After I've given a talk about recovering from grief, many people ask me how to go about writing a book. Some authors use a random approach and write about whatever comes to mind. I work from an outline. First, I determine the main topic of the book. Next, I identify sub-topics and make a list of them. These are my chapters. I put this information in outline form and let it "percolate" for a few weeks or months. During this time some chapters may be deleted and the order of the chapters may change. Then I start writing. Sometimes I deviate from the outline, but for the most part, I stick with it. I encourage you to write your own grief story. Start today. Don't try to impress anyone; just be your yourself. Writing will lead you to new discoveries and a new life.
Expressing Your Grief with Words
Writing about loss and grief requires effort and it's worth the effort. When I was autographing books at a national conference, a woman told me she had started writing about grief and stopped. "I kept writing the same thing," she explained. Whether you keep a diary, journal, write stories or books, you need to keep writing. Exressing your grief with words documents a time in your personal history. It is also part of your family history, a special, emotional, important document. You have a story to tell.