[1843] Making Peace with My Shadow

“Making Peace with My Shadow” is for a personal memoir which I’m toying with that is not told in autobiographical sequence, but rather as a series of stories/essays all relating to ten separate “Ingredients” (the title of the book). This piece will appear in the ingredient/chapter entitled “Tragedy”.

This is the second of three stories/essays on the subject of a sexual molestation I was subjected to as a child. The first story/essay, entitled "Bugs in a Jar", was submitted for critique at Destructive Readers 17 days ago. “Making Peace with My Shadow” is about some of the aftermath of the molestation.

Despite the sensitivity of the subject please don’t pull any punches. I’m not made of glass. I won’t break. Please critique this piece as bluntly as you would any other.

Also, beside critiquing the writing mechanics, please let me know if I succeeded in finding a nugget in this real-life experience that makes readers connect with the story…and maybe want to read the next one.

Link to story in Google Doc

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QgsKK6JEczfEdrq7qyGeMK5QBNZ9X4tKa8vWHDWIGLY/edit

Banked critique

https://www.reddit.com/r/DestructiveReaders/comments/1964qga/2260\_winterstone\_chapter\_1/