Voice of Her Own

Book excerpt: As writers such as Virginia Woolf, Audre Lorde, and Anais Nin recognized, keeping a journal is a powerful tool of creative expression and self-healing. In A Voice of Her Own - a companion for both new and longtime diarists - Marlene Schiwy shows that journal writing is the ideal way to find one's individual voice, an opportunity for women to explore feelings, intuitions, perceptions, and ideas often suppressed in our society, and to record the truths of their own experience. Schiwy invites readers to share the journeys other women have made toward selfhood and encourages them to begin a journey of their own. She weaves together passages from published and unpublished journals, from works of literature, psychology, and women's studies with her personal insights. A Voice of Her Own is a treasure chest of inspiration for every woman seeking deeper self-awareness and new outlets for creativity.