Inspiration to keep you writing your stories

“Young people are educated in many ways,” writes David Brooks, “but they are given relatively little help in understanding how a life develops, how careers and families evolve, what are the common mistakes and the common blessings of modern adulthood.”

Dan Allender helps us with this perspective, “Our story begins with the characters who gave us birth, including their past relationships with their parents and issues such as success and shame; power and abuse; love, loss, and addiction; heartache and secrets; and family myths. Our birth is a beginning, but we owe our existence to the generations that came before us. Our beginning … took place before we were born….” (To Be Told)

“I discovered how much the stories about the women who came before me, who are now gone, matter to me now,” says author Joy DeKok. “I can draw from their wisdom and learn from their decisions, mistakes, and successes. As a society, we often discard our elderly or those already gone as insignificant. This lie birthed a passion in me to urge men and women of all ages to preserve and share their stories now so this generation and those to come later, will have the benefit of their wisdom and life-knowledge.…

“The world, or my corner of it, [is] changed when I share the past forward. … The past can only have value in the future if we preserve it now.… The world is hungry for real-life stories.… We want to watch how people  cope, respond, mess up, and succeed.… People want our stories.” (Joy DeKok, author of Your Life a Legacy)

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; 

his greatness no one can fathom. 

One generation will commend your works to another; 

they will tell of your mighty acts. 

They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty.… 

They will tell of the power of your awesome works.… 

They will celebrate your abundant goodness

and joyfully sing of your righteousness. 

(Psalm 145: 3-7, NIV)

You have a story inside that younger generations need to hear. Only you can write it best. Connect your story with God’s story and write yourself onto the pages of your family’s Christian history.

Three writing opportunities for you

In writing vignettes for your memoir, some of you have written stories worthy of a broader audience.

Others might be looking for ways to strengthen your platform.*

If so, today I have three opportunities for you.

Dena Dyer, writer, editor at The High Calling,* and lover of all things literary, is collecting 500-word stories from contemporary women who've been healed in various ways—emotionally, spiritually, physically, or mentally. Based on “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds,” (Psalm 147:3), the book—and a companion women’s retreat—will be released in 2013 from Kregel Publishing.

Dena says, “We need LOTS of material from others. I'd love to see anything you want to send. You don’t have to be a great writer—I can adapt and edit your story while keeping your thoughts and voice.…” Read more at Help Me with my Book (please?) at

http://denadyer.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/10/a-writing-opportunity-help-me-with-my-book-please-.html

Over at 1^st Writes, Pam encourages submissions to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books. She credits the enormous success of these books to “writers like you and me, who contribute wonderful stories of ‘inspiration, hope, overcoming life’s challenges, and realized dreams.’” Find out more at http://1stwrites.blogspot.com/2011/10/1st-mentions_29.html

Here’s an opportunity for—ahem—seasoned folks to participate with David Brooks, currently with the New York Times and the PBS Newshour. In his recent New York Times article, he writes:

“If you are over 70, I’d like to ask for a gift. I’d like you to write a brief report on your life so far, an evaluation of what you did well, of what you did not so well and what you learned along the way.…

“…I’ll write a few columns about them around Thanksgiving and post as many essays as possible online.

“I ask for this gift for two reasons.

“First, we have few formal moments of self-appraisal in our culture. Occasionally, on a big birthday people will take a step back and try to form a complete picture of their lives, but we have no regular rite of passage prompting them to do so.

“More important, these essays will be useful to the young. Young people are educated in many ways, but they are given relatively little help in understanding how a life develops, how careers and families evolve, what are the common mistakes and the common blessings of modern adulthood. These essays will help them benefit from your experience.…” Continue reading The Life Report at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/opinion/brooks-the-life-report.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Please pray about these opportunities.

Remember, your stories are important! *

You have stories only you can tell.

Your stories are not your own. They have been entrusted to you by God.

People need to hear them.

Be sure to check out Cecil Murphey’s new 50-part series on writing. He’s a hugely successful author with a wealth of expertise. You’ll find a link to his blog here in the right column.

*Resources:

What is a platform?  http://womensmemoirs.com/memoir-writing-book-business/memoir-marketing-your-platform-and-the-statue-of-liberty

Your stories are important:  http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/05/are-your-stories-important.html

The High Calling: http://www.thehighcalling.org/