How to Tell My Story Without Sounding Like I’m Playing the Victim

Writing Your Resilience: Building Resilience, Embracing Trauma and Healing Through Writing

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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:
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Produced by Espresso Podcast Production