Introducing The Healing Lab 🧪

A 12-Week Journey into Writing Fiction to Heal

In 2017, I wrote a book I never intended to publish. Until They Burn was my private reckoning with powerlessness, injustice, and rage. I couldn't write directly about what I was processing — it was too raw, too close, too overwhelming. So I created a character who could fight back when I couldn't. I gave her a father worth avenging when mine had already abandoned me. I let her take justice into her own hands when every system had failed me.

That book became the foundation for everything I now teach about healing through fiction writing. [And bonus — it’s now available for pre-order! It releases next week!]

Until They Burn didn't just heal me — it taught me how healing works through storytelling. Every technique I now use with clients, every principle in my book Forged in Fire, every breakthrough I've witnessed in my workshops... it all started with that one desperate novel I wrote to save my own sanity.

Now I invite you to share that journey alongside me, again.

Starting September 2nd, I'm launching a FREE 12-week series that takes you inside the process of writing fiction to heal — experiment style.

Each week, we'll explore one core healing technique to help bring your writing fiction to heal story to the page.

Here's what makes this different from other writing newsletters?

I'm not teaching from the mountaintop. Every Friday, I'll complete the same practice exercise I'm giving you, processing whatever I'm currently dealing with through fiction. You'll watch the method work in real-time, with current life situations, not just past victories.

We're using a real case study. Instead of theoretical examples, you'll see how one complete novel processes multiple layers of trauma using every technique in my methodology. Plus, I’ll be pulling in examples from other authors and creators¹.

Community healing happens here. This isn't just individual work — we're creating a space where writers can witness each other's healing journeys through fiction.

Kind Words From Others:

“The drought broke. I wrote 11 pages on the first day of using Jade's method after months of being blocked.”

“This isn't just a writing technique, it's a permission slip to explore your own story in a way that feels safe.”

“I've been in therapy for years, but writing fiction to heal showed me things about myself I never discovered through talking alone.”

What You'll Learn

Week 1: The Safety of Strangers

How to create psychological distance through character demographics, setting, and circumstances so you can explore painful material without re-traumatizing yourself.

Week 2: Rewriting the Ending

Using fiction to explore “what if” scenarios — giving your characters the agency, support, or resources you wished you'd had.

Week 3: The Language of Metaphor

When direct expression hurts too much, how to use symbolism, fantasy, and metaphor to process experiences sideways.

Week 4: The Healing Power of Villains

Uncovering the external and internal critics and negative voices in your life by creating antagonists who embody your self-doubt, shame, or internalized oppression.

Week 5: Found Family and Chosen Communities

Writing the supportive relationships you need to see, creating healthy dynamics you're learning to recognize and attract.

Week 6: Forgiveness Through Fiction

Exploring complex characters and humanizing backstories without excusing harm — the difference between understanding and absolving.

Week 7: Body Stories

How trauma lives in the body and how fiction can help you listen to what your physical self is trying to tell you.

Week 8: Grief and Growth

Processing all forms of loss — death, identity, relationships, dreams — and how fictional endings can model transformation.

Week 9: Future Self Fiction

Writing toward who you're becoming — creating characters who model the growth, confidence, or skills you're developing.

Week 10: Integration and Wholeness

Bringing together different aspects of yourself through multiple characters and perspectives.

Week 11: Sharing Our Stories

How private healing through fiction can become community connection and mutual support.

Week 12: The Ongoing Practice

Making healing fiction a sustainable life practice rather than a one-time event.

What You Get

Free Subscribers Receive:

• 12 weekly essays with teaching, Until They Burn excerpts, and healing exercises

• Access to community discussions and support

• Friday “Field Work” demonstrations where I complete each exercise in real-time

Paid Subscribers Get Everything Above Plus:

• Private community for deeper sharing and connection

• Monthly live video calls with guided discussion and Q&A

• Extended essays with additional examples from other novels

• Bonus exercises and prompts for advanced work

Paid subscription: $7/month (Cancel anytime)

Why Now? Why This?

After spending more than a decade working with clients, students, and writers on the Writing Fiction to Heal method, I learned that for most people, it’s not a quick or easy process. It’s a long slog, tbh. Totally worth it — but it is a lot of work.

And what I've been looking for is: doable.

Thus, this lab came to life. A “doable” version of Writing Fiction to Heal for those who want to explore, dabble, try out or experiment with or without committing to a novel.

With The Healing Lab, you’ll have 12 weeks to work through many of my Writing Fiction to Heal techniques and to apply them in various ways.

Who This Is For

This series is for you if:

• You've experienced trauma and feel drawn to processing it through storytelling

• You're a writer who wants to understand how fiction can be a healing practice

• You're curious about the intersection of creativity and emotional recovery

• You want to see a complete methodology demonstrated rather than just taught

• You're ready to do vulnerable creative work in a supportive community

This might not be for you if:

• You're looking for traditional craft instruction focused on publication

• You're not comfortable with others sharing personal/traumatic material

• You're not interested in the healing aspects of writing

  

Content Warnings & Safety

This series will discuss trauma, abuse, injustice, and other difficult topics through the lens of fiction writing. Each post will include appropriate content warnings. I'll provide grounding techniques and emphasize that this work supplements but never replaces professional therapy.

We'll maintain clear boundaries about what gets shared in community spaces, with options for anonymous participation and strict guidelines about offering advice vs. witnessing.

Ready to Begin?

The Healing Lab starts September 2nd and runs for 12 weeks, ending November 17th— just in time for you to carry your new healing practice into the holidays and new year.

I can't promise this work will be easy. Writing fiction to heal requires courage, honesty, and the willingness to sit with difficult emotions. But I can promise it will be worth it.

I wrote a book that saved my life. Now I want to teach you how fiction writing can do the same for you.

Questions? Concerns? Hit reply and let me know what you're wondering about.

Here's to the stories that heal us,

Jade

1. Some of the titles we’ll be using throughout the 12 weeks: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak • This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers • A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness • The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones • Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson • Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng • + more!