Post #117 – Women’s Memoirs, Writing Prompt – Kendra Bonnett and Matilda Butler
Writing Tip Worth Considering
A few months ago I read a story that contained the phrase, “You can’t turn back now…” Those words keep resonating in my head. They remind me of the times when I’ve been near my goal and then backed off. Or when I thought the journey would be too hard and so just quit.
The easy part is imagining what we will do, how we’ll achieve a goal. For writers, that easy part is imagining we’ve successfully published a book and everyone wants to read it. If we’re writing for our family, we foresee the cherished copies handed down from generation to generation, each eagerly read and relished.
Then Rascal Reality pops up. “Hello. You’re too busy to write.”
Rascal has a lot to say to us and is called Reality rather than your Inner Critic because you really are busy (or not a professional writer or aren’t a celebrity with a sparkling life). How can you fit one more activity into your life (or transform yourself into a professional writer or remake your life into something utterly fascinating)? You might dabble a little. Write a vignette or two. Then put it all aside for another time when you aren’t as busy (or magically become a highly paid writer or receive a Nobel Prize).
But reality is what we make of it. We don’t need to let Rascal Reality dictate our dreams or stand in the way of their fulfillment. Once you have the dream of writing your life story and have started, you’ve accomplished the hardest part. Many people who want to write, never even start their memoir.
So if you’ve begun, congratulate yourself. You don’t need anyone else to brag on you. You know what you are doing is important and you’ve now started the journey. You’re on the path.
But will you turn around part way along the path? I hope not. Find whatever helps motivate you. Then keep with it.
Remember:
— We have time to write because we make time.
— We become better writers because we regularly write.
— We have fascinating lives because we describe them with care and bring our readers right into our world.
Do you happen to know the poet Annie Johnson Flint? It’s timely to mention her because she was born on Christmas Eve in 1866. Her mother died three years later giving birth to Annie’s sister. A difficult life unfolded for Annie including disabling arthritis at a young age that soon confined her to bed. When her adoptive parents died, she took up writing to help transform her pain. In swollen, crippled hands, she held a pen and wrote. Eventually she made a living through her poetry. Here are a few lines that just might help remind us of the need to never give up — not now, not ever.
Have you come to the Red Sea place in your life,
Where, in spite of all you can do,
There is no way out, there is no way back,
There is no other way but through?—Annie Johnson Flint
What helps motivate you so that you keep writing and keep journaling? What gives you staying power as a storyteller? If you want to share, please leave a comment below.
