The Value of Personal Exploration
As one student wrote in a course reflection, “Remembering things from the past that I had purposely forgotten about or events I had buried so deep that I swore I would never talk about again weren’t things I thought worthy to write about. However, getting out some of these events did something I didn’t expect. It helped me begin to heal.”
In creative writing pedagogy, we know that personal writing can:
Be the catalyst for healing from experiences of trauma or loss
Allow writers to celebrate their challenges and triumphs, reclaiming parts of their lives long past
Provide pathways to explore the imagination—a truly individual space—and develop a unique voice
Support well-being through activities that encourage reflection and the making of meaning
Yield the unmatched satisfaction that comes from transforming life experiences into timeless art
Many times when you start a writing project, whether big or small, you may not know the meaning you’ll uncover in the process. In each of these genre-based, personal writing courses (in Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, and Legacy Writing), I will take you through a process of discovery—one that I call “mining for meaning”—to help you tell the stories that only you were born to tell.
Testimonials
