By Lisa Cooper Ellison
The Writing Your Resilience Podcast is for anyone who wants to use the writing process to flip the script on the stories they’ve been telling themselves, because when we tell better stories about o
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Writing can be a powerful tool for healing, but when writing the tough stuff, it’s easy to get triggered and relive the experiences you’re writing about. If you’re wondering what to do about this, join me and somatic experiencing practitioner Kirby Moore as we explore how the nervous system works and how to care for it and your writing life. Plus Kirby will teach you a powerful tool you can use right now to calm your nervous system. While you can listen to this on any platform, if you’re a visual learner, this is a great episode to watch on YouTube. Now, let’s get to my conversation with Kirby Moore.
Kirby’s bio: Kirby brings a unique and potent blend of modalities to his healing facilitation sessions. He has been very fortunate to study with some masterful SE faculty members, with Tibetan Buddhist heart teachers, and one of the pioneers in the field of Birth Process Work. All this training, plus 20 years as a practicing Astrologer, means that Kirby offers exceptional somatic process work – both in-person and online.
In 2019, Kirby developed Trauma Informed Astrology, which is a very ambitious blend of Western Astrology, nervous system repair and theory, and embodiment tools. He loves offering courses, mentoring students, and offering clients rare insights into their process.
Resources Mentioned During This Episode:
Kirby’s Course: Liberating the Space Element
Use the Code Podcast30 to save 30% off this course
Souls of the Feet Meditation
Heart Coherence Meditation
Dr. Kay Tye: The Biology of Social Interactions and Emotions
Episode Highlights
Connect with Kirby
Website: www.traumainformedastrology.com
Website: www.mkirbymoore.com
Website: https://astrodharma.me
Instagram: @traumainformedastrology
Email: [email protected]
Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret Less
Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn
Sign up for Camp Structure: https://lisacooperellison.com/camp-structure-find-your-memoirs-narrative-arc/
Sign up for Mastering Trauma Scenes to Improve Your Memoir: https://janefriedman.com/mastering-trauma-scenes-to-improve-your-memoir-with-lisa-cooper-ellison/
Produced by Espresso Podcast Production
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Like it or not, our family history shapes who we are. What if lost portions of your history are holding you back? What lengths would you go to recover this history, understand it, and then turn your discoveries into a memoir? Join me and author of the memoir Starry Field, Margaret Juhae Lee, as we explore the impacts of intergenerational trauma on our identity, the challenges of writing a researched memoir, staying motivated over the long haul, and the problem of getting an agent too soon.
Margaret’s Bio: Margaret Juhae Lee is an Oakland-based writer and a former literary editor of The Nation magazine. She has been the recipient of a Bunting Fellowship from Harvard University and a Korean Studies Fellowship from the Korean Foundation. She is also a Tin House alum and has been awarded residencies at the Mesa Refuge, Anderson Center, and Mineral School. In 2020, she was named “Person of the Year” by the Sangcheol Cultural Welfare Foundation in Kongju, South Korea, for her work in honoring her grandfather, Patriot Lee Chul Ha. Her articles, reviews, and interviews have been published in The Nation, Newsday, Elle, ARTnews, The Advocate, The Rumpus and Writer's Digest.
In this episode:
Resources Mentioned During This Episode:
Episode Highlights
4:00 Why Explore the Past?
7:00 The Impact of Intergenerational Trauma
9:00 The Role of Stories in Identity Formation
15:00 Maintaining Your Momentum Over the Long Haul
20:00 Getting an Agent Too Soon
22:00 Structuring a Researched Memoir
26:00 The Miracle of the Memoir Process
29:00 Turning Yourself into a Character
35:00 Understanding Situation versus Story
Connect with Margaret:
Website: www.margaretjuhaelee.com
Instagram: @mjuhae
Twitter: @margaretjuhae
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-juhae-lee-2b95905/
Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret Less
Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn
Sign up for Camp Structure: https://lisacooperellison.com/camp-structure-find-your-memoirs-narrative-arc/
Sign up for Mastering Trauma Scenes to Improve Your Memoir: https://janefriedman.com/mastering-trauma-scenes-to-improve-your-memoir-with-lisa-cooper-ellison/
Produced by Espresso Podcast Production
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What does it take to become a professional writer with a published book? More importantly, what does it take to become a happy writer? Join multi-genre writer and book coach Courtney Maum and me as we discuss writer mental health, the key ingredients in an author brand, what success really means and how you can achieve it, as well as the number one skill all authors need to cultivate.
Courtney’s Bio: Courtney is the author of five books, including the groundbreaking publishing guide that Vanity Fair recently named one of the ten best books for writers, BEFORE AND AFTER THE BOOK DEAL and the memoir THE YEAR OF THE HORSES, chosen by The Today Show as the best read for mental health awareness. A writing coach, director of the writing workshop “Turning Points,” and educator, Courtney's mission is to help people hold on to the joy of art-making in a culture obsessed with turning artists into brands. Passionate about literary citizenship, Courtney sits on the advisory councils of The Authors Guild and The Rumpus and runs a bestselling Substack on publishing conundrums. You can sign up for her weekly newsletter and online masterclasses at CourtneyMaum.com
In this episode:
Resources Mentioned During This Episode:
Making Art Inside Delicious Darkness
Last Night an ENT Saved My Life
Exploring the Loneliness Epidemic with Athena Dixon
How to Stop Gaslighting Yourself with Ingrid Clayton
Official Transcript
Connect with Courtney:
Website: courtneymaum.com
Substack:https://substack.com/@courtneymaum
Instagram: @cbmaum
Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret Less
Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn
Sign up for Camp Structure: https://lisacooperellison.com/camp-structure-find-your-memoirs-narrative-arc/
Sign up for Mastering Trauma Scenes to Improve Your Memoir: https://janefriedman.com/mastering-trauma-scenes-to-improve-your-memoir-with-lisa-cooper-ellison/
Produced by Espresso Podcast Production
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Have you ever worked on a tough story only to hear a voice in your head say maybe you’re not good enough, or maybe this isn't the project for you? How do you know if it’s self-sabotage or a wise part of you that’s trying to get your attention? Join professional writer Donna Moriarty and me as we discuss these voices and how to tell the difference between sabotage and support—especially when one voice is telling you to slow down or stop.
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
Grampy’s Coat by Donna Moriarty
Not Just Words: How a Good Apology Makes You Braver, Bolder, and Better at Life
Dear Especially After Breaking: What If You Decide with the Full Force of Your Own Formidable Wisdom by Jeannine Ouellette
How Recovery Supports Memoir Writing and Book Marketing Tips with Laura Cathcart Robbins
How to Stop Gaslighting Yourself with Ingrid Clayton, Ph.D
Episode Highlights
2:50 The Impact of Scene Writing on the Brain
3:35 The Voices Writers Wrestle With
10:30 Why Marketing Memoir is Hard
13:27 The Publication Fallacy Writers Buy Into
16:25 The Problem with Staying Small
19:00 Protecting the Magic of Your Most Precious Stories
23:42 Donna’s Best Writing Advice
Donna’s bio: Donna Moriarty is a lifelong writer and editor. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Keepthings, Ms., San Francisco, and others. She’s the author of Not Just Words: How a Good Apology Makes You Braver, Bolder, and Better at Life. Donna is currently working on a memoir. She and her husband live in Ossining, N.Y., where they raised three wonderful children and a succession of dachshunds.
Connect with Donna:
Website: www.donnamoriarty.com
Writing Website: www.silversmithwriting.com
Instagram: @image.and.likeness
Email: [email protected]
Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret Less
Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn
Sign up for Camp Structure: https://lisacooperellison.com/camp-structure-find-your-memoirs-narrative-arc/
Sign up for Mastering Trauma Scenes to Improve Your Memoir: https://janefriedman.com/mastering-trauma-scenes-to-improve-your-memoir-with-lisa-cooper-ellison/
Produced by Espresso Podcast Production
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TW: Mention of Sexual Assault
In this episode, you’ll hear from Deborah Svec-Carstens, a writer working on a memoir that details her journey of healing after trauma.
In this episode:
Resources
Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown
Hunger by Roxanne Gay
Acetylene Torch Songs: Writing True Stories to Ignite the Soul by Sue William Silverman
After the Eclipse by Sarah Perry
My Interview with Sarah Perry
A Hard Silence by Melanie Brooks
My Interview with Melanie Brooks
Playing with Dynamite by Sharon Harrigan
Deborah’s Bio: Deborah Svec-Carstens is a writer, spiritual director, and “recovering” lawyer who has written a memoir about her search for healing after a stranger sexually assaulted her in Paris. Her writing has appeared in the Des Moines Register and has been named a finalist in essay contests. In February 2024, she appeared before more than 1,200 people as part of The Des Moines Storytellers Project and told her story of creating community in the aftermath of rape. Deborah lives in West Des Moines, Iowa. She enjoys reading (especially at the beach), hiking, and singing soprano in a local community choir.
Connect with Deborah
Website: https://www.deborahsveccarstens.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deborah.sveccarstens
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deborah.sveccarstens/
Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret Less
Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn
Sign up for Camp Structure: https://lisacooperellison.com/camp-structure-find-your-memoirs-narrative-arc/
Sign up for Mastering Trauma Scenes to Improve Your Memoir: https://janefriedman.com/mastering-trauma-scenes-to-improve-your-memoir-with-lisa-cooper-ellison/
Produced by Espresso Podcast Production
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This week, you'll hear from Laila Rall, a writer working on a memoir about her chaotic, bicultural childhood with an unstable mother. We will explore two of the biggest challenges writers of coming-of-age memories grapple with: when does my story really begin and how do I gracefully insert my wisdom into scenes that involve very young narrators?
Episode Highlights
Resources Mentioned During This Episode
Laila’s Bio: Laila found her most meaningful work as a teacher after pursuing a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Education from UC Berkeley. She’s currently writing a memoir about her chaotic, bicultural childhood that included a murder trial, misattributed paternity, an outing to exhume a dead relative, transatlantic smuggling, and a life-changing promise to a pig. She lives in Santa Cruz, California, and loves cave diving, close encounters with sharks, and dark espresso.
Connect with Laila
Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret Less
Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn
Sign up for Camp Structure: https://lisacooperellison.com/camp-structure-find-your-memoirs-narrative-arc/
Sign up for Mastering Trauma Scenes to Improve Your Memoir: https://janefriedman.com/mastering-trauma-scenes-to-improve-your-memoir-with-lisa-cooper-ellison/
Produced by Espresso Podcast Production
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This week, you will hear from Laurie Riedman, a memoirist who wrote Diamonds in the Dirt: Stories from a Junkyard Girl, a collection of short pieces that mirror the fractured memories she built while growing up in a world filled with discarded car parts. During our conversation we talk about how to deal with the voice in your head that says what you’re writing isn’t true, and how trauma survivors can care for themselves while navigating the publishing process.
Laurie’s Bio: Laurie Riedman is a personal and relationship coach, writer, and storyteller. After thirty-five years running her PR and marketing firm, she transitioned to coaching, founding b.u. coaching to support those—like her—who seek to embrace their truth and be their best selves in all aspects of their personal and professional lives. She publishes essays on her blog, More Than Words, and recently published her memoir Diamonds in the Dirt: Stories from a Junkyard Girl. She also co-edited Badass Sisterhood and Soul Shine (forthcoming) with Susan Walter.
Resources Mentioned During This Episode:
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
Episode Highlights
1:58 Staying True to Your Vision
5:34 Quieting the Voice of Doubt
7:40 The Internal Struggles We Face
10:00 Dealing with People’s Responses
12:00 Owning Your Truth
17:58 Publishing’s Impact on Trauma Survivors
23:19 The Sandpaper Draft
Connect with Laurie
Website: www.laurieriedman.com
More Than Words blog: https://laurieriedman.substack.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachingbu
Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret Less
Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn
Sign up for Camp Structure: https://lisacooperellison.com/camp-structure-find-your-memoirs-narrative-arc/
Sign up for Mastering Trauma Scenes to Improve Your Memoir: https://janefriedman.com/mastering-trauma-scenes-to-improve-your-memoir-with-lisa-cooper-ellison/
Produced by Espresso Podcast Production
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This week, you'll hear from Amanda Creasey, an outdoors writer and novelist, as we explore the age-old existential question: does what we are working on matter? In this episode, you will hear Amanda vulnerably share the frustration and discouragement many writers face when working on long-term projects and publishing their work. We’ll examine the drivers that keep us going, the truth about how many books authors typically sell, and how to show up for yourself as you write.
Amanda’s Bio: Amanda is an English teacher, outdoors writer, and novelist with an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and a graduate degree from the University of Denver. Her writing appears in three Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Her poetry and outdoor journalism have earned recognition from the Poetry Society of Virginia and Virginia Outdoor Writers Association. Her debut novel, An Expected End, is a work of speculative fiction that was published in October 2023.. A member of James River Writers, the Poetry Society of Virginia, and Virginia Outdoor Writers Association, she shares a home with her husband, their rescue parrot, and their two rescue dogs.
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
Athena Dixon Episode
James River Writers
Official Transcript
Episode Highlights
2:13 Why Does Your Story Matter
4:44 How Many Books to Authors Typically Sell
8:41 What’s Your Story’s Essential Question
11:16 How Does Writing Impact Your Life
14:30 Making Room For Joy
18:00 The Power of Community
22:22 Amanda’s writing advice
Connect with Amanda:
Website: AmandaSueCreasey.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amanda_sue_creasey
Substack: https://amandasuecreasey.substack.com/
Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret Less
Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn
Sign up for Camp Structure: https://lisacooperellison.com/camp-structure-find-your-memoirs-narrative-arc/
Sign up for Mastering Trauma Scenes to Improve Your Memoir: https://janefriedman.com/mastering-trauma-scenes-to-improve-your-memoir-with-lisa-cooper-ellison/
Produced by Espresso Podcast Production
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This week, you will hear from Wendy Hawkes, an emerging writer working on a coming-of-middle-age memoir about how she survived category 5 Hurricane Dorian, a storm whose intensity was due to climate change, and how this experience taught her to go with the flow. During our conversation we talk about how to write tough scenes without overdramatizing them or falling into a victim role, and how to decide which details truly belong.
Wendy’s Bio: Wendy Hawkes (she/her) is an American emerging writer currently crafting a memoir based on her experience surviving Category 5 Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas. She is a member of the National Association of Memoir Writers and has been published in Insider.com. Her personal essays have achieved finalist status in various competitions, including second place in the Writer’s Digest 2023 Personal Essay Contest. Wendy sails and writes alongside her British-born husband from their floaty home while avoiding oncoming storms amidst ever-present boat chores, sporadic diving and snorkeling, and exploring tropical islands.
Resources Mentioned During This Episode
Wendy’s essay on Insider.com
Blake Snyder’s Beat Sheet
A Writer’s Secret Weapon: Add a Listening Pass to Your Editing Arsenal
Making Meaning and Writing Toward Posttraumatic Growth with Lennie Echterling
Natural Reader
Episode Highlights
5:00 Writing Present Tense with Perspective
6:00 Writing to Heal vs Writing for an Audience
Making Yourself the Hero of Your Story
19:42 Wendy’s Best Writing Advice
Connect with Wendy
Website: https://WendyHawkes.com
Instagram: wendyh_aquatania
Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret Less
Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn
Sign up for Camp Structure: https://lisacooperellison.com/camp-structure-find-your-memoirs-narrative-arc/
Sign up for Mastering Trauma Scenes to Improve Your Memoir: https://janefriedman.com/mastering-trauma-scenes-to-improve-your-memoir-with-lisa-cooper-ellison/
Produced by Espresso Podcast Production
Send us a text
This week, you’ll hear from Meredith Master, a writer working on her memoir who is deciding on its structure. In this episode, we discuss writing a braided memoir, writing with a disability, telling the story of someone who has passed away, and how to write about the parts of someone’s life you weren’t present for.
Meredith’s Bio: Meredith Master is a blind writer living in New York City, where she shares a small space with her guide dog, Ivan and mostly unhelpful Boston Terrier, Jelly Roll. She is currently working on three book projects, including a memoir about adult onset disability and addiction as told through the stories of herself and her partner, Michael. She is also working on a collection of humorous essays and an anthology of personal stories of resilience told by writers who went blind and lived to tell about it.
Resources Mentioned During This Episode:
The Fact of a Body by Alex Marzano-Lesnevich
Acetylene Torch Songs: Writing True Stories That Ignite the Soul by Sue William Silverman
After the Eclipse by Sarah Perry
My Interview with Sarah Perry
My Interview with Sue William Silverman
Episode Highlights
3:06 Braiding Two Lives Together
8:45 Deciding on the Best Form
12:00 Telling Someone Else’s Story
20:30 Meredith’s Best Writing Advice
Connect with Meredith
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meredith.master/
Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret Less
Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn
Sign up for Camp Structure: https://lisacooperellison.com/camp-structure-find-your-memoirs-narrative-arc/
Sign up for Mastering Trauma Scenes to Improve Your Memoir: https://janefriedman.com/mastering-trauma-scenes-to-improve-your-memoir-with-lisa-cooper-ellison/
Produced by Espresso Podcast Production
The podcast currently has 39 episodes available.
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