1. No one can tell YOUR story better than YOU. And remember to personalize it; make it more interesting by including how things affected you (NOT just the facts)
2. There are NO rules; no right or wrong way to do your project, and not everyone remembers things from the same perspective. When you saw the snake stretched out along the fence and left to die, only YOU can know how it made you feel to see a creature of God suffering even though you were afraid of snakes.
3. Your writing sounds best when it sounds like YOU! Don't be afraid that you won't sound "smart" enough.
4. Even if a parent or grandparent is gone, you can tell what you remember about them (remembering the part of No. 2 above about NO rules, and writing from YOUR perspective).
5. Writing is “talking to the page.” If you have trouble beginning, just think of someone or something you hold dear, and begin: “Dear Buggyhorse” (I had a dog named Buggyhorse) or who- or whatever. (Later, after you’ve finished your story, take the “Dear Buggyhorse” out.) You'll see it really is a "story."
6. You do not have to get every date and time perfectly. In fact, showing your feelings about the snake in No. 2 above will be much more revealing than knowing that it happened in a certain year. Keep in mind, however, that knowing the general time events occurred give definite clues to the social moral of the time. That's it worth, not the exact year per se.
Tue, 2008-01-22 11:28
Good suggestions!! Coupled with Seniorwriter's many tips I could be on my way to writing my lifestory. I am just putting up my cyberfootprint, and new to blogging and now exploring cyberspace to expand my horizons. I ordered the book " I Thought There Was a Road There" from B&N. I thought I saw that plug in Seniorwriter's or Dem's pages. But the book sounds interesting from a grandmother whose lifelessons could inspire lots of people.
Thu, 2007-08-16 07:12
You really brought up some important points here! I, too, am an advocate of writing family memories (my litle book, Seniorwriting: a Brief Guide for Seniors who Want to Write (to Discover, to Heal, to Reinvent, to Share) is at the publisher right now.
The little book (only about 80 pages) is intended to encourage senior non-writers to give writing their stories a try. I'm glad to see that someone else is writing very well about the same general topic! I'll send you a review copy (in October or so) if you're interested. This is not a money-making enterprise, by the way.
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