ever reads it but me.

Ms. Weldon performs an incredible feat by making the act of writing seem so, well, do-able. She makes writing sound as natural as breathing -- and I suspect, for her at least, it is. Her own writing style is so clean and unfussy and fun, you can almost imagine her just talking her essays into a tape recorder as she drives her kids from soccer to piano lessons. But then, as you read and reread a piece like "A Cushioned Life," you start to see the quiet depths of meaning that she deftly weaves into her stories.

As a would-be novelist myself, I was inspired by Ms. Weldon's advice on the writing process. I've read a lot of other books on writing, and sometimes the advice seems rather condescending: "Here, little woman. Although you'll never be as gifted or witty or perceptive as I am, I will give you this opportunity to plunk down your (money) so that you can be awed by my astonishing cleverness." But when Ms. Weldon writes about writing, she makes it seem like a true craft -- a skill you can learn and improve and enjoy, especially when you're working under the patient and encouraging supervision of a master craftswoman.

Read this book if you want to write -- or if you just want to read. I found my own life captured in these pages, and I believe you will, too.

It's true.
Last year I took one of Ms. Weldon's "Writing To Save Your Life" workshops. Her workshop appeared in my life at a time when I knew I needed to give voice to my life experiences, but I didn't know how or where to start. And I was scared. As a writer of romance novels, I've always invented stories and been in control of a paper world. I knew it was time to write something for me, about me, but I was paralyzed with fear.

With Ms.Weldon's guidance, something broke inside of me and I started writing and writing, and during the journey I met someone I thought I had lost -- me.

Michele Weldon's workshop was a gift. I'm thrilled that her workshop is in book form to guide people everywhere! Her wit, honesty, and down-to-earth sensibilities come shining through in every chapter.

Ms. Weldon showed me that exploring and giving voice to my story, my emotional truths, was an act of power and courage. She is the guide-friend you've been waiting for.

A refreshingly honest and original book about writing as a healing act. Michele Weldon is the perfect guide for this journey. She's been there and back, and is generous in sharing her own personal stories. If you want inspiration and courage for your writing life, this is the place to look. I especially like the writing exercises, which strike me as fresh, authentic and thought-provoking.

Michele Weldon makes you want to write. With funny anecdotes, touching personal stories, and practical advice, the author jump starts stalled writers. The message she communicates is one everyone should hear: Your own life is worth preserving in words. I did my fair share of life-saving writing when my children were small and now regale them, as teenagers, with readings about our lives in those days. Michele Weldon's book is a delightful reminder to me that it's time to get back to preserving memories on paper.

Narrative writing is the best, easiest/hardest, and most thorough method of coming to terms with loss and grief. I highly recommend a romp through this book for inspiration and tips.

Writing to Save Your Life is like sitting on the verandah with a much loved friend who encourages and affirms your need to write your life. Every time you see her, your friend reminds you of the importance of your story, not for publication or fame and fortune, but for the healing that occurs when you write your truth.

The friend tells her story, too, at the end of each chapter with essays previously published by Michele Weldon. The author lets us know that she also faces the challenges of everyday life (three kids, a job, a house) taking time and energy and making it difficult to sit down and write. The essays show Weldon as a real-life woman who sought and found help in the writing process rather than just a published-writer.

The words in the title of the book, "to save your life" mean to rescue as well as preserve your own truth. Weldon encourages readers to answer the questions posed in the book to give their words physical space. While writing, "you are using your hands as instruments of your heart and mind," she says. Weldon's term for such therapeutic writing is "scribotherapy."

I don't think of this book as a "how to." What has stayed with me is the memory of that encouraging friend. Though in looking back to refresh my memory, I see that there are steps and suggestions for good writing--focus on the big idea, make an outline, etc. The most powerful exercise follows a description of who we write for--ourselves, of course. It was a powerful exercise in that I honored all the cute and quirky parts of myself. The "me" I write for, I discovered, is the me who calls a writing circle, once the candle is lit, the realm of the sacred. The me who laughs at the same jokes I told in eighth grade. The me who has an insatiable desire not just for reading but for the physical books themselves. I write for the me who still has her fourth-grade composition book. You get the idea. Other women in one of the writing circles I facilitate did the same exercise, and we were able to see one another in a revealing, touching and affirming way.

The author quotes famous writers who found healing in writing, including Anne Tyler and Frank McCourt. Most of the quotes, though, are the thoughts of participants in Weldon's workshops. They illustrate that writing is accessible to all, and anyone who writes can heal from the process.

Weldon has written a personal memoir titled I Closed My Eyes. She also is an essayist, journalist, and lecturer at her alma mater, the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Living in the Chicago area with her three sons, she serves on the board of directors of Sarah's Inn, a domestic violence services agency in Oak Park, Illinois.

I leave you with the words of Weldon, my encouraging friend: "Your story is important. By writing it down and committing your truth to paper, you have honored your life, your truth, and who you are in the world."

by Mary Ann Moore
for Story Circle Book Reviews
www.storycirclebookreviewsorg
reviewing books by, for, and about women

This book is really geared toward women who are into feminism. All the quotes in the book are from women in her groups. If you're not into the female-identity world, pick another book.