Hello there!<\/p>\n
Gosh. Get ready for a wall of text. :’)<\/p>\n
Writing has been an extremely cathartic outlet for me over the years. Every character that I write (especially the protagonists) have a piece of me in them– usually fears, challenges, similar experiences, etc –and working through their arcs helps me to work through them, too. I strongly empathize with characters, so it not only feels like I’m also getting through stuff, but I’m with a beloved character for the journey. That’s part of why I write in the first place… not just for me, but for the readers, too. We’re all going through things, and we don’t have to do it alone. <\/p>\n
The research needed to write certain situations\/issues, and that degree of separation (searching for a character, not myself) makes it easier to process and accept, too. <\/p>\n
It’s a safe way to explore and learn, and find others in the same position.<\/p>\n
But here are a handful of examples to provide a more concrete answer to your question:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When our house was broken into several years ago, I was able to stay calm and get help because of the research\/writing I’d done for detective characters. I did nothing reckless and I knew what information they would be requesting, which helped to hold off the oncoming panic attack.<\/p>\n
Speaking of panic attacks, MANY of the characters I write suffer through them, and while it’s very difficult and painful to write these, going through them myself is a lot easier now because I have it in the back of my head to memorize what’s happening for writing later… It’s that degree of separation. LOL. I also know more\/better coping methods to handle them, too, and what not to do. In NLA, we have Viktor go through it a couple of times, and it was physically PAINFUL to write. But I always felt better coming out the other side, and it seems the readers felt seen, too. <\/p>\n
I won’t get started on the writings of bad ex boyfriends, but THAT was very cathartic, too. \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n
Writing also helps me to examine my biases. I grew up in a VERY!!!! conservative culture, where so much was condemned as hell-burning sin. I still struggle with the guilt of that for my own “shortcomings” and may always feel that way. But getting to know characters (original and fanfic-wise) from different walks of life, researching their backgrounds, etc… has really made me a more rounded, accepting person, and I’m so grateful for that. There’s SO MUCH I need to learn about the world. <\/p>\n
Embarrassingly, there was a time when polyamory was legitimately triggering for me because of how I was raised. Any mention of a threesome, ot3, throuple, etc. would have me running the other way. Safely exploring fiction with folks I trust has given me better perspective, both for the acceptance of polyamory (yay!) and separating it from the harmful abuse of my upbringing (ie, being told that I would be required to share my spouse in the afterlife because God said so and that if I wasn’t okay with that, I had a lack of faith, etc)… since they’re not at all the same thing. <\/p>\n
I’ll leave it at that, but if there’s anything specific you’d like to know, please feel free to send another ask! <\/p>\n
Thanks!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hello there! Gosh. Get ready for a wall of text. :’) Writing has been an extremely cathartic outlet for me over the years. Every character that I write (especially the protagonists) have a piece of me in them– usually fears, challenges, similar experiences, etc –and working through their arcs helps me to work through them, … Continue reading Hi senpai \ud83e\udd0d in what ways has writing helped you process trauma and\/or navigate through your own life?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5015,137,5010],"class_list":["post-16754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-talk-of-trauma","tag-writing","tag-writing-asks","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16754\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}