Some days, or maybe some weeks, you’re not going to enjoy writing your memoir.
I’m writing this because I bumped into a student of my course Write Your Memoir in the Tākaka library car park yesterday, and she told me she’d lost her enthusiasm for writing her story.
While a few weeks ago she’d been flying, suddenly, as she tried to write about a hard chapter of her life, felt like wading through mud.
That’s ok. That will happen.
I started dreaming up creative ideas for supporting her to move through this phase, and thought I’d share them with you, in case you’re struggling to keep going.
1. You don’t have to spend lots of time writing about the painful times of your life, you can write about those times briefly, factually, succinctly, and then move on. If you write about them at all.
2. You can pivot to writing about another, easier part of your life, to rebuild your confidence, before returning to that hard part of your story and approaching it with a different attitude. Who knows, you might look at it differently, and you’ll probably write it in a way that better serves you.
3. This is your story. You choose what goes in there, and you choose what you want to share, and how deep you want to dive into each part of your story. If it doesn’t feel good writing it, change it.
4. Most importantly, if you’re serious about finishing your story, keep steadily moving forward in any way you can. Do what you can, but keep chipping away at it. Because if you keep doing something, it’s inevitable that you will finish it one day.
Write on dear one,
Charlotte x
PS if you’d like extra support to write your story, you can do my online course Write Your Memoir, at your own pace, starting today. Just in time for our monthly meeting on Saturday 22 March. The theme: Keeping it fun!
Then and now
Astrea Stanislawek sent in these ‘then and now’ images, saying:
“Back in the 1960s when I was a little girl, I asked my grandmother:
‘What will I be? Will I be pretty, will I be rich? Here’s what she said to me. Que Sera, Sera, whatever will be, will be. The future’s not ours to see, Que Sera, Sera. What will be, will be.’
Now in the 2020s, I am the grandmother.”
Want to share yours? Email me: charlottesquirecoms@gmail.com
Charlotte Squire 