Why Write?


Can Journaling Permanently Change Your Response to Stress? 8

STRESS is an emotional, mental, and/or physical response to pressure. That pressure may be internally generated, such as when we place high expectations on ourselves and fail to live up to those expectations. Or it may come from external circumstances, such as a demanding job, ill health, or any situation […]


Can Writing Improve Your Memory? 6

AS I APPROACH THE AGE of retirement, I have begun to worry about the health of my memory. (My mother died from Alzheimer’s, and the specter of that soul-sucking disease continues to haunt me.) If newspaper, magazine, and blog articles about the aging of baby boomers are to be believed, I […]


5 Reasons to Write Your Memoir 18

What is memoir, and why should you write yours? Essentially, memoir is a collection of memories in narrative form, a story composed of events you experienced in your life. Memoir makes visible and weaves together the connecting threads of those events and gives meaning to them. And that’s the primary difference between […]


Why Your Stories Matter 5

When my mother left behind a lifetime of letters and journals, she thought it likely that no one would read or care about what she had written. I know because she wrote as much. But she was wrong: I cared, and have read most of what she left behind. Her […]


One Writer’s Answer 2

At some point in her career, every writer attempts to answer the question, “Why do I write?” My answer has always been: I have no idea — no explanation, no justification, no purpose beyond the moment of my finished work. But now the question won’t leave me alone; it’s in […]


How Important are Your Life Stories? 1

The article, “The Centenarian’s Secret,” in the 5-Minute Memoir section of February’s Writer’s Digest Magazine caught my attention. In it, author Diane Speare Triant describes her chance meeting with 103-year-old Nelson McNutt and of subsequently writing and publishing an article summarizing his life story. After his death two years later, […]