Writing from Scars

Six days left in this month. I’ve covered a lot of ground over these posts, and I’ve discovered truths about myself that I likely would not have come to had it not been for this blog.

Yesterday, I attended a lecture given by a Spalding alum who is a purveyor of the Moth Story set up. For those unfamiliar, Moth Stories are those told in the traditional oral format – the writer stands on stage without having memorized the story that s/he is going to tell, and simply … speaks. It offers the audience an almost unprecedented look into the mind of the writer, as well as providing the audience with a raw telling of the story. During the lecture, Graham Shelby said, “Write stories from scars, not wounds.” Well whatinthewhatwhat, as Anya would say.

I had one of those moments of absolute understanding. It was as if Shelby was speaking directly to me, and not the hundred plus writers assembled in the lectorium. I stopped the three things I was doing at the time – taking notes, rereading my workshop material and sending an email – and just took a breath.

As many writers do, I often write from a source of pain or discomfort, from a foundation or experience that has shaped and altered me in some way. I realized, while listening to Shelby, that writing form a wound does nothing to establish the healing process. Much like eating form a source of shame – or, put another way, training just to eat, does nothing to help or advance my end goal. Rather, accepting that the wound is there, and allowing it to heal … well hell. Now it seems like there’s no other way. Yet again, Spalding has found a way to nestle into my brain and my psyche, and has become another source of inspiration. Onward and upward.