Express yourself! Pick up your pen!

If you see someone with an opened notebook and pen in deep thought, you might think he or she is writing the next great novel. But the truth could be, the person is writing for health.

Writing for health? What does that mean?

When we suffer a loss --- either the death of a loved one, a broken relationship, a firing from a job, a financial crisis, or a diagnosis that is difficult --- our minds and bodies are affected. We often cry and want comfort.

As the situation continues, we look for ways to help us cope with the magnitude of our loss. We can feel isolated because no one understands the full picture of what we are going through. There are times we don't understand it all either. Our grief is unique and we are new to it. We know we have to manuever through, but how is this done? Our days feel sad and desperate.

This is when writing enters the scene.

Writing is a healthy way to unleash pent-up angry, sadness, and other emotions friends, family, and coworkers might not care to hear. The emotions have to go somewhere, and putting them onto paper is a lot healthier than yelling, slamming the door, or kicking the cat.

When we write about the heartaches, the pain flows from our hearts onto paper. This eases the anguish, even if only for a while. We've shared our emotions and ponderings with paper. The paper carries a portion of our sorrow for us.

Studies have shown the beneftis of writing for health. Dr. James Pennebaker conducted a study among students at the University of Texas that proved expressive writing lowers blood pressure, pulse rates, and provides better health all around.

So the next time you have to deal with a major---or even minor---sorrow in your life, get a good notebook and pick up your pen and write! You will be suprised at what your heart wants to convey and encouraged as clarity and calm spring forth through your written words. If you're smart, you'll spend ten to fifteen minutes each day writing. The important factors are to not worry about spelling, penmanship, or whether you will be judged by your emotions. No one has to see your words. The notebook is for you only. Discover how picking up your pen leads to a healhier life as you journey through your anguish.

~*~*~*~ Join us for the Weep Boldly; Write Bravely Writing Workshop, Saturday, April 27th at the Hampton Inn in Raleigh, NC.

The Writing the Heartache Podcast has made her debut!

Do you remember when I did Blogtalk radio segments? No? That's okay; it was a while ago. I had about 12 episodes where I spoke on grief and the bereavement journey.

Now, after much trepidation, I have joined the podcast world. Writing the Heartache is the theme and has been my push/shove/advice since Daniel died when I realized the wonderful and inexpensive therapy that comes from writing after loss.

My first podcast (Anchor.FM) is short; it will take just over 5 minutes of your day. The topic is: No Grammar or Spelling Worries; Just Get it Out There. I share a few benefits of writing from grief.

You can listen by going to the Anchor.FM page. If you don't have a Spotify account (I don't), you can listen by scrolling down the page and pressing the arrow. Go here.

When Writing Heals

I believe in many things, simple and grand.  I believe in inspiration that comes on a walk on a fall day, that a cup of strong Earl Grey with milk can make almost any bad morning better. I believe in the power of love manifested through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that when you can forgive---even those who don't ask you to---you are freer than any soaring eagle.

And when life takes a dangerous and sorrowful turn, I believe that pen and paper can heal. As we honestly and freely unleash our heartache onto the page, our hearts and minds go through  transformations. We see our pain on paper and we view it in a new way. From there, as we continue to write, we become stronger, more able to cope and adjust to our situation. This writing for healing is a sacred gift. It has saved me from the moment my four-year-old son died.

I have watched and learned as I've unveiled deep things in my writing.  I've solved problems, understood, gained new perspective. Writing to heal is an extraordinary phenomenon.

I'd love for you to write with me.

My new online writing classes have a few spots open.  I have one class starting September 17 and one on October 22.  Each course is 5-weeks long.  I send out new lessons to your in-box each Monday. You have all week to write on your own, when it's convenient for you. Learn more about my Writing the Heartache Workshop here at my website

Be inspired in the power of writing as you listen to this video that was so kindly created for me by a young man named Wes.

And after that, share here in the comments below how writing has been an avenue of healing for you in your life.

My mind is no longer a jumble!

"I used to not like to write, but after engaging in the writing exercise you provided during your presentaion, I think I'm going to make writing part of my every day life!"

"Thanks to your course, I have found a friend in writing."

"Writing makes it all clear. My mind is no longer a jumble."

"Wow! I didn't realize how free I'd feel after writing my problems out."

These are some of the many testimonies I have received from those who have listened and written. Whatever your sorrow, whatever you are going through on your journey, whatever crisis or deep pain, writing has a way of bringing hope, healing and health.

Give it a try today! Discover how to make writing work for you through this guided workshop.

To sign up for the next online Writing the Heartache workshop that starts April 15th, register here.

Want an all-day workshop? There is one scheduled for July 27. Read all about it here.

Writing to ease the heartache

What's good for you besides eight hours of sleep and a bowl of oatmeal?


Writing!


The more I read and listen, the more I am convinced that putting pen to paper is one of the best gifts God has given for alleviating all the built-up pain inside our hearts. Writing from grief and loss works!

Is your mind overloaded with worry? Confused about a current circumstance? Are you flooded with anguish and sorrow over the death of a loved one? Is your past hurting you as you recall your childhood or young adult life? Unleash all the anger, frustration, sorrow and guilt onto the pages of your journal.

Join me and my other registered attendees for a full day of writing on June 16th in Raleigh, NC. Journey through Life's Losses is going to be a great workshop, filled with tips, prompts and techniques on journaling, writing poetry, memoirs and more.


Hurry and sign up by going to this link at my website.

Another opportunity--All-day Writing Workshop!

So excited to announce another all-day writing workshop in Raleigh, NC. Journey through Life's Losses will be a workshop for those wanting to discover the value of writing through life's sorrows. Along with writing from photos, writing letters and poems, this workshop will have an emphasis on memoir-writing. We'll meet at the Hampton Inn in Raleigh, NC from 8:30 AM till 4 PM on June 16th. Secure your spot now. After April 20th, the price increases. Head over to my website for all the details.


I have some good news! There is a scholarship available. The Katelyn Fund will provide a scholarship to one participant. Email Alice to see how to apply for this scholarship: info@alicewisler.com.

Honoring the Memory: BlogTalkRadio Show

Listen to the recent Writing the Heartache Show about ways parents honor the memories of their children.

Writing the Heartache: Honoring the Memory

Writing to Sanity

The all-day grief-writing workshop held at the Country Inns and Suites in Morrisville, NC was a dream come true. Nine attendees were present, all eager to learn and write. We talked about coping with grief and how to write effectively for healing, health and hope. We wrote poems, essays, timelines, and letters. We shared stories and listened to each other. There were tears, revelations, and understanding.

What a wonderful day!

We plan to do many more Writing the Heartache Workshops. So stay tuned to see when the next one will be.

Announcing a new site for writing through grief

Friends,

Please join me as I launch the new Writing the Heartache website.

This site is where online courses, grief-writing postings, talkradioblog
segments, and seminars for my organization, Writing the Heartache, will be shared.

Thanks for spreading the word!

Blog Talk Radio: join me!

I like doing new things, for the most part. And I get to this April 23rd
at 1 PM (EST). I'm going to be on my own Blog Talk Radio program talking
about easy steps to writing through grief. I do hope that many of my
friends will join me and listen in. You can learn more at this link here.

For those of you who want to know the tools of writing through grief,
please tune in and share how writing has helped you in your journey.

Radioblog Fun

Yesterday I had the privilege to be interviewed on the CFBA
(Christian Fiction Blog Alliance) radioblog with Jill Hart of CWAHM.com and Takiela Bynum of BooksALatte.com.
After they asked me about my novels, they turned the focus to my
online writing course. To hear what I had to say about how writing
through pain helps with healing and health, tune in here and start to
listen by clicking the play button under the heading:
CFBA Radio featuring Christa Allan and Alice Wisler
And after listening, don't forget to sign up for the grief-writing
course that runs from Feb. 22 to March 26. Writing is cheap
therapy! Learn more by visiting my webpage.

Why Writing the Heartache Works

Everyone knows that I teach and promote writing through sorrow and loss. The ability to release my anguish that bottled inside me each day after my son's death was healing. I took my journal and pen and wrote in between changing diapers (I gave birth to my fourth child three months after Daniel died), making peanut butter sandwiches for my toddler, and walking my oldest to the bus stop for first grade.

One of the books I bought that I highly recommend to the newly-bereaved is Forever Remembered. This small book is filled with cherished messages of hope, love, and comfort from courageous people who have lost a loved one.

The other day one selection jumped out at me, and I thought, "Ah, this is good. I wish everyone realized this!"

Here it is for you to read. It's nice to see that others feel that writing through grief is some of the best therapy there is. Give it a try today.

It was a few months after my grandmother's death that
I was taking a course in creative writing. My teacher suggested
that I record some of my thoughts to help me work through my sadness.
This diary became my memorial to her. Even now I read aloud the pages.
I still laugh and cry about times we shared together.

~Earl A. Grollman

The BMW and the interview

Along with learning about how I got my literary agent and two-book deal, listen to the interview today at I Just Finished and hear how distracted I became at the end. Husbands should not come home with a 2009 BMW for parents to test-drive in the middle of a radio blog interview!

The Daniel Journal

I embraced it; I loathed it. It was a cloth bound book with blue and red swirled flowers on the cover. Inside were the raw words from my heart and soul.

Once it was filled with crisp, lined pages. That was the day it was gifted to me by my three-year-old son Daniel's oncology nurse. That day it was just a pretty journal. Daniel smiled as I thanked this nurse for her thoughtful present.

Months later, this object contained sentences no one wants to ever write.

Never far from me, I lived for moments when I could take respite from my days to visit with this book. No longer clean and white, it was stained with tears, full of questions, anger, agony, and sorrow.

I'd kept a plaid-covered journal when Daniel was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. That was a journal where hope lined the pages because I was certain that with faith and prayers, chemo, surgeries, and radiation, my son would be cured of his aggressive tumor.

After Daniel's funeral, I knew that the blue and red journal would never hold hope. Life, as I knew it and wanted, had ended. With Daniel gone, I only wanted the floor to open up and swallow me, taking me away from pain and misery.

The floor never opened. But the journal was there every day, allowing me to deposit whatever I needed onto the numerous pages. I wrote under a weeping willow tree at a local park, at a secluded booth in my favorite coffee shop, at stop lights. I wrote when I was frustrated with those who didn't care about my brokenness, and when a stranger sent a card to comfort me.

When the pages ran out, I purchased another journal, and then another. I never expected one journal to be able to contain the entire volumes of my heartache.

My journals of the early years after Daniel's passing sit in a bag in my closet now. I know that at anytime I could open one, and read. Yet, I don't. Although much stronger now, thanks to my journal-writing, I still don't want to face that woman who didn't want to live.

The blue and red journal is more than a journal. This gift I received became a gift to myself and my sanity whenever I opened it to release parts of my torn heart.

While I often hated having a reason to have to write in it, I will always be grateful that it was there for me---never judgmental, never belittling, never preachy. Writing made me a believer that putting pen to paper is one of the best resources we have as humans for healing.

Because as I wrote, this journal provided me with something I didn't think it ever could or would. Hope.

Writing the Heartache: What Does It Mean?

When Daniel died, writing took on a whole new meaning for me. Writing was my sanity, my lifeline to coping with the tragedy of losing a child to cancer. There were times I couldn't wait to rush to the shelter of my home so that I could pull out my pen and journal and pour out my heart. In the early days of grief, I needed a way to organize my muddled thoughts, work out my emotions, and scribble my prayers and fears.

Writing is an essential tool in grief. Writing calms us, lowers our blood pressure, slows our pulse, and keeps our minds from going crazy. When we can write out our feelings, they no longer loom large and out of control. By putting them on paper, we have contained them to a workable space in our journal. We can read them over and over and analyze, or we can choose to never look at our words again. Whatever our decision, the act of writing from our broken heart is healing.

My next Writing the Heartache online course starts August 24th and runs to September 25th. In these five weeks, I'll send participants assignments to complete via email. When these are sent back to me, I'll offer critique, support, and suggestions. We'll discuss writing for publication as well.

Outline for Writing the Heartache Writing Workshop
1. Week One: Introduction - Getting to Know You
2. Week Two: Introducing Your Loved One Through Poetry
3. Week Three: Writing a Letter to Your Loved One and to Others
4. Week Four: Writing for Change - The Essay
5. Week Five: Writing for Publication

Join us! Visit my website AliceWisler for more information.