{"id":113997,"date":"2023-01-03T14:47:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-03T14:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rockcontent.com\/?p=113997"},"modified":"2025-09-18T08:55:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T11:55:22","slug":"how-to-write-your-life-story-already","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pingback.com\/en\/resources\/how-to-write-your-life-story-already\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write Your Life Story Already"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cI\u2019m going to write my life story!\u201d I remember proclaiming those words back when I was around 19 years old. I also remember the response I got from some lady who heard the proclamation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you write a life story if you haven\u2019t even lived yet?\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh. The lady had a general point. But she was also unaware that the stuff I had lived through by the time I was 19 was probably enough to fill about six books. Seven if you counted falling under a moving subway train.<\/p>\n

But it didn\u2019t matter. The time wasn\u2019t right. And the book would have been a scattered mess of drunken stories written by an angry teen who pretty much hated everything and everybody.<\/p>\n

Not a really fun read.<\/p>\n

Besides, Facebook hadn\u2019t been invented yet. How would I ever promote the book without social media? (I\u2019m kidding.)<\/p>\n

So years went by. I wrote and illustrated a flurry of other books that were fast, fun and each took less than a month to create. A rat dictionary. A dog dictionary. A yoga book with skeletons doing the poses. A book about dealing with jerky people.<\/p>\n

A horribly tragic fable some mom chose to read to her kid, thinking it was a kid\u2019s book just because it had silly cartoons. That was the most enraged one-star review I ever did see.<\/p>\n

But the life story, that would be a big one. As I kept it locked up on the back burner, it kept getting bigger by the millisecond. Not just because new stories unfolded every year, but because by now it had become an albatross.<\/p>\n

You know those projects. They may start out as grand ideas, but when they sit idle in the background, they start to morph into giant, hideous monsters. Instead of being an exciting project that is calling our name, the thing becomes an exasperating burden that is screaming at us to either create it or forget it \u2013 once and for all.<\/p>\n

If I didn\u2019t finally do something about this book, my head was going to explode. That meant the time was finally right to write. In addition to getting the timing right, you want to make sure your mindset is right.<\/p>\n

I had dabbled at the life story here and there over the years, but not with the right attitude or thought process. During one attempt I tried to race through it, thinking I\u2019d forget all the juiciest details if I didn\u2019t write them down fast enough.<\/p>\n

Sure, I whipped up three chapters in about 52 seconds, but all they did was outline what happened in chronological order. It had no depth or real meaning. \u201cSee Spot run.\u201d \u201cSee Jane play.\u201d \u201cWatch Ryn take a Greyhound bus.\u201d Yawn.<\/p>\n

Another attempt had me thinking I had to get back into the character of that angry teen when I was writing about the teenage years. I pulled out all my old journals \u2013 and couldn\u2019t even make it over to the keyboard to start typing.<\/p>\n

Those old journals were packed with some pretty depressing stuff. One page even had blood smeared on it. Geesh. No way am I going back there. That shut the project down for another 10 years or so.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s wild how a pile of messy spiral notebooks can suddenly make you feel like you\u2019re trapped in a time capsule you never asked to visit. There\u2019s this myth that going back over every gory detail somehow gives your story more credibility, but I\u2019m not so sure anymore. Sometimes memory is selective for a reason; it carves out space for new chapters, and spares you the drama of reliving things you\u2019ve already outgrown. I mean, respect to people who journal every day, but I think I\u2019ll let some of those old volumes collect dust. I\u2019ve grown suspicious of nostalgia\u2014too much of it, and you get stuck before the story even starts.<\/p>\n

Having the right angle for the story is another must. People don\u2019t want to read a shallow chronological timeline, no matter how much trouble you got into on and around subway trains.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not as interesting as you think you are.\u201d <\/strong> Don\u2019t remember where I read that quote, but it\u2019s a good one. In order for your life story to be interesting to other people besides yourself, there needs to be some kind of point.<\/p>\n

Why are you telling it? What\u2019s the use? Why would anyone care?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re penning your life story as therapy for yourself, then don\u2019t worry about those questions. But if you\u2019re planning to publish it for the world to enjoy, then make sure it\u2019s enjoyable. Deliver something interesting, valuable and entertaining for your readers.<\/p>\n

Some days, I still wonder if there\u2019s an audience for all this backstory and chaos. Well, maybe there is, and maybe it\u2019s just a handful of folks looking for proof that someone else survived a ridiculous string of left turns. It\u2019s easy to get tangled up worrying about pleasing an invisible crowd\u2014gotta keep reminding myself it\u2019s the details that actually make things worth reading, not the quest for universal appeal. Even a single quirky anecdote can stick with someone way longer than a perfectly polished origin story. Honestly, I suspect most readers are just as hungry for a bit of honesty as they are for a neat and tidy lesson.<\/p>\n

In my case, I decided to morph it into a life story plus life lessons combo. The first part of the book outlines the hells I\u2019ve been through. The second part focuses on the solutions I\u2019ve used to come out the other side.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve got the timing, mindset and angle of your life story down pat, the rest is gravy, right? Not so fast. The rest is probably the hardest part of all. Actually writing the thing.<\/p>\n

In fact, you could spend years working on the timing, mindset and angle without writing a single word. I know because I did.<\/p>\n

And I was about to fall into the trap of stalling some more by over-analyzing the layout, second-guessing the direction, hemming and hawing about the total word count. It got to the point where everyone I was seeking input from all came back with the same response:<\/p>\n

\u201cJust sit down and write it!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

So I did. But not without changing the first line about 13 times. And not without help. The more I learn about and tap into the powers of the universe, the more I enjoy their assistance.<\/p>\n

Creativity and the cosmos go hand-in-hand, so I\u2019d start each writing session with a little thank you note. \u201cDear Cosmos, Thank you for fueling me with the creativity and flow I need to rock this book to Mars and back.\u201d Yaay!<\/p>\n

Two months into the project, and I\u2019m about three-quarters of the way done. Double yaay! Another helpful hint is to track your ongoing success. An ongoing progress report can be a major help, tracking how long and which days you\u2019ve worked on the book.<\/p>\n

Getting an accountability pal is another big plus. Mine is writing her own book and we check in regularly to share updates. When you know someone\u2019s expecting your latest update, you\u2019ve got instant motivation to ensure you have one.<\/p>\n

One final tip is the same tip I get from my favorite writing clients. It\u2019s short, simple and never fails to remind me why I write in the first place. \u201cHave fun with this!\u201d <\/strong>they say. Now that the book\u2019s off the back burner and being powered along by the cosmos, you can bet I am.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m going to write my life story!\u201d I remember proclaiming those words back when I was around 19 years old. I also remember the response I got from some lady who heard the proclamation. \u201cHow can you write a life story if you haven\u2019t even lived yet?\u201d Oh. The lady had a general point. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113998,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[117],"class_list":["post-113997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","tag-migrationwa"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Write Your Life Story Already - Pingback<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to Write Your Life Story Already. Raise your hand if you've always wanted to write your life story. 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