Your grown children are mentioning how much they would love to have some of your stories written down. Oh, really? How are you supposed to do that with everything else that’s going on?

You have a friend who has already written pages and pages of family stories and, frankly, you’re tired of hearing about it. 

But you, dear one …

• are too dang busy,
• don’t know what to write about,
• are nervous to even try to write something (remember those essays you wrote in high school?)
• Or you are just a champion of champions when it comes to procrastinating.

I have good news for you! Why not just write ONE story? Just for you. 

When you do, you’ll discover the power of getting your memories out of your head and onto paper or into a digital file. And then, I’m pretty sure you’ll want to write more.

The Power 

“It’s more important to start, than to succeed.”
James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits”

When we talk about the importance of just getting started with something we’re unsure about, James Clear brings us the wisdom we all need to hear. He says, “The more I look at things this way, the more I believe that the willingness to start is the littlest thing in life that makes the biggest difference.”

Just think about this for a minute – “the littlest thing in life that makes the biggest difference.”

When you take the little step to write that ONE story, no matter what your obstacle has been, you’re potentially going to make a big difference by writing more stories and giving your family a sweet legacy to enjoy for years to come.

But What Story Do I Write?

While choosing the subject of the story you are going to write is entirely up to you, it’s a good idea to start with something light and fun to tell. Dig into those fun memories! 

The reason is that you are trying to clear away any obstacles. Writing about a person or event from your past that deeply stirs an emotional response might serve as an obstacle. The goal here is to make the path easier.

Here are some fun topics to try:

• A favorite childhood family vacation
  
• Your first teenage crush
• A favorite song that instantly takes you back in time 
• What you told everybody you wanted to be when you grew up 
• Your favorite childhood summer activity

How Long?

For this first story – your ONE story – you are allowed to write just one paragraph if that’s all you can tackle this first time around. Nobody expects you to write a memoir or even a short story. This is just you dipping your toe into discovering how it feels to write about your past.

Remember that this first story is just for you unless you want to share it with someone else. So don’t be afraid to just dump out your thoughts onto a page. You might want to edit it to make it read better for yourself or for sharing, but the best way to get started with writing is to, well, just write!

Are you ready?

If you’re ready to take the plunge and discover the power of writing just one story – then let’s go!

If you need more motivation and inspiration, check out “One Story Wednesday” – a weekly fun, hassle-free way to begin collecting your family stories. Basically I’ll give you just ONE question or prompt for you to write about. Whenever you are ready, just find a place where you can enjoy reminiscing and then jot down your memories. It’s that simple. 

Click here to find out more and sign up for reminders.

You can also see the weekly topics in our social media feeds.

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Cheers to story collecting!