PROMPTS FOR WRITING THROUGH GRIEF
(and other ways of working through it)

In this series about writing through grief (and other ways of working through it), we will explore:

• Introduction to this series
• Grief in special seasons of memory, like winter holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions
• Some ideas and experiences of my own related to dealing with grief
• Prompts and ideas inspired by Crafting the Personal Essay by Dinty W. Moore
• Prompts and ideas inspired by Paulette Perhach’s “30 Days to the Personal Essay” course.
• Prompts and ideas especially suitable for young people (but also helpful for older folks, too)
• Ideas inspired by Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Date Book

Some of these postings are quite long, but I hope that in them you may find a few gems that will help you through your journey with grief. And please remember to add your own thoughts, ideas, and prompts in the comments. Thank you so much.

Prompts and ideas inspired by Paulette Perhach’s “30 Days to the Personal Essay” course.

This post is inspired by writing ideas from the course https://welcometothewriterslife.com/product/30-days-to-the-personal-essay/ by Paulette Perhach. While this is a course (well worth the $30 cost) about writing personal essays, you may find many ideas you can use to think about and remember the person you are grieving over. Some of them are very simple yet may bring you great joy (or may help you work through negative experiences you want to let go of). The ideas, being for your own personal essays, are directed to “you,” but they can also help you remember that other person, or help you remember and record things about your relationship with that person.

Some examples, from the first day of the “30 days,” which have inspired writing prompts (or other bases for remembering) include: best days of the person’s life; worst days; events that changed the person’s life or your relationship; events that taught a lesson; how a person shaped your life (or maybe how you shaped the person’s life); hard decisions the person (and perhaps you, together) had to make; times of risk; love you shared together or love that person shared with those around them; achievements; things you wish could be undone. Each “day” of the course many inspire you in different ways. For example, in day 2 you will be challenged to think of things like the way the person made a difference in the world; unique stories that you, with your memories about the person, can share; things about the person that bring you great joy, or that you need to just let go, to get off your chest.

Please share your thoughts about writing through grief in the comments. Thank you.