I get it, writing a book sometimes feels like a battle between the part of you that KNOWS you were born for this and the part of you that just wants to be done and hold the book in your hand.
You can see it, feel it and you know it’s going to happen. But the HOW feels like a question you’ll never have an answer to.
Full transparency: you aren’t meant to know the exact pathway forward. But you must start writing.
If you are writing a memoir or a book that in someway uses your life’s story as a foundation, this prompt will be really helpful.
When we are writing a book book, especially a memoir, there is a timeline to to our life. There are seasons we have lived. Sometimes they last years or just months, but we can often find a solid theme to these seasons. And a good place to start in order to begin creating a structure (the bones if you will!) to our book, is by creating some organization to the “timeline”.
Start here, with this one prompt and see where it takes you:
“Write one sentence to sum up each year of your life so far.”
Here’s my example (with full sentences cut off for personal privacy!):
One: I was a big baby, coming in hot at 11 lbs and 8 ounces…
Two: No longer the only receiver of attention, I remember…
Three: Starry nights, dragging dolls by their hair and swimming in…
Four: Playing tea cups and make-believe, a dreamer was re-born...
Five: A leader at heart…
Six: When transition awakens the new identities, we are so…
Seven: Hiding under tables and playing with new friends...
Eight: Dear Diary…
Nine: Chubby girl uncomfortable in her skin...
Ten: Unafraid to try new things and be the first and have…
Eleven: Becoming more uncomfortable in her skin as the reality of…
Twelve: Awkward and happy, and not quite sure…
Thirteen: Grew six inches and learned about being thinner and…
Fourteen: Must stay “beautiful” and…
Fifteen: Crushes and blushing and trying to be good and…
Sixteen: Still awkward, still beautiful, I hope…
Seventeen: Transition from school and excited for new…
Eighteen: Leaving body and not…
Nineteen: Same..
Twenty: Same…and explore new…
Twenty-one: New freedom and uncertainties…
Twenty-two: I must change my life, I move to Colorado…
Twenty-three: Obsessed with the mountains…
Twenty-four: Love and hurt and lies and truths all…
Twenty-five: Saw all fifty states before my 25th birthday…
Twenty-six: Fall in love and start photography business and…
Twenty-seven: Broken heart and grief begins to…
Twenty-eight: A podcast and a bus and a confusing…
Twenty-nine: Manifest dream van and begin living…
Thirty: Shame is harsher than it’s ever been and to feel…
Thirty-one: Healing and softening and finding my…
Thirty-two: Another move, a new small…
Thirty-three: Dark night of the…
Thirty-four: Change again, as a full blown open awareness to…
Why we love this prompt:
We love this prompt because it’s ONE simple starting place.
Who it’s for:
It’s for the person getting ready to start writing their memoir, or perhaps they have already begun but feel like something is missing or they need to wander back into the shoes of past versions of themselves.
When to use it:
Use it anytime throughout the book writing process, but likely a highly useful asset at the beginning!
What will come of it:
Organization. This prompt gives the mind a bit of structure, like a timeline to revert back to when needed.
How it helps:
Along with organization, it also helps the writer see THEMES in their own life and throughout their story.
Where to go from here:
Write out the years, and begin writing! This is not a prompt for perfection, this is a prompt to get the wheels turning and just ALLLLOOWWW words to flow as memories, scenes or feelings arise. Once “complete”, take a step back, walk away. Re-visit. These years might became certain “chapters” to your book, or the themes that come up might become really powerful through lines to your story—places the reader will be able to connect with the writer and see/feel themselves in the book.
This is a really exciting place to be! Happy writing :)