Writing Your Memoir and Your Idea List and File

YOUR IDEA LIST AND FILE

Your 125 memories and your Future Journaling List comprise your idea list and idea file for your memoir writing. This is where you put every single memory and possibility of something or someone to write about in your memoir writing--this book or in future books. This is your catch-all. It's your project file and contains everything that is possible now or later. 

This is your holding bed or crock pot of ideas that simmer for long periods of time as you sort out what to include exactly in your memoir--and what not to. 

Make sure to literally write anything that comes to mind: memories, thoughts, ideas  people, places, things, objects, experiences, memories, lessons learned, etc. that comes to you as you journal your rough draft. 

By the way, anything you do not include in your memoir still should get a journaling entry done on it to expand just the listing of future journaling. Write it out. There is a reason why it came to mind. Make sure to explore everything you can about it. 

Make sure to write it all down--anything that comes to mind--and keep in this catch-all list/file. 

JOURNALING EXERCISE OR PROMPT

Think of how you want to write your memoir. Jot down anything that comes to mind.

Then, read through your list of 125 memories and jot down anything else that comes to mind.

~ Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper

Writing Your Memoir: The Steps

What are the steps of writing a memoir?

1 Make a list of the first 125 memories in your life that come to mind.

2 Write a full account of each of the 125 memories. Do a SOC, a mining your memories exercise, and memory snapshots of each of the 125 memories. 

3 As you list and write about each of your 125 memories, other memories will come to mind. Make sure to jot those down on a Future Journaling List so they are not forgotten. They will be covered in another memoir that you will write later. 

4 Once you get all 125 memories journaled out and at least 1 page of journaling each, it's time to look at your old journal entries if you have them. Journal about what your recollection today is different, and the same, as when you wrote about it originally. If you did not keep past journals, skip this step.

5 Look at your journaling and see if any patterns emerge. Whatever patterns you see, or whatever seems to fit together is what you will write about in your first memoir. You may use only a handful of the 125 memories, or you may use a majority. See what feels right to you and what makes the most sense.

6 Start to write your memoir. Remember that a memoir does not go in chronological order. 

7 Finish your rough draft.

8 Edit your first draft.

9 Edit your second draft.

10 Edit your third draft.

11 Publish it. 

Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper & Author

* My Storykeeper Odyssey in 2013: Journaling & Memoir

* The Journaling & Storykeeping Encyclopedia of 2013

MEMOIR WRITING

Have you always wanted to write your story? Or is it something that has just come upon your heart--and won't let go? Either way, this blog post is for you.

4 QUOTATIONS THAT MATTER

There is something really important you need to know before you take another step in the direction of writing your story. Listen carefully and read carefully.

Your story matters.

There is something else that is critical for you to understand:

Your story is sacred.

And, there is one more thing for you to know:

Your story matters, and is sacred, because it's exclusively yours--and because it intertwines with every single person you come across in your life--including those who hear about you and your story.

And, the final thing to know is that:

Every single person you come across, their story intertwines with yours and shapes and transforms your story.

Stop. Re-read those several times and let them sink in slowly, word by word. 

You should not write your memoir until each of those quotations sink in and you take them to heart. 

Go through and journal about each of those 4 quotes. 

Spend a couple of days fully digesting, pondering/contemplating, and journaling about these quotes before you continue to the next section of this blog post.

YOUR PAST JOURNALS

Given the 4 quotations written previously, what do you think I am going to say about your past journals? 

Here is the answer: Until you look back at your memories through today's lens, I would not look back at your previous journal entries. In other words, I would start to write my memoir today through journaling my past memories today. Then, I would go back and look at old journal entries--and journal about those--from today's perspective. I would then see what has changed and how my perception has changed. Also, I would look at how they've influenced the road I've traveled, how I got here  who I am today, and where I am headed in the future. 

This is critical. It is important to keep this in mind. Please re-read that previous paragraph and then read ahead. 

WHY SHOULD I NOT LOOK AT OLD JOURNAL ENTRIES FIRST?

They will cloud your perception today.

Figure out who you are today and where you stand today--then look back. After all, there is a reason why you see the things you do today and in the manner you see them. Do not ever shortchange this. Do not ever take this for granted. There is a reason why you perceive the things you do today. There is a reason why you remember the things, and in the way you remember them, today. Do not ever--and I mean EVER--not take this into consideration. It's important what you see and how yous ee things today. Your point-of-view today matters far more than it did then. 

The previous paragraph is critical and important and should not be overlooked or taken for granted. (Yes. I was just extremely redundant in what I said. That was intentional  I want to get your attention and cannot stress this enough.)

HOW TO WRITE YOUR MEMOIR: YOUR LIFE STORY

1 Figure out where you are today. Journal about things from today's perspective. Then, look at the past. Journal your memories from today's perspective. 

2 Then, look back at your old journal entries. Do a new journal entry talking about what you observed, including what you had forgotten, and how your perception of the memory and journal entry has changed and/or remained the same. 

3 Look for lessons learned--then and now. Journal about them from today's eyes. 

4 Look for patterns in your old and new journal entries. These are important. These patterns are what make your memoir and shape it. Journal about the patterns.

5 Taking everything mentioned in this blog post  including items 1-4, start to write your memoir. 

2013 STORYKEEPER ODYSSEY

I am taking 2013 to do #1. I have 125 memories I am focusing on. This is the first part of my memoir. Then, in 2014, I am going to look at items 2-5 and write the next part of my memoir. After all, I need to fully know where I am today in order to understand yesterday and get the most out of tomorrow. 

You can find your rhythm. But, whatever you do, make sure you look at things through today's point-of-view before you look at yesterday's or tomorrow's. 

30-Days of the Memory Launch Pad Class

30-Days of the Memory Launch Pad Class 

This is a class or seminar that I will have as a blog post series on my blog and as a series of discussion here:

Official Website: 

http://storykeeper2121.blogspot.com

Official Community: https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/113054405863121223338

Official Description:

This is a 30-Day focus of getting as many of our memories on the page as possible.  

 IF YOU ARE INTERESTED

Sign up on the community link just listed. 

WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE?

There will be a weekly blog post about what to review from the previous week and what to do this week.  

Also, at the community, there will be discussion questions and more journaling exercises or prompts.

TO GET THE MOST MEMORIES DOWN ON THE PAGE

You will also want to sign up on the community for each monthly event in 2013. This will help you get all of your memories on the page.

WEEKLY TOPICS

Week 1 Strongest Memories

Week 2 Decades

Week 3 People

Week 4 Objects & Places

This is part of the 2013 Storykeeper Odyssey Class. Nonetheless, even if you are not part of the 2013 class, you can still participate in this January class. 

THE END OF THE WORLD: A JOURNALING EXERCISE AND PROMPT

Some say the end of the world is right around the corner, on 21 December 2012. That's else than two days away. So, what a perfect time to do this journaling exercise and prompt.

Let me say that I do not believe the world will end in two days (see Mark 13:21.). However, let's be real. 14 December taught us something very real and true. Life changes on a dime. We could very well die in two days. Aren't we supposed to live every day as if it was our last anyway? 

JOURNALING EXERCISE

It does not matter if you believe this to be true or not. Let's say that it is true--or we are told we have only two days to live. Answer these questions with that frame of mind:

* What would you do to prepare for the end of the world?

* What would you want to tell your loved ones?

* What would you want to do?

* What would you want to journal--in case there were any survivors? 

* What were your most powerful memories? Describe each of them. 

* Give a summary of your life. 

* How does this change how your live today, regardless? 

* Journal anything else that comes to mind.

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Microsoft Images Online.) 

MINING YOUR MEMORIES WITH LISTS JOURNALING EXERCISE

LIST TO DETAILS

The best journaling helps you to put your life on the page and leave your legacy. It also helps you to dig deeper and live a fuller, deeper, and more intentional life. This is where you start to live on purpose.

However, how do you do that? What does that look like and why would you want to do that?

It's important to mine your memories. That way, you learn what is really important to you and what is less important. Every memory you have is important, it's a matter of what you find most important today and how it has shaped you to be who you are and what you have done. Get them all down on the page in lists. 

Then, you take items of each list and write more about each. You get to what is most important and what stands out most in your life--today. And you focus on that. You try to get every memory and every detail out of that (Whatever "that" is.)

For instance, take a simple coffee mug in my cabinet. It's one of two favorites. This seems simple enough and not very important. It's just a mug, after all. However, if I look further into it, the mugs are important to me. There is a reason why they are my favorites. So, I need to explore this. How do I do that? First, I do a SOC 

Both read, HISTORIC JAMESTOWN. 

MINING YOUR MEMORIES JOURNALING EXERCISE

Start with writing lists of your memories. Do all sorts of journaling prompts to make as many lists as possible (List suggestions: people, places, things/objects, memories, favorites, least favorites, 10 objects of each room of your house, songs, books, TV shows, games, specific years in your life, decades of your life, etc.).

~ Get it all down in the lists--your memories and anything else that comes to mind. Do a SOC (Stream of Consciousness) writing to get them all down. Write down everything that comes to mind in a list.

~ Then, take three of those items and write more details about each. Do a SOC on each of the three items. Do a word association, mind map, SOC, or anything else that comes to mind about each of the three items. 

~ Take those three items and write a longer journal entry on each. 

~ Write about the six senses of: smell, sight, smell, touch, taste, and perception/intuition on each of the three items. 

~ Ask who, what, where, when, why, and how questions about each of the three items. 

~ Then, a week from the time you finish this, do it again for this list. Choose three items to write more about. 

Then, take two weeks off and do it again.

Then, take a month off and do it again. 

Then, do it in three months.

Then, do it in 6 months.

Then, do it in one year. 

Then, do it in 1.5 years.

Then, do it in two years.

Then, do it in 5 years.
Then, do it in 10 years.
Then do it in 20 years.
Then, do it in 25 years. 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease 2012.)

MINING YOUR MEMORIES WITH LISTS JOURNALING EXERCISE

LIST TO DETAILS

The best journaling helps you to put your life on the page and leave your legacy. It also helps you to dig deeper and live a fuller, deeper, and more intentional life. This is where you start to live on purpose.

However, how do you do that? What does that look like and why would you want to do that?

It's important to mine your memories. That way, you learn what is really important to you and what is less important. Every memory you have is important, it's a matter of what you find most important today and how it has shaped you to be who you are and what you have done. Get them all down on the page in lists. 

Then, you take items of each list and write more about each. You get to what is most important and what stands out most in your life--today. And you focus on that. You try to get every memory and every detail out of that (Whatever "that" is.)

For instance, take a simple coffee mug in my cabinet. It's one of two favorites. This seems simple enough and not very important. It's just a mug, after all. However, if I look further into it, the mugs are important to me. There is a reason why they are my favorites. So, I need to explore this. How do I do that? First, I do a SOC 

Both read, HISTORIC JAMESTOWN. 

MINING YOUR MEMORIES JOURNALING EXERCISE

Start with writing lists of your memories. Do all sorts of journaling prompts to make as many lists as possible (List suggestions: people, places, things/objects, memories, favorites, least favorites, 10 objects of each room of your house, songs, books, TV shows, games, specific years in your life, decades of your life, etc.).

~ Get it all down in the lists--your memories and anything else that comes to mind. Do a SOC (Stream of Consciousness) writing to get them all down. Write down everything that comes to mind in a list.

~ Then, take three of those items and write more details about each. Do a SOC on each of the three items. Do a word association, mind map, SOC, or anything else that comes to mind about each of the three items. 

~ Take those three items and write a longer journal entry on each. 

~ Write about the six senses of: smell, sight, smell, touch, taste, and perception/intuition on each of the three items. 

~ Ask who, what, where, when, why, and how questions about each of the three items. 

~ Then, a week from the time you finish this, do it again for this list. Choose three items to write more about. 

Then, take two weeks off and do it again.

Then, take a month off and do it again. 

Then, do it in three months.

Then, do it in 6 months.

Then, do it in one year. 

Then, do it in 1.5 years.

Then, do it in two years.

Then, do it in 5 years.
Then, do it in 10 years.
Then do it in 20 years.
Then, do it in 25 years. 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease 2012.)

Journaling Quote

THE 30-DAY JOURNAL ABOUT THE LAST YEAR: Day 5

MEMORY LISTS: PART 1

~ Go through each month and write down as memories as you can from each month. 

You might want to pull out your calendar/planner and journals in order to do this exercise. 

Take a lot of time to do today's journaling exercise. Make sure to list every memory you can think of. Then, wait a couple of hours and return to this. Can you think of any new memories you haven't written down for any of the months? 

(Image Credit: Microsoft Images Online)

Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper & Author

The Remembering Your Present Journal Keeping Series

Storykeeper 2121 Blog and Website: http://storykeeper2121.blogspot.com

Email: storykeeper2121@gmail.com

Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Storykeeper 2121

Hello and just checking on on you and your journaling

GREETINGS

I hope all of you had a very Happy Thanksgiving--and a memorable one. I pray you were able to take at least a couple days off, if not all four! 

So, it's time to get back to the daily grind. Sigh. 

There will be a lot of activity on this blog today. I plan on doing several new blog posts. I just wanted to stop and say hello and check in on you. 

SO, HOW IS YOUR JOURNALING?

So, HOW is your journaling? How IS it coming? 

Please send me a comment at the end of this blog or an email and let me know. I look forward to hearing from you.

Also, journal your response to these questions. How is it coming? What do you think of journaling? What should you do more of? What should you change? How have you put your life down on the page and left a legacy that will last to the year 2121 and beyond? How has your life been transformed because of journaling? What have you learned? What has your journal and journaling come to mean to you? 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Microsoft Images Online)

My Return To Jamestown Theme, Description, & Summary

My return to my ancestral home of Jamestown will explore the legacy my ancestors left behind and how this shapes my personal legacy I will leave. 

-- Stacy Duplease

Journaling Quote: Legacy

Book 1

I guess it is about time I told you about Book 1 of the Family Treez of the USA Series. At this point, I must admit I am not sure of the title. I am calling it , A JAMESTOWN LIFE, today. But, who knows if it will stick. I sure do not know at this point. I am rather undecided at this point, I must admit. Here is what I am sure of, though:

Book 1 is about a married couple, Francis and Mary Mason, who make the decision to pick up their lives and move to Jamestown in America in 1613, along with their three year old daughter. They move from Norfolk, England. 

Can you imagine taking a trip for two to three months across the ocean to go to the place near the Lost Colony of Roanoke, known for the Starving Time and massacres by the natives?

There were few women and children as well at the time at Jamestown and in the surrounding areas.

I cannot imagine any of that, never mind the stress it would put on a marriage.

Welcome to Book 1 of the FAMILY TREEZ OF THE USA SERIES. 

It is about a real, Christian, American family. It is based off of my family. 

And I currently live just fifteen minutes from Jamestown and live in Hampton, where they settled. I did not know any of this until a couple of months ago. My husband and I moved to Virginia about 13 months ago. So, I have a really good idea of the setting. 

The Masons were not the only family to come to Jamestown. There were also the Tuckers, Arundells, Sherwoods, and Williamsons. This is a little foreshadowing for you and a little teaser of what is to come. Never mind a real-life mail order bride. 

See. I peaked your interest now, did I not?

BY THE WAY: The photo above is one I took of Jamestown a few months ago. This is at the archaeological dig. This is where the United States of America began and is where my ancestors tread. (Humbling. Amazing. Awe-inspiring. Mind-boggling.)

(Photo Credit: Stacy Duplease. 2012.)

-- Stacy Duplease
Sent from my cell.

Rootz (Roots)

Let me be honest. My family tree did not mean that much to me until June 2012. However, when I discovered I had a minimum of 22 family members land, settle, or be born in Jamestown, Virginia between 1585 and 1640, my heritage and lineage took on a whole new meaning.

Part of the reason why my family tree was not that important to me was because I am proud to be an American. I might be 50% German, 25% Swedish, and 8.33% English, 8.33% Irish, and 8.33% Scottish, but I am 100% American. Ask me to define who I am, 'American' is one of the things I will say. It is more than a place where I was born and raised. The United States of America is the best country on the planet: One Nation Under God--with the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution. With the world's greatest military. The U.S. means something to me. Deeply. Powerfully.

Therefore, when I moved to Virginia, the meaning of patriotism and American pride has taken on a whole new meaning. Virginia is America's birthplace. It is where we landed first and is where the final deciding battle of the American Revolutionary War took place. Surrender Field is 15 minutes from my house! Jamestown, where I had several family members take impacted by the Jamestown Massacre, is less than thirty minutes from my house. This means something. This is the United States and all her glory!

U.S. History has come alive in a fresh, bold way.

Then, to learn about my family tree... It has only cemented everything I just wrote a million times over. It's several exclamation points and underlines.

Roots have come to mean something more to me.

I am proud my family was here literally from the beginning and has fought in every war the United States of America has seen. This is what the Family Treez Historical Fiction Series is about and is why I am writing it. I hope that it will help you to learn more about our great nation--as you enjoy a work of fiction which makes it feel less like a history book.

U-S-A!!!

(Photo Credit: Microsoft Images Online)

Stacy Duplease
Geneaologist and Historical Fiction Writer

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Family Treez Etc

Family Treez Blog and Website: http://familytreezetc.blogspot.com

Email: familytreezetc@gmail.com
Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction   

Would you believe?

A year ago, my husband and I moved to Virginia. We live in the Hampton/Newport News area. We are within a half hour's drive to Jamestown, Yorktown, or Williamsburg (aka the Historical Triangle).

Would you believe that up until a year ago, history was fascinating to me, but I was terrible with my knowledge of it? In fact, history was my weakest subject in school. For instance, I thought the first permanent English settlement was at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Now I know the error of my education. Jamestown is the correct answer, if you wanted to know.

Then again, I come from an era, in my schools at least, we studied the explorers every year. And I mean every year. We never made it to the 20th Century, so I could not see how the events of the past were linked with what happened today--and the implications from the past to today are gigantic and mighty. But, school never taught me this. My father did, however. (Thank God for him. Everything I know about history is because of him.)

I also did not read history books because I found them boring. Would you believe?

Sure, I got into historical fiction. But, that could hardly be counted as history, could it? (Hah! I see the error in my thinking now.)

I fell in the love with the history of Virginia, needless to say. Wow, that changed the moment we got to Virginia and the historical sites were able to win my love and passion, like a lover, in seconds. It was love at first sight.

I will visit Virginia for the rest of my life before I visit Washington D. C. The politicians might tell you the importance of the city. Sure, there are monuments and museums which are critical to the history and recognition of our great nation. I will not dispute that. Instead, I will visit D.C. Every 10 or 15 years. Virginia, however, I see visiting every 5. (We do not know if my husband's work will keep us here another year or two. But, we realize we have to plan for it only be one more just in case.) Virginia is where the United States of America was really founded.

Now, here is the best part. Would you believe that I had NO idea about my family tree, genealogy, or lineage until about two months ago? This knowledge has only added to my love affair with this part of the country and in Virginia.

So, how is all of that for a confession?

(Photo by Stacy Duplease.)

Stacy Duplease
Geneaologist and Historical Fiction Writer

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Family Treez Etc

Family Treez Blog and Website: http://familytreezetc.blogspot.com

Email: familytreezetc@gmail.com
Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction   

American Origins 1573-1590: The story behind the story

WHY WRITE THE BOOK, AMERICAN ORIGINS 1573-1590?

Why did my ancestors come to America to begin with? This is actually where I am starting the series. Never mind how I discovered how from 1388-1608, 22 family members of mind were executed or beheaded in England (many of which were in the White Tower of the Tower of London).

I wanted to start the story with Roanoke, but I would have missed the set-up of the story and the reason why they might have come to America.

In Book 1 of the Family Treez Series, we look at the 22 deaths quickly and we then start to head to Roanoke.

I need to warn you, these books are going to take 10 months or so just to write, never mind final edits. Therefore, they will take a year and a half or so to get out--unless I am able to speed up the process.

Why so long? The books are going to be around 1200 pages long or thereabouts... Or the size of Ken Follett's books, to give you perspective. There will be a great deal that happens in the books.

I am trying to base them on actual history, but will take artistic license and liberty in order to write a story of what could have been--through asking over and over, "What-if?".

American Origins is a book about what brought people to think of going to America.

The Family Treez Series is tracing my family from 1573 (and before) to the present. This will be a lifelong American historical fiction project.

(Photo is by Stacy Duplease.)

Stacy Duplease
Geneaologist and Historical Fiction Writer

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Family Treez Etc

Email: familytreezetc@gmail.com
Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction   

What If?

What if you could trace your ancestors back to the United States of America and the year 1585?

What about 1607?

What about several people of your family from 1607?

That's precisely what I, Stacy--the author, have done. That is what the historical fiction series of: FAMILY TREEZ SERIES and the 1st book, AMERICAN ROOTS 1585-1607, is about.

Stay tuned.
(Photo is by Stacy Duplease and Remembering Your Present, LLC.)
--

Stacy Duplease
Geneaologist and Historical Fiction Writer

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Family Treez

Family Treez Blog and Website: http://familytreez.blogspot.com

Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction   

Blog Number One

Today is the first day of my blog. I hope I don't bore you. I've never done this before and am a little apprehensive. So, bear with me, please.

My goals with this blog are:
1. To share stories with you. I will talk about all of the books I'm in the process of trying to get published, am writing, or are in the process of editing. I write several different aspects of the drama genre. I write thrillers, murder mysteries, speculative fiction, and romance. There's always a romantic theme, a lesson learned, and I show how life is real and raw.
2. To help you escape for a while.
3. To help you look at life from a different perspective.
4. To help you learn how to leave a lasting legacy or create a way to preserve your memories.
5. To develop a stronger interior life.
6. To share my process of making my dream of becoming a published author come true.
7. To talk about writing.
8. To share how I am in the process of moving to a different state with my husband and hope to start our family soon and how that impacts life.
9. To show how life is difficult, but it's what we put into it, the lessons learned, guard our hearts and minds, and how we hold fast to our faith that makes the difference.

What lofty goals I have and wish I could make it simpler. However, in order for me to be realistic about life, faith, relationships, and dreaming, I am forced to recognize that I cannot put it in a pretty box with a pretty bow. Life is complicated. However, we can find a simplicity in it and I want to share how I've learned, and am learning, how to do so.

A wise man in my life taught me a long time ago to focus on making my every today and tomorrow better than my every yesterday. Even though life sends me curve balls, I can look beyond them and life a life focused on leaving a meaningful lasting legacy to future generations of how to live life fully and simply through the sharing of stories and the lessons learned. I would love to hear how you've learned to do the same.

I want this blog to be interactive. Write me. I will choose what gets put on my blog and ask for no profanity, but beyond that, I welcome differing perspectives as well. Life is hard enough without learning from one another and helping each other through things.

I also welcome critique on my stories. I will share my writing with you. Again, I have the choice as to what to apply and what to ignore, but I welcome it.

How do you plan to live a meaningful life and leave a lasting legacy? What's your story?

Blessings to You,

Stacy D.