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Starstruck

Starstruck
Creative Writing for health, well-being and fun!

Thursday 5 March 2009

Your Life, Your Autobiography

THE SEARCH FOR IDEAS

Earlier in this series, we have looked at memories as a resource. But why stop at a memory. Would you like to work on your own Life Story? In this you are your own hero/heroine. You could find out the ‘Why’ of you. And another glittering prize – when you embark on this journey – is the production of a resource to answer all those questions your family will suddenly find they’d like an answer to – albeit long after you’ve forgotten most of what you’ve been and what you’ve done.

As a coach, I can almost hear all the unhelpful voices leaping out at you as you’re thinking about this.

Which one’s sitting in your head?
• My life’s been boring
• I was never any good at English
• I’d forget my head if it was loose – never mind recalling all those people and places
• And, where do I start?

Well, the beginning’s always a good place. Researchers such as Joseph Campbell (author of ‘The Hero with a 1000 faces’) and Christopher Booker – both of whom’ve studied human storying in depth - would agree that human beings love stories that have a beginning, a middle and an end. Well, you may not yet have reached the end but you’ll certainly already have lots of material to hand for the beginning of your book.

Here comes another wall of objections. There’s too much. And how do I write my story?

You need to:
• clarify what you want to achieve
• think about how best to do this
• organise your material
• learn to understand your material
• trust yourself.

And remember, you don’t have to do this alone. Lonely Furrow Company is there to help.

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