It's Time to Take The Next Step

I also had several people tell me that they love the emails and want to write their stories, but they are still apprehensive about starting.

This post will talk about how to get past that so you can begin writing. I do know that some of you are not ready to write because of other time commitments, and are saving the emails for when you are, and that's great too. The first step to doing something is...thinking about doing it. So, you are on the first step and hopefully sometime in the future you will get to the next step and begin writing.

I am going to talk about the "next step" today because this step is a big one. It takes a little bit of work to jump in and do something that you think is going to challenge you a little and I want to make that "challenge" as easy as possible, because it does NOT have to be hard.

If you are feeling over-whelmed or uncomfortable about writing about your life, pick a story from your past, preferably one that will be easy to write. Get out a blank piece of paper, or pull up an empty word processing document on your computer, and write/type freely for 10 minutes about that story (set a timer).

Write/type whatever comes to your mind without worrying about spelling, grammar, or the story you are writing about. Don't stop writing or take a break. This isn't meant to be read by others so just write/type your thoughts and feelings as they come to your mind.

Doing this exercise should help you know which parts of the story are important to you, your feelings, maybe the lessons you learned, etc. because they came to your mind. Sort out those thoughts and you can begin writing the story that you want others to read.

If you want to get my weekly emails with tips on simplifying the personal history process, Here is the link to sign up (you can unsubscribe at any time): https://bit.ly/2HuS7SN

I also have a private FB group you are welcome to join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mystoryprompt