Who would have thought that a farm girl from Minnesota would be living on the California coast and sharing the terror of facing the blank page in the day-to-day life of a writer. All the while inspiring others with her 40-years of experience as a journalist to weave the threads of their individual stories and connect those threads into the tapestry of the universal story.
Now comes the part that your inner critic challenges: And what are those details? How does anyone know what story to tell?
That is an excellent question. Here’s my suggestion: you start your day writing in a journal for about fifteen minutes and have a conversation on paper with your subconscious (or your soul). I call this creating your Writing Practice. Just the way you would have an exercise routine or a yoga practice, you can design a writing practice for yourself. When you show up on the page consistently, your subconscious can tell you all sorts of things that have been longing to come to the surface. Everything I have done personally and professionally has started in my journal.
Oh, and how to decide which of your stories is the one the world is waiting to hear? Think about times in your life where something has changed dramatically. For example, those major stressors I listed above. Has anything like that happened to you? When I told you all of them had occurred to me, I gave you examples of what it meant in my life. I’ve been keeping a journal since I was 11 years old and hiding it from my brother. Writing has always been a coping strategy for me. It can be for you. It can offer a way for you to review where you are, dream about where you want to go, and create a plan on how you will get there. Your personal design on how to move from survive to thrive. As Ms. Angelou advises us, it is our mission to thrive, and to do it with passion, humor, and style. Be encouraged and have compassion for the road you have already traveled. Your story is unique because it is Your Story. Always remember, it is your destiny to thrive. The world needs to hear your thrive story.
Unleash your destiny and write your thrive story today!
And if we do not share that story, those we are meant to influence
will not have the quality of life they were designed to have.
Yes, I can hear your inner critic shouting right about now. Who does
she think she is? You have a story somebody wants to hear?
Hogwash!
The truth is no matter how ordinary we think the details of our story
are, those details are extraordinary because they are part of your
story. Just as no two snowflakes are alike, our stories are all unique
to us.
Mary E. Knippel, best selling author, your writing mentor, and inspirational speaker uses her 30-years experience as a journalist to support you to take pen in hand to unleash your story worth writing. To read her blog and sign up to receive writing tips and techniques check out her website below.