Quick Link: The Therapeutic Benefits of Writing a Novel

Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

So this! At Writer UnBoxed, Jessica Lourey discusses the therapeutic effect of writing. Any good therapist will tell you the benefits of writing, while Jessica takes it one step further. The therapy of writing a novel, even if you never publish it.

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The Therapeutic Benefits of Writing a Novel

by Jessica Lourey

Please welcome guest Jessica Lourey (rhymes with “dowry”) whose new book Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction is the only book that shows you how to transform your facts into a compelling, healing novel. Jessica is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology, a regular Psychology Today blogger, a sought-after workshop leader and keynote speaker who delivered the 2016 “Rewrite Your Life” TEDx Talk, and a leader of transformative writer’s retreats.

Jessica (Jess) is also the author of the critically-acclaimed Murder-by-Month mysteries, that have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist. The next one is due out in September 2017: March of Crime. Her other novels are The Catalain Book of Secrets, Salem’s Cipher, The Toadhouse Trilogy: Book One, May Day, June Bug, Knee High by the Fourth of July, August Moon, September Fair, October Fest, November Hunt, December Dread, January Thaw, and February Fever.

Connect with Jessica on her blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

The Therapeutic Benefits of Writing a Novel

When my husband died unexpectedly in 2001, I’d never heard of expressive writing. And you know what? It wouldn’t have mattered if I had. Three months pregnant, raising a three-year-old, and suddenly a widow, the last thing I wanted to do was spend even one sharp second journaling about how I felt. No offense to Dr. Pennebaker, the founder of the expressive writing movement. It’s just that I couldn’t survive reliving the pain of my husband’s suicide, not then, not on my own. I needed to convert it, package it, and ship it off.

So I began writing fiction.

Read the full post on Writer UnBoxed