Post #156 – Women’s Memoirs, Writing Prompt – Kendra Bonnett and Matilda Butler
The Olympics Has a Message for Memoir Writers
I recently received an email that gave me the inspiration for today’s blog. Independent of how interested you are in sports, the Olympics seems to always get at least a bit of our attention. And this year is no exception.
I am of the pre-Title IX generation so sports was never big in my life. But the Olympics is always bigger than life, so I do pay attention — picking up on the opening ceremony fireworks through several favorite events and finishing up with the closing music. This year, the Olympics is being transformed in much the way that publishing is. Technology has become almost as important as the content. No longer is the event rigidly controlled by the media and by time zones. Yes, NBC was the highest bidder (paying $1.18 billion) for the rights to broadcast the Olympics, and has a live online feed for all events. I don’t think we could have imagined seeing every event in real time even four years ago. In previous years, we all politely sat down in front of the family’s television set to watch an edited version of the day’s athletic achievements. Now watching an online feed from our computer or tablet or even phone has changed the way we see the events. In addition, social media means we can react to what we see. We’re no longer just passive receivers. Twitter and FaceBook are full of praise, reactions, and criticisms. There is more transparency than ever before.
But the core of the Olympics is the same. It is the moment when years of hard work allows athletes to reach for their dream.
Memoir Writers Also Reach For Their Dream
The email I mentioned included points from Steve Siebold’s book 177 Mental Toughness Secrets of The World Class. Following is my riff on his list with a redo for memoir writers.
How to Be a Strong Memoir Writer
1. Finishing your memoir isn’t the most important aspect of writing. But wanting to finish is. Wanting to complete your memoir affects your attitude, your level of seriousness, and your devotion to writing. Ask any author who has finished writing her memoir, “Did it matter to you to finish?” I’m sure you won’t find anyone who says, “Oh, I didn’t really care.” To be an Olympic memoir writer, you need to take your goals seriously.
2. Finding obstacles in your way is part of being a writer. There are the days when the words won’t come. There are the days when obligations get in your way. There are the days when family and friends shake their collective head that you are still working on your memoir. To be an Olympic memoir writer, you don’t back away from these challenges and difficulties. You realize that you can learn from these situations, even if it is just learning more about yourself. Addressing adversity helps you become a stronger writer.
3. Memoir writers, just like Olympic athletes need a support system. Just as no one shows up at the Olympics without the help of many others so an Olympic memoir writer needs to create a resource team to help you reach your goal. For example, how do you make your actions accountable? If you had a boss, you’d have to finish work on a specific timetable. But you don’t have a boss so you need to figure out how to be held to your interim goals — amount of time devoted to writing, amount of words completed, etc. Find a friend or family member who will be supportive but not let you get by with excuses. Look for people who will be a positive influence and help to motivate you.
4. Writing, writing, writing in someways is similar to practicing, practicing, practicing of Olympic athletes. But it takes so much more. Athletes have coaches, compete in events on a regular basis, do workouts, evaluate their performances with videos, and continually seek to become better. Just doing the same thing over and over is not what it takes to be an Olympic memoir writer. Seek a writing group, put together a critique group, take classes, read books about writing, look for an editor. Always seek the next level of performance with your writing.
5. “It isn’t personal.” Olympic athletes are open to criticism. Writing teachers, coaches, critique group members really want you to become better so don’t let your ego get in the way. Rather than defend what you wrote or why you wrote it a certain way, listen to what others tell you. You can still decide what works for you and what changes you want to make. But don’t shut out their words without understanding the meaning. Be open minded so that you can improve and reach your goal.
6. Visualization and mental attitudes go hand-in-hand. Determine what you want to accomplish. There is no single goal. It might be a set of life lessons you want to pass on to your children and grandchildren. It might be a volume of family stories to be shared with future generations. It might be a memoir of the turning point in your life, a coming of age story, a travel saga, a spiritual memoir. Whatever you want to write about should be clear in your mind and then you can visualize what the finished product will be. Then put your can-do attitude to work to achieve that goal. Know what you want, why you want it, and how you will achieve it. That’s what Olympic athletes do and that’s what an Olympic memoir writer does.
7. Focus, focus, focus. When you sit to write focus on the task. Don’t think about what you are going to cook for dinner or about the argument you had with your friend or about your upcoming birthday party. Compartmentalize your life so that when you are cooking, you are fully in the moment. To be an Olympic memoir writer focus on your writing and your goal. Don’t let distractions weaken your performance. Then you can focus on other parts of your life when you are not writing.
8. Make “The Gold” your goal. In other words, Olympic memoir writers think big. They don’t put down their goal and don’t let others put it down either. Don’t ever sell yourself short. You’ll find that other people in your life become more supportive when they see that you take yourself seriously. Empower them to become part of your Go for the Gold team.
Memoir Writing Prompt
While we hope these eight writing tips will inspire you along your memoir writing path, it takes so much more. Here’s what we suggest you do to begin to make use of this list. For each of the next eight days, take one of the points above and write how you will implement it in your writing life. Make your plan as specific as possible and then put it into action. Remember, Olympic athletes do more than think they want to go to the Olympics. They take actions everyday to reach their goal.
So figure out your goal and get started on becoming an Olympic memoir writer. At Women’s Memoirs, we know you can do it.
