Sometimes I hear from someone who’s finding it too painful to write their story. Usually, they’re referring to a memoir, but sometimes they’re writing a self-help book that touches upon a painful real life story, or even a novel based on the author’s life.

My best advice is “Don’t go it alone.” When traveling to those dark regions of the soul, go in there with all the support you can muster:

• Call a friend before and after writing to make sure you have support.
• Say a prayer before starting asking your highest guidance to accompany you on the journey. Keep checking in with that highest guidance (your higher self, your angels, your guides, God, Goddess, etc.) as you write.
• Affirm the present. Tell yourself before you start, “That was then; then is not now. Today I am safe and well. I can remember the details without feeling the pain.”
• When you finish writing: shake it off, shake it out, dance, move, whatever it takes to get back in your body and be present.

Yes, you want to remember the details, but not at the expense of your happiness and wellbeing. Good writing does not mean suffering. In my opinion, good writing is always transcendant of the pain. And to transcend, you need to keep connecting.