Your “necessary stories” might be falling into place behind the scenes

You probably have “necessary stories,” stories you need to write—someday—for kids and grandkids and generations yet to be born.

But you’ve been putting off writing your memoir because it’s hard to find time, or motivation, or courage, or just the right words.

If so, I have news for you: Your stories might be taking shape nevertheless.

Kim Edwards, author of The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, spoke of how she came to write the story. The idea for it “stayed with me…as the necessary stories do.”

Life went on and many things occupied her time.

Then one day, a chance encounter reawakened within her the book idea, “with a greater sense of urgency and interest. Still it was another year before I started to write it.

“Then the first chapter came swiftly, almost fully formed, that initial seed having grown tall while I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Maybe for you, too, the seed of your story has been swelling and sprouting and growing tall while you weren’t taking notice.

Stories can be like that.

Stories live in hidden corners of your brain and heart where, subconsciously (if not consciously), you’ve already started assembling stories for your memoir:

• You’ve been collecting—in your mind or in writing or on your computer—ideas or relevant quotes or Bible verses. 
• You’ve run across old photos or newspaper clippings.
• You heard an old song.
• You’ve run into an old friend.
• You’ve remembered key events that might have seemed unimportant at the time but which now hold significance.

And all that is marinating in the back of your mind and it’s starting to come together.

Think about it.

Perhaps you’re more ready

to start writing your stories

than you thought.

The time to write might be any day now.

Remember: an unfinished manuscript tucked in a drawer

or saved on a computer will not inspire anyone!

It won’t bless anyone,

it won’t shape any lives.

Also remember,

everyone starts with a rough draft.

Your initial attempts at writing

don’t need to be perfect.

“The worst thing you write

is better than the best thing you didn’t write.”

(author unknown)

Is today the day to start your rough draft?

"If you stop writing"

Here's 15 seconds of inspiration,

your Tuesday Tidbit:

"You fail only if you stop writing."

Ray Bradbury

Related post: "An unfinished manuscript cannot..."

"Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished?"

“Someday, I will die, and all the [books] I dreamed of writing will die with me,” writes Joe Bunting.  

“Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished?”

Christina Rossetti

Sometimes we memoirists get stuck—distracted, uninspired—and we set aside our writing.

Nagging thoughts break through sometimes and remind us we should write, but we stall, we make excuses.

Is that where you are this week?

When you and I get into a slump, first we need to congratulate ourselves on what we have already written!

Next, we need to ask ourselves, Do I want to write my memoir? Do I want to do this for my kids and grandkids and great-grandkids?

If you do, get out one of your rough drafts. Read it aloud. That alone should motivate you to revise for clarity, to add, delete, rearrange, and polish.

Victoria Costello offers this advice for getting un-stuck:

Get off the Internet. Give yourself a time limit for checking email and Facebook and all those other enticing sites.

Post your deadline above your desk. Hold yourself accountable.

Small steps are better than no steps. “… Remember that a memoir is simply a string of personal vignettes. Take small steps and focus on finishing one sentence, one paragraph, and one vignette at a time.”

Borrow juice from other writers. Victoria suggest reading “anthologies of writerly inspiration.” She says, “Reading someone else’s excellent writing inspires the writer in me to get over myself and try some of my own.” (from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing a Memoir, by Victoria Costello)

Joe Bunting asks himself, “…What books must I complete to die satisfied?”

He asks all of us, “What books do you want to write before you die? …”

The clock is ticking.

Focus.

Be intentional.

Be disciplined.

Resolve to make at least a little progress: Set daily or weekly goals.

Persevere.

Pray!

Finish!

Disclaimer: For review purposes, I received a free copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing a Memoir.

The clock is ticking. How is your memoir coming along?

“An unfinished manuscript cannot change lives.”

Lee Roddy wrote those words.  He continues:

“Even a finished one cannot minister in a drawer or filing cabinet.

Only in published form

can a book go where you and I will never go,

to people we will never meet.”

(Lee Roddy in the Foreword, Write His Answer, by Marlene Bagnull.)

For over a decade Lee’s words have run through my mind on a regular basis.

Recently they were so noisy and persistent that I got out—not just one but two—unfinished manuscripts. I’d stuck both of them in the drawer—on disks and flash drives. I’ve been working on them the past week and it feels good. It feels like the right thing to do. The task is daunting, but I’m persevering.

So the big question is: How are you doing on writing your memoir?

Do you have a manuscript or two in some drawer or filing cabinet?—maybe on an old floppy disk, an old CD or DVD, an old hard drive, a flash drive?

If so, congratulate yourself on what you have already done.

But don’t be content with that because if you leave your stories hidden and dust-covered, they will do no one any good.

Give yourself permission to start with easy topics.

I’ve seen too many people tackle a traumatic story, only to have their still-raw emotions sidetrack them. Inevitably, discouragement leads them to abandon that story and give up on writing their other stories too.

Don’t let that happen to you! Instead, start with accounts of joyful events, delightful people, and the beauty of God’s creation. Include humorous stories.

Gradually move into stories about your harder experiences—how God helped you find a job, for example, or helped you make an important decision. For now, avoid traumatic stories because they tend to slow down your onward momentum.

Give yourself permission to start small.

The thought of writing an entire book can easily overwhelm. Instead, focus on writing short stories— vignettes—aiming at two to five pages each.

Get started on more than one vignette, and tell yourself they’re rough drafts. Knowing they are rough drafts—merely works in progress, for your eyes only—frees you from thinking you have to write perfect, publishable stuff the first time.

As you receive inspiration, over time, you can revise, edit, and polish. If you keep at it, step by step, before you know it you’ll have written a number of stories and you can compile them into chapters or sections—into some logical arrangement.

Lee says, “Only in published form” can your stories have impact, but don’t let that word “published” intimidate you. “Published” can take many forms, and nowadays publishing is easier than ever before.

Start small: Here’s what I recommend (I’ve done this several times): Create your first edition of your memoir by snapping a collection of vignettes into a three-ring binder or scrapbook.

Make your stories the very best you can through good writing and editing (preferably with help from other writers).

Hand your book to someone to read.

When you do that, you will have succeeded in “publishing” your stories. (You can always publish big-time later if there’s a market for your memoir.)

At that point, paraphrasing Lee: your memoir can change lives.

Your stories can go where you will never go, to people you will never meet.

So here’s the deal: You and I must want to write our stories. We must want to invest in our kids and grandkids.

We must see writing our stories is a ministry, not a hobby!

Our God-and-me  stories are important—not  because you and I are so great, but because God is so great.

In most cases, if you and I don’t write our stories, no one will. They will go to the grave with us because, after all,

Remember … your children were not the ones

who saw and experienced … the Lord,

… his majesty, his mighty hand.…

It was not your children

who saw what he did for you

in the desert until you arrived at this place.…

Deuteronomy 11:2-7 (NIV)

The clock is ticking. We must be intentional about finishing our memoirs.

Focus.

Persevere.

Pray.

Write.

Finish.

Publish.