Writing about your experiences is not always easy. There are challenges and obstacles both within ourselves and from others. Challenges from feeling we don't have time. have too many distractions, don't know how to start, how to keep going, putting things off, not knowing what to keep and how much to say and many others. Another challenges is what others may feel, think or judge.
There are always “down” times. Times when you feel you don’t have anything to write, times when you wonder if it is worth all the trouble or times you feel you don’t have time “for all this.” Also it’s not easy to write about difficult experiences especially if they impacted your life in a serious way.
Plan ahead for these times and situations
There are always “down” times. Times when you feel you don’t have anything to write, times when you wonder if it is worth all the trouble or times you feel you don’t have time “for all this.” Also it’s not easy to write about difficult experiences especially if they impacted your life in a serious way.
Plan ahead for these times and situations
Personal Challenges //Alternatives
If you have a tendency to procrastination, consider prioritizing, creating a structure of what you do or have to do, setting up a timeline for your writing and research
If one of your challenges is the lack of time- consider creating a 24 hour or a one week table. Write down what you do for each day and hour. Determine where you have 'free' time or time you could set aside for your writings. What day (days) of the week and what time. Schedule it and keep the schedule. You may have to delegate responsibilities to others (if you have that opportunity). Or you may have to modify you behavior even maybe getting up earlier in the morning. This is what you said you want to do, so you need to work out a schedule.
Another challenge- you might be feeling overwhelmed. Again structure what needs to be done, prioritizing as needed. Organize and see what you have, what you need. Take a class to help with the concerns and limitations. When you can't think of things to write-or the brain is tired from writing about yourself, Consider; editing your already written stories; Doing research.; Work on things listed in your “to do” list; Work on learning new or easier computer skills or solving computer problems. Work on modifying your pictures. Read other books on memories and autobiographies and see how they did it..
It is a rare life that does not contain struggles with difficult emotions and experiences. Sharing your life story with others is an awkward problem. You cannot write about yourself without including something about family or friends. You must consider;
A question many wrestle with.
If you knew what you wrote would hurt someone’s feelings, would you include it in your story? Would you write it?
Writing about painful memories is difficult. It takes courage to tell the truth. Yet, often when three persons see the same thing, you can have three different versions. All families have secrets and it's ok to leave them out. Yet choosing not to write may be loss in helping yourself and others understand and deal with the pain caused by the difficulty.
Writing allows us to gain and learn. It is a cathartic in the same way as talking to a friend, loved one or even a stranger. Choosing not to write may be your loss; It takes courage to tell the truth.
Some ideas;
- Feelings of other people in your life.
- Disclosure of hidden information or experience.
- Disagreements about events, OR different interpretations about the same event.
- Unreliability of memory. and possibility of Pain of stirring up old emotions
A question many wrestle with.
If you knew what you wrote would hurt someone’s feelings, would you include it in your story? Would you write it?
Writing about painful memories is difficult. It takes courage to tell the truth. Yet, often when three persons see the same thing, you can have three different versions. All families have secrets and it's ok to leave them out. Yet choosing not to write may be loss in helping yourself and others understand and deal with the pain caused by the difficulty.
Writing allows us to gain and learn. It is a cathartic in the same way as talking to a friend, loved one or even a stranger. Choosing not to write may be your loss; It takes courage to tell the truth.
Some ideas;
- “Talk about the writings-tell those concerned its value and importance
- 'Tell this is the way I saw it”
- “This is the way I feel”
- Tell others to “Feel free to write your own version”
- Have others write a chapter (story) in your book. Or write a comment to your version
Comments from a few authors;
A writer is always going to betray somebody. If you’re going to be honest with your subject, you can’t be genteel. Ted Morgan
You have to assume that the act of writing is the most important of all. If you start worrying about people’s feelings, then you get nowhere at all. Norman Mailer
The value of every story depends on its being true. A story is a picture of an individual or of human nature in general; if it is false, it is a picture of nothing. Samuel Johnson
You don’t write because you want to say something; you write because you have something to say. F. Scott Fitzgerald
So trust your own voice, put things and your own approach to these stories. The way it feels right to you. Don’t fret if you offend someone writing. Wait until you’ve written all of your story, and then you can make some changes if necessary. Final decision may be NOT IF you write the difficult things BUT HOW!!
REMEMBER this is YOUR story. Write the story you want to.
A writer is always going to betray somebody. If you’re going to be honest with your subject, you can’t be genteel. Ted Morgan
You have to assume that the act of writing is the most important of all. If you start worrying about people’s feelings, then you get nowhere at all. Norman Mailer
The value of every story depends on its being true. A story is a picture of an individual or of human nature in general; if it is false, it is a picture of nothing. Samuel Johnson
You don’t write because you want to say something; you write because you have something to say. F. Scott Fitzgerald
So trust your own voice, put things and your own approach to these stories. The way it feels right to you. Don’t fret if you offend someone writing. Wait until you’ve written all of your story, and then you can make some changes if necessary. Final decision may be NOT IF you write the difficult things BUT HOW!!
REMEMBER this is YOUR story. Write the story you want to.
RSS Feed