To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.
- William Shakespeare
Sometimes when we look at the work involved in telling our life story or that of another, we can become overwhelmed. It seems too monumental and so we give up before we ever get started. I’m a great believer in starting slow. Don’t feel you have to rush into a life story and have it completed in a week or two. You might begin by reading some useful books on how to write a life story. I wrote a previous post,The Ten Best Selling Books on Life Story Writing, which you can find by clicking here.
You might start by writing little sketches as Anna Mary Moses did in her wonderful autobiography, Grandma Moses: My Life’s Story. She said, “I have written my life in small sketches, a little today, a little yesterday, as I have thought of it, as I remember all the things from childhood on through the years, good ones, and unpleasant ones, that is how they come out and that is how we have to take them.”
The other piece of advice I have is that you set aside some time each day to write. It doesn’t have to be much time, perhaps a half-hour. What’s important is that you develop the habit of sitting down to write each day.
Good luck with your writing. Tell me any other approaches you’ve used for starting slow.
Photo by Stan Hieronymus
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Mr. Curtis,
I always enjoy your thoughts.
I have a rule in life. To morph into something new, if it is anything good, takes a decade.
I began to play golf at age ten. I was a single digit handicap by twenty.
If you include college, med school and residency, it took me ten years to become a Doctor.
It took ten years to become a mandolinist. (O.K., maybe twelve, it was harder.)
I began to write in 2000. I just signed with my first professional editor, and my book is due out in 2010. Again, ten years.
I believe success belongs to the persistent more than the talented. (At least I hope so!)
Dr. B
@Tom Bibey. I agree with you about being persistent. I often tell people I’m not brilliant but I’m persistent!