How to Share Hard Stories w/ Melanie Brooks

Heart of the Story

153 Many of us have carried at least one hard story for years, suffering under the weight of secrecy and silence. But what if you didn't have to carry it anymore? What if writing or telling it could not only free you, but deepen your relationships with your loved ones? Melanie Brooks--author of Writing Hard Stories and A Hard Silence--is here to help us write and tell our hard stories.

Covered in this episode:

• The life changing impact that Writing Hard Stories had on Nadine
• Melanie’s surprising experiences with renowned authors as she researched her book
• The benefits of writing a hard story
• How and why it gets easier
• What you discover when you’re writing hard stories and how it’s able to help you process
• The phases we go throughout when telling hard stories
• What prompted Nadine to write and publish her hard story
• The 2 books Nadine reread while writing her memoir
• The hard silence Melanie had to keep for almost 10 yrs
• The long term impact of not being able to speak your truth
• What helps us stay centered while writing hard stories
• The guilty pleasure TV show that Melanie and Nadine both watch when they need to escape
• How it felt for Melanie and Nadine to have their vulnerable books be published
• What it was like for both writers to write about real life characters and what their family's reactions were
• What narrative medicine is and how it’s changing health care
• Hear Melanie read a moving passage that gives anyone permission to share their hard story

About Melanie:

IG: melaniejmbrookswriter

website:

melaniebrooks.com

Melanie Brooks is the author of the memoir A Hard Silence: One daughter remaps family, grief, and faith when HIV/AIDS changes it all (Vine Leaves Press, 2023) and Writing Hard Stories: Celebrated Memoirists Who Shaped Art from Trauma (Beacon Press, 2017) She teaches creative nonfiction in the M.F.A. program at Bay Path University and in the M.F.A. program at Western Connecticut State University and professional writing at Northeastern University. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast writing program and a Certificate in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. She has had numerous interviews and essays on topics ranging from loss and grief to parenting and aging published in the The Boston Globe, HuffPost, Yankee Magazine, Psychology Today, The Washington Post, Ms. Magazine, Creative Nonfiction, and other notable publications. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, two children (when they are home from university), and chocolate Lab.

About Nadine:

Download Nadine's mini-retreat reset for busy women here. This guided meditation creates calm and clarity so you can listen to the directions of your heart.

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is a holistic writing coach who helps women develop and publish their stories. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her articles and interviews have appeared in Cosmo, Authority, Good Grit, OnSite Journal, MindBodyGreen, HERE, Urban Wellness, Natural Awakenings, Chicago Magazine, and more. Nadine is the podcast host of Heart of the Story, where she shares stories from the heart as well as interviews with today’s most impactful female creatives. Pulling from her vast experience as a writing, meditation, and yoga nidra instructor, Nadine leads women’s workshops and retreats online and around the U.S.

Nadine has helped writers in her community develop and publish countless books and hundreds of essays in places like The New York Times, Vogue, the Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Longreads, and more.

Learn more about Nadine's 2024 classes here.

Her new book, Come Home to Your Heart, is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.

Follow Nadine on Instagram @nadinekenneyjohnstone