As you might have guessed, the homework for last week and this week have their purposes. Last week's homework was meant to get you to write the top 125 memories from your life that came to your mind. This week, you are fleshing out 5-7 memories and writing as much as you can about each.
Are these classes nothing but busy work and homework? You might wonder.
But, I bet you see at this point that there might be a method to my madness. There is one. Trust me. Today, I wills tart to explain a little of what that is,
Journaling is very personal--and so are your memories. My whole goal is to help give yourself the permission to experiment and get these things down on the page, so you can leave your legacy and start to write your memoir. I have provided some guidance with the homework, but I've left a lot of it up to you. Why? It's because you need to experiment and figure out what works for you. You need to feel free when you journal--and not have so much instruction that it stifles your creativity or your flow.
That being said, if you were too lost or stifled, I was sure you would contact me and request help--or search my blog for more tools to help you--of which there are plenty.
HABIT GROWING
I have not wanted to ask you to set a daily word count goal. That can put undue pressure on you and can stifle your muse. Therefore I have not done so. However, can you see, this week in particular, that you are starting to write a certain number of words per day?
You are developing the journaling habit without even realizing it. And, as to how many words per day... It you are new to journaling, I recommend 500 words or so. If you are a regular journalkeeper, I recommend 1,000. But, again the choice is up to you. Do what works. That's the bottom line. And, make it your goal to journal a little more every week.
If you are writing your memoir, this is really important. Make a decision as to how many words you want to write a day--and get after it. The average word count for a memoir is 80,000 to 100,000 or so words. Some are a lot more and some are less.
PATTERNS
What comes to mind, when it comes to mind, is important. There are patterns there and reasons there you will need to explore. Are you starting to see this?
MEMOIR WRITERS
Your journal is your first draft of your memoir.
We need to mine through our memories and then figure out the patterns so we know how to write our memoir. We will start to see the patterns next week. Hang in there. But, your journaling is the first step that's needed.
YOUR MEMORIES
Your memories are a key as to what has happened to you, who you were, who you are, who you will become, and where you go next in your life's journey. So, mien them deeply. Get all of them on the page, and keep writing as much as you can about each of your original 125 memories. Keep an ongoing FUTURE MEMORY JOURNALING LIST so that you can also mine those later.
HOMEWORK
* What patterns are you starting to see?
* How has mining your memories impacted you?
* What new memories have you uncovered as you think about other memories?
* Do you see how you became who you are today and why?
~ Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper
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