: Re: Dealing with personal trauma in writing Often, I develop mythos that are based on extensions (sometimes fantasy-based) of personal trauma. There are times when it becomes too personal and I literally

@Moriarity138

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From your question, I would suggest that your best next step is to do a lot of reading. Find books and stories that are in the genre you are interested in, and read, read, read.

When you feel that a particular story is effective, has an emotional impact, has characters that come to life in your mind, read it again. In your second round, though, don't read as an audience; read as a writer. Identify what the author did that made that character, that plot line, that scene really come alive. What did the author include? What did she leave out? How did she build that interest or understanding or suspense?

Revisit one of your own stories and see where you could have used the same approach to make the writing more effective, then go ahead and rewrite it, consciously using what you have identified in your model.

What you are reaching for is technique, and the two most important things that develop it are studying what has been well done, which means reading, followed by practice. Writers circles, texts and forums like this one can add insights and point you in various directions, but ultimately your style and your success come from those things in the writer's craft that you have observed, internalized and can apply. From there you will develop your own new techniques, perhaps, but that will never happen until you know that there is such a thing as "the craft of writing" and have gained some mastery of it.

Technique in any art demands a certain amount of detachment. For all but a tiny, exceptionally skilled few, it is impossible to craft something well while wallowing in an emotional fugue. That includes both trauma and inspiration. By all means be inspired, by all means be sincere, but it is your craftsmanship, not your internal state of mind, that will carry your story to the reader.

Personal trauma (and personal success) in your own life may help you to find something to say, but to communicate it effectively requires technique.

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