“But I don’t have a story!”

I was talking with my neighbor tonight and we got on the subject of writing memoir — life stories. He said, “I can’t write a memoir. I don’t have an addiction, illness or abuse story to write and I’m not famous.”

"There are 8 million stories in the naked city..."

I just looked at him at first. I asked if he really thought that was all that the memoir genre was about. By the look on his face, I knew he did think that.

I explained that not every memoir is about divorce, abuse, illness, etc… and that there were no hard and fast rules that they had to be about that kind of stuff only. Again, he looked dumbfounded.

I continued to tell him that our lives are made up of one story after another. Sure, without a different hook or a unique look at a age old topic, mainstream publishing may be out of the question. But, what about family and close friends? What about writing for yourself.

Don’t get caught up in the thought that you aren’t worth writing about — you are. I always think of the line from the old tv show “There are eight million stories in the naked city…”  Same thing applies to your life. Root out those stories and write them. Some may be essay length, some book length, some a short story — doesn’t matter. Get them on paper. Whether they are ever published isn’t the goal — leaving them for other generations is.

Start writing!

Mandee

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