Are you trying to decide if the writing life is for you? Today, my friend and critique partner Dorothy Ann Skarles introduces her book, Learning to Write the Easy Way for Fun, Posterity and Money, in which she helps you discover your hidden writing talent.
As she says in her introduction, “Connecting with your own past in a memoir, autobiography or personal experience story is a way for future generations to get to know who and what you are. It is history in the making. A record of modest immortality.”
Dash off a Memory / Create a Memoir by Dorothy Ann Skarles
Every person, has a story to write to leave for the next generation. That is true for the young as well as the old. You are born, go to school, work, marry, have children or not, travel, grow old, and retire. In-between is a scenic byway of events and experiences to share for the family to let them know who you really are, and what you did in life. You are history in the making.
Those who write are passing on family traditions, values, patterns of beliefs, and even feelings. Seeking a story to begin with needn’t be hard to do if you start with the most significant thing in your life that you remember. It can be when you broke your arm as a child, when you bought your first car or when you ran out of money in Paris France. You can even write on how you got your name.
A story does not have to be ten pages. It can be as little as one, two or three paragraphs long. Then as it sits in a drawer and you think and remember, you can add and rewrite until you have said all you wanted to say. Countless studies indicate that recalling a past experience results in more and more memories to write.
Its brain training that produces real benefits. If you think about it, even an obituary is a mini memoir of a person you love when you record what that person did in life.
In Learning To Write The Easy Way are tips and guides for the significant events in life. Easy steps to pick a topic and write a few lines.
Your reader or family member doesn’t expect everything you write to be a news flash, but they do expect you to be as truthful as you know how in your writings. You may have passed the age of youth, but remember the world of writing is open to you even if you’ve never written before or ever had a computer. Just pick up that piece of paper, a pen or pencil, and get started.
Remember the more you write the better you become. Here is a topic to help you get started.
Christmas Holidays
- What was the best Christmas ever?
- What was the worse Christmas you ever had?
- How old were you?
- Did you believe in Santa Claus? If not why not?
- Did you get the present you asked for? If not why not?
- What was so good or so bad about this Christmas?
- Were you by yourself or with someone?
Thank you Dorothy for posting on my blog. I hope you can come back again, maybe share some more of your writing exercises to help get our juices flowing.As an added bonus, here is a review of Dorothy’s wonderful book by Mary Ebert.
Learning to Write the Easy Way: For Fun Posterity and Money
Dorothy Ann Skarles
Twilight Times Publishing
http://twilighttimesbooks.com/
Discover your hidden writing talent. Write the book you know is inside you. Record your past and present for future generations. Dorothy Ann Shows you ways to do this with easy steps and specific techniques that will definitely help you along your road.
I wasn’t sure about this book when I first got it. I’ve been trying to record my family history for years without success. And this book talked about writing for profit which isn’t something my family history is not going to bring in.
Ms. Skarles has changed my mind. No my family history won’t make me a lot of money but she has given me the techniques to capture those moments in life that not only are a part of my family history, but packaged differently and sold differently may allow me to make money easily and with very little effort. After reading this book I can now see that all it takes in this world to have fun recording a family history and make money in the process is a new look at life. In my mind this is not something that is only fit to read but a MUST OWN for every writer on the planet.
As always, thanks for stopping by,
I have Dorothy Skarles' book and recommend it to all my students. It is a wonderful book that answers the first three questions most beginning writers ask: "Why do I want to write?", "What do I write about?", and "How do I start?" Then it proceeds to teach you how to write.
One of the best things about Ms. Skarles' book is that it answers those questions in an easy to understand way and guides you through the writing process in simple and logical steps. It is my opinion that Chapter Nine, The Five Senses, is one of her best. It is through using sense description that you make your work resonate with the reader and give your scenes the reality of life. Also pay special attention to the chapters on Dialog and Submitting your Manuscript. The list goes on.
Learning to Write the Easy Way is the book to read before you start to write.
Lou Gonzalez
Witting Coach
Lou, thank you so much. Not only for your comment but for helping me be a better writer.Dorothy
I know what a great writer you and how much you've helped me with my writing. I've learned invaluable lessons from you. Although, I have yet to write on my life, it applies to every type of writing.
Thanks again, Dorothy, for sharing some of your helpful memoir tips on my blog. What a treat.
You have also helped me, Lee. Our critiques are not only a learning time, but an adventure in a lot of humor. Thanks for being there.
Margaret, when you joined my writing class, I did not realize at the time, what a wonderful critique partner you would become. Now you have become my teacher.–oops two becomes. LoL
Your thoughts on writing memoirs make me want to try. What could be easier than
recalling one's first Christmas, favorite Christmas, or Christmas foods? In my
case, Christmas would be associated with tamales. Hey, thanks for a glimpse into
your thought processes on this matter. Jose
For those of you who have contacted Dorothy via email saying you don't know how to leave a comment, go to the COMMENT AS: below and click on the arrow. In the window that pops up, choose NAME/URL and simply fill in your name. The URL is optional. Then click review if you want to review your comment or click post to publish your comment. Hope this helps.
I've never thought about writing about my life before by after reading Dorothys insights it seems like something everyone should do for prosperity! Thank you Dorothy for sharing some helpful ideas!
Not only is Dorothy Skarles an excellent writer but she is an excellent teacher, and in her book Learn to Write the Easy way she has incorporated her teaching techniques in easy to understand and follow guidelines for writing memoirs.
The example of writing about Christmas memories is a great way to spark interest in creating a starting point for beginning your life story to save for either family, friends or posterity.
Learning to Write Easy the Easy Way tells it all, because your ideas and experiences will magically transform into something everyone will enjoy as much as you will enjoy writing your life experiences. Don't hesitage to invest in this book, you will be very glad you did. Bernadine CC
anonymous, I have a student who wrote in a journal everyday for 20 years. She is now writing her memoirs and taking notes from the journal. She said the dates and happenings helped her tremendously to remember, especially about her kids that she is now writing for. Maybe this will help you get started. Thanks for writing.
Bernadine, thank you for all the nice praise. In my book, I say stories about my family and sometimes wonder if readers will enjoy the stories too. I have found that kids say the most funny things that really should be remembered.