We ache to get our true story out, but what can we do when we don't know the best way to share it? If framing your story feels so overwhelming that you go silent, here's an idea to use now.
Christine knows, but I’ll share with the rest of the crowd that I decided to use Substack to revisit a four year journey with cancer across the course of my fifth.
It’s been interesting as it gives me structure and accountability (twice weekly look backs on old posts that I’ve selected to create a content calendar), but the prompts are broad enough that I can do whatever I would like with them - share a story or a reflection, etc.
I think I expected to tell more stories. I also didn’t realize how much the reflection would continue to provide insight and healing.
At the end of the day, I’m not sure I’ll be THAT much closer to a memoir, but if the stories haven’t emerged across 104 posts, I’ll wonder if they were that important as a part of the whole. And I’ll have about 80,000 words written, at least some of which might be revised to become part of a draft!
Some of my favorite writing advice I've heard so far is to just sit and I can either write or not write but I can't do nothing else. These tips have helped me when I am stuck and don't know what to write that day. Your advice is also spot on about following your gut and letting the story flow out of you. The story will lead you where it wants to go and that's been my favorite writing periods so far.
I love that advice to just sit and write or do nothing else during that time. Sometimes it helps me to just sit and let the nervous system reset.
I also find that it helps to let others know my writing times and gather virtually with community. That way, I HAVE to show up! I’ve been hosting a series of free, silent, virtual write-ins and I love how other writers show up to do their work, too. It’s coworking without the small talk. If anyone’s interested in joining, here’s the info:
This resonates a lot for me. Kind of a paradox because only by breaking things down are we able to tackle them, but then getting the perfect outline does seem impossible. Writing a memoir has always been a big scary blob, but thanks to our conversation and my reading books like "Shimmering Images," "Writing Down the Bones," and "The Book You Were Meant to Write," I feel more like there is no such thing as "doing it wrong." We can do it badly, but then we can do a backward outline. That can still work.
The other thing I've figured out is that there are TONS of advice and many different techniques offered to get at good writing of a memoir. I (and you) need to choose what works for us. There is no one size fits all and I most love what Anne Lamott says about getting my "butt in the chair".
You are always so generous to share what you learn and I appreciate it. It makes me feel good to know you are only a few miles away working on your memoir! xo
I write for so many reasons, but mostly to process my own life, my thoughts about the world around me, and to find a community that is willing to walk through those things with me. This piece is coming at a good time as I start to work on an actual memoir (not just a collection of essays) and I try to figure out the best structure for mine. I'm trying to outline mine as well, mostly so that I focus on the main points and then let the writing take over from there. We'll see.
Wonderful to hear you're also writing memoir. It's a marathon!
I'm serious when I say that writing down the major Turning Points in my life -- the events in which my life took a turn -- helped to clarify the (potential) major scenes in the book, at least chronologically. I let myself write a paragraph or two MAX.
Once I identified those Turning Points, I looked at their broad themes. If the the Turning Point had at least one theme that related to the book's ultimate takeaway for the reader, I left it in. Lo and behold, each one of my Turning Points DOES have a bearing on the book's ultimate takeaway. With those Turning Points identified and each Turning Point's theme identified, I turned those Turning Points into temporary chapters which I'll expand on by writing scenes. Then, once the story comes out in that order, I'll reshuffle things if necessary through flashbacks, alternating chapters, or whatever feels right.
Before she told me this, I just found myself getting lost and frustrated trying to structure the book before I even wrote it. That helpful advice from my mentor to write the story before putting the book together was such a liberation from my mental gymnastics. I'd been fretting over too much too soon. Now, I'll just write the story as it happened and then finesse the structure once I have all the components. Hope that helps someone reading this!
Christine knows, but I’ll share with the rest of the crowd that I decided to use Substack to revisit a four year journey with cancer across the course of my fifth.
It’s been interesting as it gives me structure and accountability (twice weekly look backs on old posts that I’ve selected to create a content calendar), but the prompts are broad enough that I can do whatever I would like with them - share a story or a reflection, etc.
I think I expected to tell more stories. I also didn’t realize how much the reflection would continue to provide insight and healing.
At the end of the day, I’m not sure I’ll be THAT much closer to a memoir, but if the stories haven’t emerged across 104 posts, I’ll wonder if they were that important as a part of the whole. And I’ll have about 80,000 words written, at least some of which might be revised to become part of a draft!
You will absolutely do it, Gina. I’m 100% certain of this. ❤️
I’ve got the best coach! : )
Some of my favorite writing advice I've heard so far is to just sit and I can either write or not write but I can't do nothing else. These tips have helped me when I am stuck and don't know what to write that day. Your advice is also spot on about following your gut and letting the story flow out of you. The story will lead you where it wants to go and that's been my favorite writing periods so far.
I love that advice to just sit and write or do nothing else during that time. Sometimes it helps me to just sit and let the nervous system reset.
I also find that it helps to let others know my writing times and gather virtually with community. That way, I HAVE to show up! I’ve been hosting a series of free, silent, virtual write-ins and I love how other writers show up to do their work, too. It’s coworking without the small talk. If anyone’s interested in joining, here’s the info:
https://www.christinewolf.com/write-ins
This resonates a lot for me. Kind of a paradox because only by breaking things down are we able to tackle them, but then getting the perfect outline does seem impossible. Writing a memoir has always been a big scary blob, but thanks to our conversation and my reading books like "Shimmering Images," "Writing Down the Bones," and "The Book You Were Meant to Write," I feel more like there is no such thing as "doing it wrong." We can do it badly, but then we can do a backward outline. That can still work.
The other thing I've figured out is that there are TONS of advice and many different techniques offered to get at good writing of a memoir. I (and you) need to choose what works for us. There is no one size fits all and I most love what Anne Lamott says about getting my "butt in the chair".
You are always so generous to share what you learn and I appreciate it. It makes me feel good to know you are only a few miles away working on your memoir! xo
I write for so many reasons, but mostly to process my own life, my thoughts about the world around me, and to find a community that is willing to walk through those things with me. This piece is coming at a good time as I start to work on an actual memoir (not just a collection of essays) and I try to figure out the best structure for mine. I'm trying to outline mine as well, mostly so that I focus on the main points and then let the writing take over from there. We'll see.
Wonderful to hear you're also writing memoir. It's a marathon!
I'm serious when I say that writing down the major Turning Points in my life -- the events in which my life took a turn -- helped to clarify the (potential) major scenes in the book, at least chronologically. I let myself write a paragraph or two MAX.
Once I identified those Turning Points, I looked at their broad themes. If the the Turning Point had at least one theme that related to the book's ultimate takeaway for the reader, I left it in. Lo and behold, each one of my Turning Points DOES have a bearing on the book's ultimate takeaway. With those Turning Points identified and each Turning Point's theme identified, I turned those Turning Points into temporary chapters which I'll expand on by writing scenes. Then, once the story comes out in that order, I'll reshuffle things if necessary through flashbacks, alternating chapters, or whatever feels right.
Before she told me this, I just found myself getting lost and frustrated trying to structure the book before I even wrote it. That helpful advice from my mentor to write the story before putting the book together was such a liberation from my mental gymnastics. I'd been fretting over too much too soon. Now, I'll just write the story as it happened and then finesse the structure once I have all the components. Hope that helps someone reading this!
This is so helpful. Thank you!