The most engaging story you know is the one about your own life and a professional writer can help you preserve your story as a life legacy. You don’t have to have lived a full life to tell your heartfelt story.
Your life story grows, develops and changes throughout your life–it may feel complicated but think of yourself as a storyteller rather than an author. It can also help to pretend you are telling your story to your dearest friend. Telling your story to another person helps to open your mind and heart and delve into your past. You can speak your mind without your internal censor at work. Pour it all out freely and once you have the first draft of your story, you can then edit your words into shape in subsequent drafts.
You can write your story as either an autobiography or a memoir. An autobiography records the story of your life, step by step, from birth. A memoir highlights a time period or aspect of your life. It can focus on any experience where you grew, learned, changed or had an impact on others.
Many people think their stories aren’t interesting enough to record. This isn’t true. There is an African proverb that goes like this: “When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground.” So, when your life is over, another library burns down. This is all the encouragement needed that your story deserves to be told. You can record and publish it for the public, as a cherished gift for your family or simply for yourself.
Many people find it difficult to turn scattered memories into a manuscript. If your story writing gets stuck or you need someone to support the whole process, a partnership with a professional writer can bring enormous benefits.
A professional writer can become a friend who listens to you speak and then publishes your words with the power and polish they deserve.
Writing a life story or memoir is far more complex than simply writing a list of incidents. A professional writer will architect your story, identifying the emotional turning points, core conflicts, and universal themes that are of value in your story.
To engage your reader, your story has to:
- Be structured and have a story arc that turns a jumble of anecdotes into a story that engages.
- Be paced and have tension where the flow of information builds suspense and delivers a satisfying conclusion.
- Have an engaging hook, that is a dynamic, attention-grabbing inciting incident that pulls the reader from the start into your world.
Objectivity is often the first thing lost when writing about oneself. It’s almost impossible for you, the storyteller, to judge which details are interesting to a stranger or only significant to you. A professional writer provides the distance to be objective. As the skilled architect of your story, a professional writer will guide you through your memories without judgement.
Their objective perspective will help you to:
- Select the stories and details that best serve the book’s core theme and resonate with your intended audience.
- Answer the tough questions and include vulnerabilities that make your story honest, relatable, and believable.
- Have your story told in your voice. They will record your words with a keen ear for your rhythm, humour and unique way of speaking.
Professional writers know how to ensure the text sounds like your voice. It is time consuming to write a full-length book. This is the number one reason most personal memoirs or autobiographies never get finished. Engaging a professional writer means your story is being worked on while you’re busy with your everyday. Your role is simply sharing your stories during structured interviews, and you won’t have to agonise over grammar, transitions and daily word counts.
A partnership with a professional writer delivers:
- Clear milestones and deadlines.
- A completed manuscript in months, not years.
- A final, professionally structured and polished, production-ready manuscript, saving the expense and headache of extensive developmental editing later.
Is it worth investing in your story?
When you acknowledge your story is worth telling, it is an investment in your legacy to hire a professional writer to develop your story with literary expertise. The end result is a work that honours your journey and captivates readers for generations to come.
It’s time to bring your wonderful story to the world! Contact a professional writer now to discuss how you can.
By Marilyn Martyn
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