Writing Yourself Whole

Writing was my refuge

My writing journey started as a young child, through drawings and color. I was an abused child, and I witnessed three rape murders happening next to me. My creativity was my only outlet.

As I grew older, I wrote on anything that I could get hold of like the back of receipts and other scrap pieces of paper. I wrote in note books and journals, pouring my feelings onto the pages.

Trauma has a way of keeping hold on you. It stays in the body long after the events have happened and return in the form of flashbacks when you least expect it.

My brain "forgot" the most horrific experiences during my teens, but I still had nightmares with confusing feelings. I wrote everything down in my journal and kept my scribbles locked up.

After I left my old life behind and began again, the flashbacks started coming in increasing succession and I got a therapist.

While I was in therapy, I realized that I was not alone as a trauma survivor. There are many people out there like me and I had this experience that I could share.

Finding a writing purpose

Suddenly, my years of writing had purpose. I decided to put all my scribbles, notes and stories to good use. I wanted the world to understand what nobody talked about and shine a big floodlight on trauma and abuse.

When I wrote my stories, I let go of my pain and I told the truth that nobody wanted to hear. Horrific things happened to me and I knew many other survivors were out there.

My purpose for writing was to help those who were still fighting their demons every day. I knew how they felt.

I organized every bit of writing in chronological order and started putting together my first memoir called "The Sex Offender's Daughter." I spent most of lock down writing it. I self published my memoir in 2022, after no publisher would accept it due to the sensitive content.

This book was my life, but I got away and I made my own way in the world.

My first memoir was popular, and is still selling three years later. Because of the success of my first memoir, I decided that there was a market for people wanting to find out more about living with trauma.

I'm a mental health writer online as well as an author. I write across several writing platforms including the Complex PTSD Foundation. My articles are about helping those who have no voice due to trauma. How to survive against all odds in a society that is submerged by trauma but has no idea how to handle the truth.

I published a second memoir: Living with Complex PTSD, and this book is exactly what the title says. How a survivor lives with trauma memories.

I was born to write to help people. I turned my adversity and pain into something useful and I don't regret sharing my personal story with the world.

Beyond memoir writing

I turned my experiences of trauma and the people I've met into a fiction series called "The Cedar's Port series." There are six published books with a new one due in the New Year.

All of my characters are made up of deeply traumatized individuals who make something of themselves, whether it's professional or academic.

Real trauma survivors live everywhere in our society, and there are many more of us than you might think.

My name is Lizzy. I’m a trauma survivor, a wife, a mom, a teacher, and an author.

If you like reading my posts, then please follow me.

For more about me: www.elizabethwoodsauthor.com

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If you want to read one of my top articles; check it out here:

How to explain Complex PTSD to loved ones

https://medium.com/illumination/how-to-explain-complex-ptsd-to-loved-ones-769f81d437ab