Write in Your Journal Like Audre Lorde: 4 Ways In

A woman whose work became even more urgent in the face of cancer diagnoses, Audre Lorde wrote in her journals to clarify and declare what actually mattered—why live? In answering this question for herself, she also discovered that her approach to cancer was no different from her approach to living, writing, and loving. She went into battle with cancer just as she showed up in every other area of her life, voicing urgent truths in order to not regret her silences.  

While many writers have published their journals (Anaïs Nin being perhaps the most famous) Lorde published only excerpts from her journals in two works: The Cancer Journals and A Burst of Light and Other Essays. For now, Lorde’s  journals remain unpublished and archived at Spelman College in the Audre Lorde Collection (they span the years 1950 to 1992). 

Don’t assume that it was always easy for Lorde to turn to her journal as an excuse to back away from your writing practice. It’s not always simple:  

“I wanted to write in my journal but couldn’t bring myself to. There are so many shades to what passed through me in those days. And I would shrink from committing myself to paper because the light would change before the word was out, the ink was dry.” 

Take inspiration from Lorde, discover new awareness and depth in your self-honesty, and engage with your journal writing practice by experimenting with these four ways in:  

1. Talk to Ghosts

2. Be Outraged  

3. Speak Today’s Truth

4. Voice the Body 

1. Talk to Ghosts

Appeal to the dead—whether a childhood friend, lovers, mentor, dead grandfather, or anyone who lives in your heart, dead or alive. It can be someone living at a remove, who belongs to the past, whether lost to distance or circumstances. What do you need to tell them? What did you never dare ask? Ask now.