A Timeline for your Memoir
Like you, probably, I began my memoir years ago. Like many wannabe memoirists, I started at the beginning of my life. Then I slogged my way through to just after middle age. By that time, it felt like wading through mud wearing weighted boots.
I gave up. Turned my efforts to writing nonfiction. That was much easier because of the structure of the retreats and workshops I’d given.
A student asked me, “What is the most important part of writing a memoir?”
The question made me pause, “Organization — the structure.”
A book’s structure is the skeleton supporting the body, the frame of a house, or a tree’s trunk and branches. Starting your memoir with a structure will save an enormous amount of blood, sweat, and tears. Planned stories end up with a cleaner first draft and less editing and proofreading.
I offer you a method to structure the significant events of your life — constructing a timeline.
How to Create Your Timeline
• Start as far back as you can remember or were told by others
• In chronological order, enter the significant events in your life until the present — both the good and challenging times
• Incorporate historical events that impacted you
• Next to each event, enter your age, add the year if you wish
• Keep the timeline to one and a half pages maximum
Try it to jumpstart your memoir!
Contact me for workshops and individual consultation on several writing topics. I’m available for presentations and writing help for your organization.
