Should I Honor Their Privacy or Break the Silence by Publishing My Memoir?

Author: Lisa Cooper Ellison
Published: Thu 11 Jul 2024
Episode Link: None

Have you ever felt the need to write your story and share it with others? What if you believed breaking the silence would heal you, but family members want you to keep certain stories private? Could you find a way to respect their wishes while honoring your truth?

In this episode, I am joined by Stephanie Shafran, a writer who’s spent a lifetime being silenced and is now experiencing just this situation. We talk about writing what you need to write, deciding whether to publish, and respecting a family member’s need for privacy while still expressing yourself.

Stephanie’s Bio: Stephanie Shafran’s poetry chapbook Awakening was released in 2020. Stephanie contributed to the 2021 anthology, A 21st Century Plague: Pandemic Poetry, edited by Elayne Clift. A member of Straw Dog Writers Guild and Florence Poetry Society, Stephanie resides in Northampton, Massachusetts. You can read her monthly blog posts at stephanieshafran.com. In 2017, Stephanie retired from a teaching and counseling career. Her degrees include a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Smith College, Master in the Art of Teaching from the University of Vermont, and Master of Counseling Education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Resources Mentioned During This Episode:

It’s Not You: Identifying and Healing from Narcissistic People

Embracing Our Grief

Episode Highlights

2:50 Discovering You’re Not the Main Character

4:04 Disenfranchised Grief

7:00 Navigating Other’s Privacy with Our Need to Speak the Truth

13:40 Identifying Your Audience

17:00 Deciding Whether to Publish

23:09 Stephanie’s Best Writing Advice

Connect with Stephanie

Website: stephanieshafran.com