RESOURCES

Below are listed some of my favorite references on memoir writing, storytelling, and expressive writing. While it is not an exhaustive list of great reference, these are the ones I have personally read and used in workshops and my own personal writing. The books are listed in no particular order, so I hope you will explore them all to further expand your interest in skill building regarding storytelling and expressive writing.


*** When you purchase any of the references listed in on this resource page using the following links, proceeds of the purchase from Amazon go toward fundraising for the next set of films, so if you leave the site and decide to purchase the book at a later date, please come back and use the links below in support of the BREATHE: Honoring The Voices of Healthcare Initiative.

*   The Story You Need To Tell

by Sandra Marinella

*   Opening Up By Writing It Down:How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain

by James Pennebaker and Joshua M. Smyth

*   Choose Your Story, Change Your Life: Silence Your Inner Critic and Rewrite Your Life from the Inside Out

by Kindra Hall

*   Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling

by Matthew Dicks

*   The Healing Power of Storytelling: Using Personal Narrative to Navigate Illness, Trauma, and Loss

by Annie Brewster, Rachel Zimmerman, Robin Young and Rushika

*  How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth

by Megan Bowles, Catherine Burns, Jennifer Hixon, Sarah Austin Jenness, Kate Tellers, Chenjerai Kumanyika, and Padma Lakshimi

*   The Art of Memoir

by Mary Karr

*    The Forever Letter: Writing What We Believe For Those We Love

by Elana Zaiman

*    You: The Story: A Writer's Guide to Craft Through Memory 

by Ruta Sepetys

Writing Alone Together: Journalling in a Circle of Women for Creativity, Compassion and Connection

by Ahava Shira, Wendy Judith Cutler, and Lynda Monk

*   The Artist's Way

by Julia Cameron

*   The Complete Artist's Way: Creativity as a Spiritual Practice

by Julia Cameron

*   It's Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond 

by Julia Cameron

*   Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story

by Christina Baldwin

*   Memoir as Medicine: The Healing Power of Writing Your Messy, Imperfect, Unruly (but Gorgeously Yours) Life Story by Nancy Slonim Aronie

*   The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better

by Will Storr

* Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

by Natalie Goldberg

* NICU Nursing Stories: A Day in the Life of a NICU Nurse

by Valerie Wright

* Long Story Short: The Only Storytelling Guide You'll Ever Need

by Margot

* What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine

by Danielle Ofri

*   Writing Hard Stories: Celebrated Memoirists Who Shaped Art from Trauma

by Melanie Brooks

*   Narrative Coaching: The Definitive Guide to Bringing New Stories to Life

by David Drake

*   Healing Through Your Story: Workbook and Journal

by Shani Womack and Todd Womack

*   Thriving After Burnout: A Compilation of Real Stories and Strategies to Reduce Female Physician Burnout

by Sharon McLaughlin