Writing Life

Life writing spurs creativity for many people

from all walks of life. From journal writing to
blogging, to making sense of ones own
experiences by writing about them, to
recording the memories of loved-ones, life
writing gives authors the chance to explore
their creativity using material that has direct
emotional resonance for them.
Writing Life
Doing this, they develop the skill to which all
creative arts aspire: turning an authors
complex perspectives into an experience that
can be shared.
Life writing for many begins with studying
their own lives, or those around them, and
developing their observations and thoughts
in writing whether in a journal, a blog or in
a creative piece drawn from life.
Practice 1
Choose an incident from your life where you
stood your ground and took the
consequences, for better or worse. It could
be a dispute at school; it could be a family
disagreement; it could be an everyday
incident that took place as you were growing
up or in your personal life. The force against
which you stood your ground could even be
yourself, in overcoming the legacy of a
difficult past for example, or a regrettable
relationship choice.
Practice 1 Cont.
If youre stuck, pick a stand-your-ground from a
movie or TV drama; a couple that spring to my mind
are Ferris Buellers Day Off, where a neglected kid
kicks in the headlamps of his fathers Ferrari, or The
Sopranos, where a mobsters daughter evolves a
compromise between her sense of self and her
familys criminality.
Lets watch
Ferris Buellers Day Off
The kid voices his frustration at being neglected
The kids talks insightfully about how this neglect
affects him
The kid vents anger at this treatment by kicking his
fathers prized possession
The Ferrari rolls off its stand and through the wall,
smashing into a gully
The kid resolves to explain why he kicked the car
rather than simply take the consequences.
Life Writing
We live in an age of self-definition through
wordsmith creativity. From texting to
tweeting to updating Facebook statuses,
technology has turned writing about yourself
into a rewarding part of many peoples
everyday social and family lives.
At the other end of the life-writing scale are
big literary biographies and memoirs.
Raising the Roof
The word detective comes from the Latin for
to unroof to lift the slates and shingles
and peer at the humanity within.
Even when you are writing about yourself,
this is what a life writer must do lift the roof
and peer, just like a detective.
Playing Detective
First, you need to know what you are looking for. Most of
us could produce a reasonably adequate summation of
major events in our lives, given time and a few sheets of
paper things that happened which made us who we are
today.
These are the official landmarks in our personal journeys,
but we know that such lists of achievements, joys and
perhaps heartaches are just the skeleton of the whole
story.
To put flesh on to these bare bones, we must move into
the realm of the less documented: the struggles behind
the achievements, the long-built emotional foundations
that undermine the potential for joy, or for recovery from
heartbreak.
Practice 2
Distilling The Essence of a Life Story
Write your life as a country song. If you arent a
country fan, write a blues song.
Heres the format:
I was born and raised in { }
Where life was sweet/harsh because of { }
I had { } and maybe { }, too
But then { } happened
And { } came along
Now Ive got { } and { }
But I still miss that { }, { }, and { }
Practice 3
Now that you have sorted out a verse, write
a chorus?
Whats the message of your song?
What core value does this song examine?
Looking Within: Character
Arcs and Plot
Progressions
Having raised the roof on a life, the creative
writers job is to make sense of whats within.
We have looked at core values, and value
progressions, that drive narratives and give
them coherence and power.
Looking Within: Character
Arcs and Plot
Progressions
You dont want to jumble your story.
In a story about a terrible betrayal, for
example, you may not want to include a
supplementary romance or similar subplot
narrative.
If they are prepared to read about betrayal,
that should be the issue at hand.
Looking Within: Character
Arcs and Plot
Progressions
The reader wants to see how a terrible personal
betrayal actually plays out in life.
Split allegiance: As pressures build in the run-up to a
betrayal or divide loyalties in its aftermath
New loyalty: as with a concerned spouse who, after
an eye-opening experience, decides to put self and
security first
Self-betrayal: this could follow, if that spouse gives
up on their resolve, and tries to follow the path of
least resistance loyalty despite negative experience
rather than being clear-eyed about where they
stand.
Themes
Life writing examines themes in the same way that
country or blues song and most popular music
have a message. Analyzing a songs message,
or a movies message or a novels, is a way to think
about core values.
Thinking about narrative material in this way
whether life writing or any literary creativity is how
authors satisfy readers hungry for rewarding reading
experiences.
Core-Value
Structuring material for greatest core-value
coherence is how creative authors build page-
turning readability into their work. Using core-value
sequences as basic templates to progress a
narrative in life or travel writing, in fiction or drama,
in poetry or a newspaper interview is an approach
that seeks not to impose subheadings on life, but
rather foreground the coherence and meaning
beneath the surface complication.
Practice 4
Structuring Life
Imagine that youre reading about life writing
because youre getting over a painful break-up, ad
you want to find closure by writing about it.
Backstory:
You fell in love
Life got in the way
True colors started to come out
You tried to make it work, but you were the only one
trying to change
You dont want to make the same mistakes again
Practice 4 Cont.
Using the example of a betrayal progression, can you
build a coherent arch?
Example:
Loyalty to self, in fulfilling the need for a deep emotional
relationship
Split allegiance, between partner and work and/or other
pressures
Betrayal, when what you thought was forever turned out
not to be
Temporary self-betrayal perhaps, as you sacrifice your
needs to try to save the relationship
New loyalty to self, older and wiser
Practice 5
Structure and Pace in Life Writing
Try working with these different life stories
and build structure.
An Afghanistan veteran adjusting to life
after service
Amateur athlete wins Olympic gold
A big lottery winner ten years down the
line
Practice 5 Cont.
What is the first thing that strikes you as you ponder
how these life stories could be written?
Where in each scenarios timeline should this event
take place?
What comes before and after the event?
How can you add in a value progression? (ex.
Loyalty and betrayal)
For Example
Veteran: Could feel betrayed by a poor tactical decision
that left his buddies exposed. He could reach self-
betrayal when he loses his joy for life, as he struggles
with survivors guilt and PTSD. His story could end with
a positive return to loyalty.
Athlete: Could be betrayed by an injury that makes her
miss her first Olympics. She could reach self-betrayal
when she becomes addicted to pain killers. She could
fight her way back to loyalty to self to be rewarded with
the ultimate accolade.
Lottery winner: Could hit betrayal, when the media circus
moves from celebration to persecution. Self-betrayal
could happen when the winner is forced to leave their old
life behind. There is a wake-up call that returns the
winner to the values of their pre-jackpot life.