What a Story Can Become

Over my lifetime, I’ve told so many variations of the story that ultimately became my memoir that I’ve seriously lost count.

But I think of those tellings like how we periodically pull out a family heirloom – like my grandmother’s ring  - to inspect it, turning it around and around for a closer look at its sheen and markings, letting the memory of the last time I saw her wearing it wash over me.

A big story from our life  - that story that changes everything - aches for exposure. Whether it’s on the surface or just underneath it far from our consciousness. Like a small child, it can tug at us if to say pay attention to me.

It yearns to be remembered.

Seen.

Heard.

Felt.

If it could, tasted and inhaled.

To get it on the page, the writer must decide if she is willing do the work of returning and remembering.

So many of us start, then stop, and ultimately give it up.

Because it’s hard!

But here’s the thing: It’s in the retellings that a story finds itself.

By turning that ring around and around and hanging out in memory again and again, light can find and illuminate the long-darkened parts. A new facet can be seen. An emotional truth can bubble up. Something invisible, made visible. Something silenced, unsilenced.

I’m so captivated by the process of revision – a process I relied on during the years it took to write my memoir – that I’m writing a book about. Yes, I know it’s very meta to write a book about the process of writing a book. But my hope is to teach how to take a personal story to the page by way of retelling. That a mix of spoken and written word makes the work stronger by way of this partnership.

So stay close. I’ll be blogging and vlogging each month to shine light as I go. Showing up on the page and screen will keep me accountable and, best case scenario, transmit some concrete steps and inspiration to you, dear reader.

My new YouTube Channel will go live later this month. Stay tuned for more soon.

Photo by Kane Reinholdtsen/Unsplash

Upcoming

“Writing for Wellness: The Healing Power of Personal Narrative.” Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute for Mental Health Conference. Saturday, June 10.

“Writing Place” (online). Lighthouse Lit Fest, Thursday, June 15, 2:30-4:30 (CT)

“Essay in Ten Types” (online) Lighthouse Lit Fest, Friday, June 16, 10 -noon (CT).

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“Writing for Wellness: The Healing Power of Personal Narrative.” Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute for Mental Health Conference. Saturday, June 10.

“Writing Place” (online). Lighthouse Lit Fest, Thursday, June 15, 2:30-4:30 (CT)

“Essay in Ten Types” (online) Lighthouse Lit Fest, Friday, June 16, 10 -noon (CT). “Writing for Wellness: The Healing Power of Personal Narrative.” Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute for Mental Health Conference. Saturday, June 10.

“Writing Place” (online). Lighthouse Lit Fest, Thursday, June 15, 2:30-4:30 (CT)

“Essay in Ten Types” (online) Lighthouse Lit Fest, Friday, June 16, 10 -noon (CT).