It’s winter, the days are short and often cold. It’s difficult to get going at anything as we focus instead on staying warm and eating comfort food. Motivation is in a definite slump.
Winter is also a perfect season for self reflection, musing on our lives and indulging in our memories. This is the important background work for any life writing or memoir project. You may not be writing much at this point, but thinking counts as memoir work too. You’ll want to remember this as you get further into your project.
Ideally you’ll be making a few notes, or lists; jotting down ideas or names of people or events as you do this deep thinking. You might want to dig through some of your family photographs and do some musing on them too.
When motivation is low, rather than beat yourself up about that, do something else that will help you come back to focus and forward movement eventually. If you’re not sure what that is, try a free writing exercise.
Pick a word at random from a book or magazine, or ask someone to suggest one and write for ten minutes (timing yourself) about what ever that word suggests. You may or may not actually use the word for anything other than to get you started and what you write may be ‘all over the place’. Not a problem, you’re using your writing muscles and getting a little exercise, that’s enough.
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After a whole week of being buried under more than two feet of snow, your suggestions are spot on! This is a good day to dig through my box of high school mementos, with scanner and notepad at hand.
Thanks for all your meaty content. Anyone, veteran memoirist or beginner will find inspiration here.
Thanks Sharon, I appreciate your thoughts. Hope you enjoy the journey through high school mementos as it sure beats being outdoors digging the white stuff.