Helping you uncover, write, and share your best stories
Why write your stories?
• Write to revisit an experience
• Write to capture and record an event
• Write to share what you know
• Write because you love to write
• Write to be a better writer
What's the difference between an autobiography, a biography, memoir, and short story memoir?
- An autobiography is the story you tell about yourself, from the time you were born to the present.
- A biography is similar to the autobiography, but it's the story of someone's life told by someone other than the subject.
- A memoir is a book length recollection that focuses on one period or event in your life; not the story of your entire life, but a specific event or period.
- A short story (or micro memoir) is one story from your life ... a moment or experience. It can be just one sentence or anywhere from 50-750 words. But no longer.
What if I don't want to write a book, but still want to write my stories?
You don't have to write a book.
You can write and use your stories in letters, post them on a personal or public blog, or simply collect them for your own pleasure. Writing is a rewarding way to revisit and explore the best of what you've done, learned, and seen.
Choose a theme, an event, or a personal accomplishment and start there. Write one story, then another, and before you know it, you'll have a collection. And a collection of stories? Well, if you do want to write a book, you're almost there.
What if my life's not that interesting?
Ask three people what makes an interesting life and you'll get three different answers. While you may have experienced a wild adventure or gut-wrenching life event, that alone is not what makes a story worth reading.
What makes any story interesting is your take on what happened, why it matters, and how you tell it.
The stories you write could be about the pets you've had and what you learned from them, your first job, how you started your business, or what it was like that first and only time you went to summer camp.
It's the common experiences, disappointments, successes, and life-affirming joy that people are looking to connect with.
Writing your stories one at a time, just like they happened, allows you to share what you've seen, experienced, and learned without the overwhelm of thinking you need to write an entire book.
Need help getting started?
Grab your copy of the free ebook, Take It From Here. Inside you'll find ten ways to start a story and ten ways to make it better. Grab yours today!
People love stories and you've got some good ones.
If it's interesting to you, chances are it will be interesting to someone else.
Sign up for the weekly Story Starter Calendar and get a week's worth of story prompts every Sunday.