When you’ve been a writing coach for as long as I have, certain books that you’ve helped bring to life just stay with you. Shani Raviv’s Being Ana: A Memoir of Anorexia Nervosa is one of those.
I refer to this award-winning memoir when explaining to other writing coach clients that chapters need to be themed rather than just “and-then-this-happened” accounts. “Each chapter has to build on the last, and has to have its own reason for being,” I tell them. That often provokes some rather difficult but ultimately rewarding soul searching, which is exactly what happened during Shani’s revision of the manuscript she had written before finding me.
I shared her rewrite process during a presentation to a group of clinicians, explaining that a memoir can prompt its author to look at his/her life in a curiously distanced and completely new way. While seeking the themes of each chapter, memoir writers examine their lives and can wind up seeing patterns that have eluded them for years.
“I feel like I’ve been through psychoanalysis, just a lot faster,” Shani told me when her book was finally done. “I’ve figured out more in the process of working with you on this book than I have in ten years of therapy.”
Now I’m sure not saying that I’ve got the skills of a therapist or a psychoanalyst. To be honest, sometimes I feel like I’m practicing without a license. On the other hand, I know that any epiphanies happen not because of my psych skills, but because the process of writing a memoir requires the author to look deep within.
I remember my Dad, who is an acclaimed writer, telling me about a day-long nonfiction writing workshop he had attended. At the end of the day, one of the attendees stood up and addressed the famous author leading the workshop. “So what you’re saying is that to write a good book you have to be willing to write about things you don’t want other people to know. To write a great book, you have to be willing to write about things you yourself don’t want to know.”
That’s exactly what Shani did. In the process of creating a compelling book, she came to terms with the themes in her life that influenced both her condition and her recovery. To this day, I have to choke back tears when reading passages I’ve read multiple times and even helped edit.
Fast forward.
My friend Deborah and I are on a hike through the national forest with my four pups. Somehow Shani’s book enters the conversation. “You coached her when she was writing Being Ana?” Deborah exclaimed. “I love that book. It’s required reading in women’s studies classes.”
I haven’t checked out that last assertion. Even so, my heart leaped so high at Deborah’s words that I have yet to lasso it and bring it back to earth. And that’s just fine with me.
One last thought. Shani, shouldn’t you be thinking about a second book? Talent like yours needs to be shared.
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.