Stories are What Save Us
A Survivors Guide to Writing about Trauma

Since 2013, David Chrisinger has taught military veterans, their families, and other trauma survivors how to make sense of and recount their stories of loss and transformation. The lessons he imparts can be used by anyone who has experienced trauma, particularly people with a deep need to share that experience in a way that leads to connection and understanding. Stories Are What Save Us shows—through striking memoir, writing exercises, and lessons learned from Chrisinger’s students—the most effective ways to uncover and communicate what you’ve learned while fighting your life’s battles. Weaving together his journey as a writer, editor, and teacher, he draws lessons from lighthearted stories of deciding—as a none-too-young guy with a football player’s frame—to train for an ultramarathon, and he reveals his own deeply personal story of family trauma and abuse and explains how his life has informed his writing. Part craft guide, part memoir, and part teacher’s handbook, Stories Are What Save Us presents readers with craft tools and storytelling structures that Chrisinger and his students have used to process conflict in their own lives and create beautiful stories of growth and transformation.