Screaming as a Writing Practice
How to use joyful noise to release fear, unlock rhythm in your prose, and connect with the most powerful version of your voice.
Greetings! If you’re new to the Writing Your Resilience podcast, welcome! I’m Lisa Cooper Ellison, a trauma-informed writing coach and author of this Substack. If you’ve been here for a while, welcome back. It’s wonderful to be with friends. If you’d like to spend more time with me, applications are open for Free Your Voice, Fuel Your Motivation.
In late June, my brother-in-law visited with his twin teenage sons. One of the boys is a coaster enthusiast, known among insiders as a “thoosie.” He’d been waiting five years for our trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
I understood the thrill. At seven, I rode the Speedway at Eldridge Park fourteen times in one day. As a young adult, I enjoyed all the coasters at nearby amusement parks. But I hadn’t been on one since 2012, and I thought those days were behind me.
As our visit to Busch Gardens neared, my inner adventurer stirred. That’s how I ended up in the front car of The Griffin, dangling over a ninety-degree drop, waiting five long seconds before plummeting at seventy-three miles per hour.
As a minor terror settled in, I found myself yelling, “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” discovering in real time that screaming profanity is my body’s favorite coping mechanism.
By the end of the blistering one-hundred-fourteen-degree day (yes, you read that right), I’d screamed myself hoarse. My voice was gone, but in losing it, I found something worth writing about.
Why We Lose Our Voices
Writers lose their voices all the time. Words catch in our throats. Doubts silence us before we even begin. We worry about what others think. In today’s polarized world, self-censorship is rampant. Women and minorities, long conditioned to monitor what they say and how they say it, are especially vulnerable to holding back. If you’ve ever been punished for speaking up or expressing yourself, this can compound that sense of voicelessness.
Some people are raised in such invalidating environments they never have a voice at all.
Writing can feel like such a balm when speaking the truth feels out of reach—that is, until the words you’re looking for feel inaccessible.
That’s where screaming comes in.
Learning to Scream
Screaming and I have a complicated relationship. Growing up, loud voices preceded swinging fists and cracking belts or soul-crushing periods of isolation. I swore I’d never scream at anyone, and for the most part, I haven’t. But swallowing my anger hasn’t served me. It kept me from getting my needs met. It even contributed to the Lyme/Mold/Epstein Barr adventure that stole seven years of my life.
So, I’ve had to learn how to scream—and I’m inviting you to try it too.
Screaming, when done productively (and dare I say joyfully), is surprisingly healthy. It lowers cortisol and deepens your breath, connecting you to the power center in your solar plexus. It also discharges strong emotions and unlocks the ones hiding in your body, including those associated with the parts of your writing projects that have eluded you.
For trauma survivors, screaming in anger can feel unsafe. That’s why I recommend screaming for joy, something I’ve done for years.
I scream in tunnels for the fun of it. A dear friend and I used to scream in her car for three minutes after a particularly challenging graduate school class, which often led to belly laughs. At the Kenyon Review Writers Conference, my workshop group scream-sang Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Sometimes, I scream to shake off the day.
It’s safe and cathartic. It’s also life giving.
A Scream Diet for Writers
Want to free your voice? Try a scream diet:
Find playful moments to scream, like when you’re in a tunnel
Seek safe thrills, such as roller coasters, haunted houses, or other joy-sparking adventures outside your comfort zone
Belt out your favorite songs in the shower, or go all-in during karaoke
Scream in the ocean or woods
Book time in a rage room or scream truck
As you do this, pay attention to how your voice feels. Does it connect you to a bolder, louder version of yourself? Help you write better sentences? Clarify your message? Approach a project in a more playful way?
Screaming has helped me play with the rhythm of my prose, including adding single-word and staccato sentences to establish rhythm and suspense. More importantly, it’s helped me reclaim my power both on and off the page.
More Opportunities to Free Your Voice
By the end of my Busch Gardens adventure, my hair was wild, my voice shredded, but I felt utterly alive.
That’s what I want for you—not the hoarse throat, but the thrill of letting your voice soar. In Free Your Voice, you’ll have a safe, supportive space to practice speaking your truth aloud, to hear yourself clearly, and to discover how good it feels to stop holding back. Think of it as your front-row seat—not to a ninety-degree drop, but to the joy of letting the most authentic part of you tell a story that’s fully, fiercely yours.
Applications are now open. Those who apply by 9/1/25 will receive 20% off tuition.
Warmly,
Lisa
Your Turn: What’s one strategy you use to connect with your authentic writing voice? Share your thoughts in the comments. You never know what conversations this might inspire.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post; your support means so much to me. If this post resonated with you, here are four simple ways to support this Substack:
Subscribe to this Substack if you’re not already a follower
Like this post by clicking the heart
Restack this post (bonus points if you include a note)
Forward this email to a friend or share the link on social media
Applications Are Now Open!
Applications are open for this transformational 12-week writing course where you’ll receive weekly feedback on what’s working in your projects. Arrive ready to write, tap into a powerful creative flow, and leave feeling inspired, motivated.
Fast-acting bonuses for those who apply by 9/1:
20% off tuition
A ticket to Stop Getting in Your Own Way: End Self-Sabotage Now
Human Design for Writers Part One: Understanding Your Unique Design
Recent Podcast Appearance
I’m so honored to be a guest on this episode of Persistence U with Lizbeth Meredith, where I share my journey of grief, resilience, and the ways storytelling can help us heal. This conversation goes deep into what it means to live through loss and still find light, hope, and meaning on the other side.
The Latest Episode of Writing Your Resilience:
The podcast is on hiatus over the summer. New episodes will air on September 11, 2025, when I’ll share my interview with Ingrid Clayton about her new book on the fawning trauma response.
While I’m away, I’m doing an encore series of popular episodes that are worth a second listen. This week’s encore episode includes a very popular episode where somatic experiencing practitioner, Kirby Moore, shares a powerful practice that can supercharge your writing practice.
Red-Hot Writers
This section of the newsletter is currently on hiatus. Please save your late June, July, and August announcements, so I can share them with everyone in my end-of-September newsletter. You can begin submitting them on 9/1/2025. The deadline for submissions is 9/25/2025.
Milestone Makers
This section of the newsletter is currently on hiatus. Please save your late June, July, and August announcements, so I can share them with everyone in my end-of-September newsletter. You can begin submitting them on 9/1/2025. The deadline for submissions is 9/25/2025.
If you’ve read this far, thank you. You can support this newsletter and yourself with my occasional subscriber support sessions and quarterly Ask Me Anything sessions by becoming a paid subscriber. The next Ask Me Anything session is scheduled for September 10, 2025.
Lisa, I love this so much. First I immediately laughed at the headline; now I can't wait to find the moment to let out a good scream, it's been awhile and overdue. And I do love to sing outloud, that feels really good. :)
I love going to spooky theme parks and screaming!