Writing Your Life’s Story

Everyone’s life has a story waiting to be told, and I dare say, when one has lived several decades, he has several books waiting. Many people not writing say they would like to write their life story, while others who are writing don’t often get around to their autobiographies. Real writers write at any point in their lives—they can’t not write—and perhaps numerous fictional characters portray the lives of their authors intermingling with the lives of their acquaintances, and I must say, with the lives in their imaginations. The other side of that coin, of course, is that authors run the risk of false accusations for the conduct of their characters in imaginary situations. Many famous authors have stated: Write what you want to write and let the chips fall where they may. (Although they probably translated this cliché into more picturesque language.)

But for you non-writers, wanting to produce that one book—autobiography—there are some good measures you might try. Forget about depicting the events of your life in chronological order. Think in terms of chapters, remembering many readers like chapters varying in length. (I am currently reading a book that started out with short chapters, such as less than two pages. How delightful! By the time I got hooked on the story, the chapters got long. That’s cheating!) Anyway, write that chapter that you are most eager to tell first. That should remind you of what you want to write next. Write all the exciting chapters in your life, as you think of them. After that is done, then you are ready to put the chapters in order.

The glue that holds these chapters together may take a little time, but it’s possible you won’t need any glue at all. And please, remember the first chapter doesn’t have to be about your birth and childhood. It could be what happened last week, and chapter two can say you got born for last week to happen to.

Now the editing starts, or the revision, depending on your ability to write in the first place. If you write “my wife Ellen” in chapter ten, please do not say Ellen is your wife again in another chapter. Just make her real when you introduce her and the reader will remember who she is.

So, the basic steps are Write, Arrange, Revise. But what makes the reader’s pages turn fast are the little Details you offer. All the way through, you can’t just relate events; you must describe places, analyze characters, and have some thoughts about life in general as well as your life in specific. But do the thinking in the fewest words possible and get back to the action.

And I hope you have a copious vocabulary. Happy landing!

♥