Love to Write

Last week, I introduced you to Lezlie Laws, and you were able to listen to the first part of our recent conversation about her brilliant TIA (thank-intend-ask) journals. This week, as promised, I share the second half, as well as more details about upcoming events you can enjoy with the fabulous Lezlie Laws. If you missed last week’s audio interview, you can catch up and listen here. To hear the second half, click the audio file below or read the transcript of part two.

I hope you enjoyed last week's video about micro-memoir, a genre that delves into life stories told start to finish in fewer than 1,000 words. This week, I continue my discussion about micro-memoir in a second video in which I commiserate with you about how overwhelming it can be to condense an entire life full of…

I have been talking a lot about our Five-Year Journals lately. I explained how I use mine in this video, shared the benefits of writing in one, and showed how easy it is to do. One Writing Your Life follower recently told me, “If you can brush your teeth, you can write in your five-year journal!” It really can be that quick and easy.

Maybe you’re just starting out with a brand new five-year journal, or perhaps you’ve been writing in one for years and are on your second or third five-year journal. In any case, you’re journaling. Now what? What is the point of doing this, again?

I’ve often talked about my mentor, Lezlie Laws of LifeArt Studio, and how she, way back in the early 1990s, helped me start writing again after fifteen years of not putting pen to paper. For that, I am deeply grateful. In the last three or four years, Lezlie has served as a different type of mentor for me. She is a creativity coach with a mission to guide “people to make the life and the art they born to create” and grow into the next best version of themselves—mind, body, and spirit.

Mother's Day is coming up, and I have the perfect gift idea for you. I bet you can guess what I'm going to suggest... You're right--a Five-Year Journal! I have been talking about my Five-Year Journals for so long now that I forget many of you may not know the story of how I came to create my own version. I went into my News archives to find an article I wrote back in 2012, and I thought I'd share it with you today. In it, I talk about how I designed and then filled my very own Five-Year Journals. Click here to read it.

I have had micro-memoir on the brain for a couple months now, and I can't wait to offer Micro-Memoir: The Art of Writing Short, a two-part workshop on Saturday, May 12th. The workshop's morning session is devoted to learning all about micro-memoir, or life stories told start to finish in fewer than 1,000 words. In the afternoon, we will practice writing short in response to a variety of prompts. Do you want to get a feel for successful micro-memoir? I have a book recommendation for you.

Fifty years ago last Wednesday, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Do you remember where you were? Do you remember what you were doing? Who was with you? Does that moment live with you in any meaningful way? Do you have any memories associated with him and his work? Historical events like that can jog your memory and bring you back to a moment in time. Remembering an event, you start to remember what you were wearing, a meal you were eating, who you were with when you heard the news, and you are off and writing, using language full of detail and sensual description. That's why timelines can be a useful tool for writing.