Writing about Overcoming Adversity

Descriptive and Prescriptive           Inspiration           Encouragement

Many a college student pondered writing an entrance essay on “How I overcame adversity” when they had a trouble-free life. But, you haven’t and you have a book in you to tell everyone how you can overcome adversity or obstacles in your life successfully. How do you get started?

Begin with the event as it happened; begin with life immediately after the event; begin with what led up to the event. You can decide what part of your story that you want to tell—the tragedy in its fullest, the healing journey, the lessons that you gained.

Choose to inspire rather than complain. If you think your emotions might want to overtake your story, you might want to seek personal therapy or counseling before beginning to write.  Writing about overcoming a personal tragedy can help overcome the emptiness, numbness, and depression and doing so can inspire others to do the same.

When you write about a personal tragedy, you expose yourself in a unique way. As you confide your innermost thoughts on paper, remember that you can choose what you share or do not want to share. And you can give the reader a respite by lightening your story with courage, faith, and moments of relief. A tragedy without a future of finding new purpose will drag the reader down. The part of your life that was tragic, bringing pain and sorrow, will always be a part of you—the challenges that you have overcome are a part of how you have evolved.

Focus less on the event and more about how you overcame it. What new perspectives about life did you learn? What did you learn about yourself?

While you are writing, you are reliving the event that caused you pain and sorrow. Give yourself the time to grieve if you need to do so, and then move forward by focusing on what you’ve overcome. Talk to friends and family about how the writing is affecting you, but don’t be deterred if they object that you write about your tragedy. Focus on your ultimate goal of helping others.

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 Frederick Jones is an attorney, professor, and bestselling author of Publish Me Now.  He is the founder and president of Publish Me Now University™ and creator of Write Your Worth™ live events.  To learn more about his Write Your Bestseller course, go to bit.ly/PublishMeNow to book a free strategy session and start writing and publishing today.  

NOTE: While I am an attorney , I’m not your attorney.  The content of this blog is for business coaching and educational information only.  It is not legal advice.  Readers are encouraged to seek legal counsel regarding specific questions about this post.