Thanksgiving memories: Who spurred you on?

Thanksgiving is a time to remember those who have encouraged you, believed in you, and spurred you on.

It’s a time to recognize people who trained you, challenged you, and influenced the direction of your life.

Who taught you about integrity and hard work and self-discipline?

At this Thanksgiving time, think back: Who inspired you spiritually and modeled what a genuine faith looks like?

Who helped you find your way through the dark—took you by the hand, kept you moving forward, step by step, toward the light?

Who inspired you to become the very best you, to become all God intended for you to be?

This is important:

Look back over the years

and recognize that

God Himself placed those people in your life.

When they touched you,

they were reaching out in God’s name,

extending His hand,

smiling His smile,

speaking His words of hope and peace.

That's one of the ways that He,

in His unfailing love,

leads His own.

Who comes to mind when you read these words?

You have stories about key people in your life,

and only you can write them.

They are important.

Someone needs to read those stories.

Through your stories,

God can use you to touch others,

to reach out in His name,

extend His hand,

smile His smile,

speak His words of hope and peace.

That's one of the ways that He,

in His unfailing love,

leads His own.

Connect your story with God’s story—

not as a hobby but as a ministry.

Related posts:

Who are the key people in your life?  

On fluttering flames and rekindling sparks

Details: a must for your memoir

If you want your readers to enjoy your stories—and keep reading—include sensory details. They add texture and interest and pizzazz—but they do so much more. Sensory details can make your stories come to life.

Your goal is to write so readers connect with you. Invite them to see, feel, hear, taste, and smell what you experienced so they can enter into your story with you. You want your experience to happen all over again for your readers.

Here are a few quotes to inspire you:

“In writing, imagery is the key

that can unlock a reader’s imagination.

When an image is rendered with the right combination of words,

it magically appears in the reader’s mind

like a photograph or a film clip.” 

Melissa Donovan,

“Creative Writing Prompts for Crafting Compelling Imagery”

“Concentrate your narrative energy on the point of change.…

When your character is in a new place,

or things alter around them,

that’s the point to step back

and fill in the details of their world.”

Hilary Mantel,

“23 Writing Tips from Booker-Prize Winning Authors”

(emphasis mine)

“You must recreate how you experienced the places,

people and situations of your life experiences

through the senses.

Where you were and what was happening to you

originally came in through your ears,

 nose, tongue, skin, and eyes.

That is what the reader needs, too,

to experience your world and draw the conclusions you did.…

As writers we must learn to rely on the outer world

for the images a situation provides,

rather than relying on thoughts and summaries. 

Sure, those will come into our writing, at times,

but using them sparingly …

makes them all the more powerful. ”

Sheila Bender,

“Letting Images Do the Talking”

(emphasis mine)

“If you’re like most writers

the dominant sense is visual.

That’s because most of us write ‘by sight.’

That is, we include what we see and, sometimes,

what we hear.

Rarely what we smell, taste, or feel (as in the sense of touch).

If your writing tends to fall within this ‘mostly sight’ category,

you may fail to engage your readers.

If you want to write vivid memories,

then you must learn to remember vividly—

not just see, but smell, taste, feel, and hear those memories.…”

Amber Lea Starfire,

“From Memories to Memoir, Part 3—Remembering Vividly”

(emphasis mine)

(See the whole blog post for step-by-step tips on how to remember vividly.)

Related posts about sensory details: 

Your story is important, but will anyone read it? 

Write life into your memoir’s characters

I knew even before I opened my eyes

“You leave little bits of yourself fluttering on the fences” 

Include the slime and the grime in your memoir, too

December’s details for our memoir: Touch and taste  

December’s details for your memoir  

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

What sights will your readers see in your memoir?

Endless ideas  

Invite readers into your story  

Tuesday Tidbit: Spotting major flaws in your memoir’s opening

Here’s your 15 seconds of inspiration,

this week’s Tuesday Tidbit:

Prolific author Cecil Murphey said, “I once read more than one hundred of the entries for Christmas Miracles, a compilation book. The major flaw in at least a third of them was that they told us the ending before they told us the story.”

How are you doing on your memoir’s beginning?

Matilda Butler offers brief but oh-so-practical tips on making your memoir’s opening sparkle. Check out her writing prompts at Now It’s Your Turn.

Related posts :

Excellent resources for your memoir’s opening

Tips for writing a top-notch opening

First lines

Openings: the hardest part

Sharon Lippincott’s tips on writing your opening paragraph

A writing contest over at Women’s Memoirs

First Paragraph contest winners

Silver Award winners

Let’s tell the next generations, that all will go well with them

Remember, your children were not the ones

who saw and experienced the Lord your God:

His majesty, His greatness, His awesome power.

It was not your children who saw

what he did for you in your desert wilderness

and how He brought you to this place.

No, you saw these things with your own eyes.

Deuteronomy 11:2-7

Therefore…

We’ll tell the next generation

the Lord’s marvelous deeds, His power,

and the wonders He has done,

so the next generation can know, too—

even children not yet born—

and so they in turn will tell their children.

Our purpose, our hope,

is that they’ll put their trust in God

and remember all He has done

and will keep His commands

so that all will go well with them.…

Psalm 78:4b, 6-7; Deuteronomy 12:28

Pray that [God will] fill your good ideas

and acts of faith

with his own energy

so that

it all amounts to something.

2 Thessalonians 1:11, The Message

Tuesday Tidbit: The divine task before you

Here's your 15 seconds of inspiration,

your Tuesday Tidbit:

Giants? or The Promised Land?

What “giants” have you faced? Did you let them win, or did you decide to be an overcomer?

In writing my second memoir, I’ve discovered that I let giants intimidate me. My first inclination is to run the opposite direction. How about you? Know what I mean?

Remember the story of Caleb and Joshua?

God told Moses to send 12 men into Canaan, the Promised Land, to check it out. When Caleb, Joshua, and their companions returned, they gave it a mixed report: It was a magnificent country, flowing with milk and honey, but defeating the people would be daunting. Their cities were big and fortified, and the people were very powerful—some were even giants. Conquering the land God had promised them would be an enormous, risky undertaking.

But Caleb said, “Let’s go! We can do it!” He recognized the land was God’s gift to them and that He would help them take the land. He was willing to step out in faith and in God’s strength.

But the other men cowered. “We can’t win. They’re stronger than we are. We felt like grasshoppers next to those giants!”

Their fears were contagious—they infected all the Israelites with their pessimism. They feared they could be killed or carried off as slaves. They wept and wailed and complained. Their solution: “Let’s get out of here!”

Their fears rendered them faithless and helpless because they focused on the giants—problems, challenges, and dangers. They focused on how small and weak they were compared to the giants.  Failure was certain. That attitude resulted in double trouble: not only did the Israelites expect defeat: those giants then believed the Israelites were as weak as they thought they were.

Caleb and Joshua said to the doubters, “If God is pleased with us, He will keep us safe and give us the land. Don’t rebel against Him, and don’t be afraid of those giants! With God on our side, we can conquer them.” (See Numbers 13:1-14:9.)

Caleb and Joshua focused on God. In faith, they looked beyond the giants and beyond the Israelites’ weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Their courage was not based on the Israelites strength, but on God’s strength and His promises.

God can do extraordinary things with ordinary human beings who trust Him.

What giants have you faced in the past?

Giants can take many forms: a besetting sin, fear, lying, selfishness, family disputes, financial problems, abuse, conflicts within church congregations, rebellious children, false accusations, a serious illness, or dangerous situations.

Did you set your eyes on the giants, or on God? Did you retreat in defeat, or did you step forward and take possession of your Promised Land?

Write about a time when you focused on the giants, and then write about a time when you focused on God and His help in establishing you in your Promised Land.

While you write, keep in mind the definition of a memoir: Reflect on what God was doing back then, and how you have changed as a result.

What “milk and honey” did you receive as a result of your trust in God? What “milk and honey” would you have missed if you had turned back out of fear and faithlessness?

Tuesday tidbit: The pages of your life

Here's your 15 seconds of inspiration,

your Tuesday Tidbit:

Your stories are important.

Future generations need to know them.