Guidelines for Story Submission

 

When you click on the "submit your story" button, you will be taken to a Microsoft Form already sectioned by phases. 

If this form is not working for you, you may try uploading a document or pictures of documents.

You can email to: email@memoirsofthenarcissized. 

You may also send by U.S. Mail to: 

Story Submissions

19 Academy Drive, Suite 16

Glenville, WV 26351. 

If all else fails, call us, we will figure something out.

Make sure your submission has contact information.  If we can use your story,

we will need your permission to publish. 

Our own stories can be found on the About Us page and are available for download. 

You are not alone.   We have been there.

STORY FORMAT GUIDE 

Each memoir follows this structure:

  1. Who you were before

  2. Love Bombing

  3. Devaluation

  4. Discard

  5. Hoover Attempts

  6. Breaking the Trauma Bond

  7. The Aftermath

  8. Wisdom for the Next Survivor

1: Write your truth — even if it’s raw.

Survivors often need to express rage, grief, and shock.
We do not censor emotions, including strong language when necessary to convey the reality. There is no shame in mentioning drug use or sex.  You will find it exists in 90% of the stories.  It is just another one of the tactics narcissists use.  We are not looking for polished prose. If any changes need to be made for reasons of clarity, we will only do so with your permission.   

2: Use intentional language, not gratuitous language.

We ask contributors to avoid excessive or performative profanity.
However, you are free to use strong language when it is part of your authentic voice or essential for expressing the intensity of what happened.

3: Protect identities.

Please avoid naming abusers, workplaces, small towns, or identifiable details unless changed.

AUTHENTICITY & VERIFICATION POLICY

This is crucial and delicate — here’s a policy that is transparent, fair, and purposeful.


Why Verification Matters

We are building a meaningful, research-worthy, survivor-centered volume.
Authenticity ensures:

  • credibility for mental health professionals

  • trust for survivors

  • protection from fabricated or AI-generated stories


How We Review for Authenticity

We look for:

  • consistent patterns of narcissistic abuse

  • emotional depth and internal experience

  • specific details that reflect lived reality

  • unique voice or perspective

  • natural inconsistencies that real trauma narratives often contain

  • non-linear recollection (a hallmark of trauma)

  • complexity of emotions, self-blame, confusion, doubt

  • physical responses and sensory memories (very hard to fake)

We flag stories that show:

  • overly generic, template-like phrasing

  • robotic repetition

  • no emotional variance

  • perfect chronological order (not typical of trauma memory)

  • “all good/all bad” simplicity with no nuance

  • suspiciously neat dialogue

  • too-clean story arcs

  • extreme clichés

  • signs of automated generation (tonal, structural, or pattern anomalies)

If a story feels questionable, we may:

  • request a clarifying detail

  • ask the writer to expand a section

  • ask for emotional context (absolutely not personal documents)

  • explain why the story as written cannot be included

We never accuse authors.
We simply seek clarity.


Important:

We do not require legal proof, police reports, texts, or documentation.
Many survivors never had those things.
We verify tone, pattern, depth, and authentic human voice — not evidence.


🔒 PRIVACY & ANONYMITY POLICY

  • You may publish under a pen name.

  • You may change identifying details.

  • IP addresses are not shared or published.

  • Stories may be lightly edited for clarity, trauma sensitivity, or anonymity.

  • You may withdraw your story at any time before publication.


⚖️ DISCLAIMER

This site is not a substitute for mental health treatment, legal counsel, or crisis services.
We do not diagnose abusers or contributors.
We share lived experiences for education, empowerment, healing, and change.