Tuesday Tidbit: Start off 2017 with writing!

Have you started writing your memoir yet?

Or are you still procrastinating?

Or maybe you started writing your memoir

but got distracted. 

Perhaps, like me, you set aside your WIP

(work in progress)

over the holidays.

Whatever, it's time to write!

Check out Chloe Yelena Miller's 

"Tips to help you get started writing."

What do granny squares have to do with your memoir?

Some of you have declared that 2012 is The Year of Your Memoir!* Hooray!

Now that we’re one month into this new year, how are you doing?

Some of you are writing page after page after page. WooHooo! I’m cheering for you.

Others, I suspect, struggle to keep at it.

If that sounds like you, here’s a message of hope: Think “granny squares.”

Last Saturday at the new writers’ group we started in our town, I compared vignettes (chapters) to granny squares.

I told our group—some of them young mothers with several kiddies at home—about the years I had little ones and how hard it was to complete a knitting project—it took sooooo long to knit a sweater. (In fact, I never finished a lovely navy blue wool sweater, and I still feel bad about that. Eventually I gave it, and all the yarn and knitting needles, to the Salvation Army. I hope someone was inspired to finish it.)

Around that time I discovered granny squares—those little crocheted squares of yarn that were, in my case, four or five inches across. I could whip out one of those in fifteen minutes! Fifteen minutes and I was done! I thrived on the sense of accomplishment, of completion, of knowing that I was one step closer to a finished afghan.

As fifteen-minute openings appeared in my busy schedule, I crocheted more granny squares and before long, I had made enough to stitch them together into a small afghan. Taken in small pieces, my efforts added up and I completed my project.

The key was setting realistic goals, goals I could measure and achieve.

So think of your vignettes as granny squares. Work a little on them here and there.

Each time you complete a rough draft, congratulate yourself. Celebrate your accomplishment!

Just think: If you write one rough draft (say, three to five pages) once a month, you’ll have twelve stories at the end of 2012!

For those who are very busy, aim at one rough draft every two months, and you’ll have six stories for your memoir at the end of 2012!

The clock is ticking. Don’t let your memoir sit unfinished like my navy wool sweater.

Be intentional: Get started! Write your stories! You can do it! Yes, you can!

*References and links:

Linda Joy Myers and The Year of the Memoir,

http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2012/01/opportunity-for-you-writing-fast.html

Your finished memoir: How do you envision it?

When you close your eyes and picture your finished memoir, what do you see?

Have you chosen a title for your book? (If so, let me know!)

Imagine your memoir’s cover. What will it look like?

Dream big!

These days we have a myriad of publishing options. We’ll cover them more fully in the future but for now, you can start thinking about a few:

• a published hardbound or softbound book (either self-published or with an agent and/or publishing company)
• a three-ring binder
• a scrapbook-like format
• a spiral-bound book from your local print shop or office supply store
• a digital book compiled on the Internet (Is that the same thing as an e-book? I'll let you know.)

While you mull over your title, cover, and publishing options, pray for a clear sense of what you want your stories to accomplish in the lives of your readers—children, grandchildren, and other special people.*

Then, grab hold of that vision and make a plan.

This week your finished memoir might seem only a blurry dream, but planning for it now will help speed you toward that glorious accomplishment.

 

“Little is accomplished by those who dillydally.”

Donald Grey Barnhouse

Strategize, organize, and establish short-term and long-term goals for completing your memoir.

Get out your calendar and schedule weekly writing times.

And remember the beauty of memoir.*  It’s not autobiography!

In memoir, you don’t need to start with the day of your birth and include details about preschool, elementary, middle school, high school and college.

Facts that are imperative for a résumé are optional in memoir.

Memoir is a slice of life, a story or collection of short stories along a specific theme.

In Spiritual Memoirs 101, our theme comes from several Bible verses that tell us to remember what we’ve seen God do and be sure to tell our children and grandchildren. (See Deuteronomy 4:9 and 6:4-9, for example.)

And do this: Circle a date—probably on your new 2012 calendar—to finish your memoir’s rough draft.

Yes, go ahead! Do it!

Do it now!

And have fun!

*Related post: What is a memoir

http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-is-memoir.html

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2011 Saturday Snippet: Endless ideas

Welcome, Kathryn and Rhonda, to S M 101!

Did you enjoy adding sensory details—sights, sounds, tastes, feels, and smells—to your rough drafts? See last Saturday’s Snippet if you missed it:
http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/05/saturday-snippet-invite-readers-into.html


Jamie Jo left a comment saying she’s enthused about adding sensory details to her stories. I find such revisions loads of fun and hope you do, too.


Having trouble describing a smell? First, is it a stink, a stench, or a reek? Is it an aroma, a fragrance, or a scent?


Next, do a Google search to see how others describe a similar place or situation or person, but beware: this is fun and it could get addictive. Your options are almost endless.


It never occurred to me that outer space has a smell, but it does. Check out this link:

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-01/fyi-what-does-space-smell

Last Saturday, I met with LC and SW, former members of our local class, and I've just gotta brag on those two.


LC shared a touching conversation she had with her son who recently returned after a challenging deployment. He said, “Mom, don’t buy me a birthday present this year. All I want is your stories. Write me your stories.” That chokes me up. You, too?


LC is delighted with his suggestion and has given herself a goal: she’s aiming for a finished memoir by Christmas. Good for you, LC!


SW has written a number of vignettes (dozens of pages) and a long list of vignette ideas to write in the near future—she brought her list to show us! Way to go, SW!


How’s your list coming? Ideas can pop into your head at the most unexpected moments so keep a pencil and scrap of paper handy at all times!


Now for our Saturday Snippet:

The following might give you story/vignette ideas to add to your list:


I had such fun on the day that _______________________________________________.


My life suddenly changed when ____________________________________________.


The most courageous action I’ve seen someone take is: _______________and this is how it changed my life: _____________________________________________________.


Related posts:

Definition of memoir:
http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-is-memoir.html

Last week’s Saturday Snippet:
http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/05/saturday-snippet-invite-readers-into.html

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