Breakthrough Writing: Narrative and Reflective Strategies for Editors

1. Breakthrough Writing: Narrative and Reflective Strategies for Editors Donna M. Nickitas, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, CNE, FAAN Joy Jacobson, MFA Moderator: Suzan Kardong-Edgren, PhD, RN, ANEF, CHSE

2. Our colleague at the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing, Jim Stubenrauch, created this proposal with us & isn’t able to be here today.

3. Objectives of this session • Discuss some of the most common difficulties writers face. • Describe several narrative and reflective strategies for overcoming them. • Engage in exercises designed to help editors appreciate writing as a process of discovering by learning what they want to say and how to say it, clearly and concisely.

4. “Not Writing,” by Jane Kenyon A wasp rises to its papery nest under the eaves where it daubs at the gray shape, but seems unable to enter its own house.

5. Writing prompt

6. Why write?

7. Why write? “I know, as an author, editor, and educator the importance of communicating about nursing to the greater world through my words, whether spoken or printed. I know that when my words are translated through good writing, they have the power to transform lives and change the world. When nurses read my editorials and they respond by writing ‘A Letter to the Editor,’ I know I have transformed a life. Nurses must not be silent and must articulate clearly the injustices caused by lack of access to care and the inequities, inefficiencies, and brokenness of our health care delivery system. By telling our truths and encouraging each other to promote social and economic justice, we can change the world together.” Nickitas, D. (2013). Getting others to write: Not for the faint of heart. Nurse Author & Editor, 23(3).

8. Why write? “As a longtime nursing editor and now a nursing educator, I have seen plenty of evidence (rampant plagiarism, for instance) that tells me that most nurses have never been taught writing as a process, one that takes time and thought, assessment, collaboration, and revision, just as the nursing process does. Jim and I have co-taught this course to undergraduate and graduate nursing students for two years now, and every semester we watch as the light goes on for students. As they take ownership of their own ideas and experiences by presenting them in their own, original words, they begin to realize that their writing might also matter to others.” Jacobson, J. (2013). Daily writing, daily bread. Nurse Author & Editor, 23(3).

9. The uses of narrative in nursing • Pat Benner & “nursing narratives” in education & practice (using reflective journals, for example) • Rita Charon & “narrative competence” in medical & interprofessional education • Center for Health, Media & Policy: developing student & professional nurses through personal narrative writing

10. Writing for health & healing • James W. Pennebaker has researched the effects of “expressive writing” on health, finding many benefits. He offers a page of practical advice on expressive writing. • Transformative Language Arts Network “supports individuals and organizations that promote forms of the spoken, written, and sung word as a tool for personal and communal transformation.” • Louise DeSalvo’s Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives offers a step-by-step program for writing a personal narrative that promotes healing from traumatic experience.

11. Why write? "I believe, fundamentally, that writing is about cultivating and practicing autonomy. It is the way healing begins, especially if, in the past, our autonomy has been seriously compromised or even stolen from us. . . . Writing enacts a freedom we often felt we didn’t have. Choosing--or rather, finding--our own subject, one that is personally, deeply significant, then, is the first step of the process." DeSalvo, L. (2000). Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives. Boston: Beacon Press. Page 51.

12. Why write? “Tapping that potential will require developing a new workplace culture that encourages and supports leaders at the point of care (whether a hospital or the community) and requires all members of a health care team to hold each other accountable for the team's performance; nurses must also be equipped with the communication, conflict resolution, and negotiating skills necessary to succeed in leadership and partnership roles.” Institute of Medicine. (2010). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Retrieved from http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12956&page=R1

13. What difficulties do writers face?

14. How do we overcome these difficulties? • Reflective writing • Daily journaling • Reading & discussing literary & scientific writings with others • Blogging & other social media • What else?

15. Writing prompt

16. Reading

17. Dealing with DREAD • listen to calming music • meditate (focus on breathing) • set the timer and write for a limited period • write in the journal: why does writing make me anxious? • other tactics?

18. Making commitment, finding support “I am willing to make a commitment to writing. I will write _____ [number of times or hours per week, number of words per session: be specific].”

19. BreakThrough writing is knowing: Writing is both an art & a science Writing is dealing with the dread Writing requires discipline and commitment Writing is about cultivating and practicing autonomy

20. Time for Questions