Writing Your Legacy: The Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting Your Life Story

Description

Writing your life story can grant you insight and clarity, help you heal past wounds, and serve as a treasured account you'll be proud to share. Your story deserves to be told. Capture the spirit of your life with Writing Your Legacy. | Writing Your Legacy introduces the concept of guided autobiography, a focused program for writing a life story that serves to accomplish several goals: 1. Create a powerful legacy of one's life story as a gift to family, friends, and colleagues. 2. Provide insights for increased self-understanding. 3. Offer the opportunity for reconciliation with the past and help resolve old resentments and hurts. 4. Facilitate personal growth and ability to move forward with new life goals. 5. Assist in the transition from one life stage to another, e.g. from work to retirement. 6. Give back to the community through local historical and heritage collections. 7. Stimulate the brain as memories are primed by the sensitizing questions and exercises. Part 1 introduces readers to the Guided Autobiography process, including the differences between memoirs, autobiographies, and life stories. It then offers comprehensive instruction that will help the writer write about herself, find her voice, conquer the fear of writing, structure their life story, capture memories, dealing with dark memories, and more. Part 2 introduces a guided set of themes that the writer will use to write their life story. Each reader will write a short two- to three-page story on life events revolving around core themes. Themes include: ? Major Branching Points in My Life ? My Family ? The Role of Money in My Life ? My Major Life Work or Career ? My Health and Body ? My Gender Identity ? My Experiences With and About Death ? My Spiritual Life and Values ? My Goals and Aspirations Each theme consists of a short introduction, and customized sensitizing questions follow. These are designed to guide the reader through the writing process. Guided exercises reinforce this learning. When completed, these nine two to three page narratives will result in a 7,000- to 8,000-word life story. In addition to these nine core themes, several others will be included in the book. These include (but are not limited to): ? Pivotal Life Events ? Major Societal Events and How They Influenced Me ? My College Years ? Intimacy and Love in My Life ? My Major Life Friendships ? My Passions ? The Role of Music, Art, and Literature in My Life ? The Role of Food and Drink in My Life ? Surviving Accidents and Natural Disasters ? Power and Initiative ? My Politics ? How I Have Served Others ? My Greatest Travel Experiences ? My favourite Photo Memories ? My War Experiences ? My Cultural Heritage ? Newly Retired ? Building My Living Legacy Using these themes will enhance the scope of the writing, giving it added depth and turning it into a manuscript-sized legacy. There will also be an opportunity for readers to create their own guided autobiography themes. Part 3 will discuss next steps once the life story has been written, including titling, turning the life story into a family heirloom, and getting it published. | Craft a meaningful life story!A written legacy of your life--one that encompasses experiences, lessons learned, failures and triumphs--is a gift your family and friends will cherish for years to come. Writing this story may seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be. Writing Your Legacy is a step-by-step guide to chronicling a life story that reflects your true self. Through a series of 35 guided themes, as well as supplementary exercises, you'll explore milestones, relationships, career paths, and major choices, and leave an eloquent record of your life for future generations. You'll also learn how to: Become the hero of your story Employ vibrant sensory details Discover your unique voice Dig up memories from your childhood and teen years Overcome writer's block, address common fears, and stay motivated Prepare your story for publication Writing your life story can grant you insight and clarity, help you heal past wounds, and serve as a treasured account you'll be proud to share. Your story deserves to be told. Capture the spirit of your life with Writing Your Legacy.

Richard Campbell, M.Ed., teaches Guided Autobiography to continuing education students in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He has written for several Canadian newspapers and CBC Radio. He runs his own personal historian business, Guided Life Stories. Dr. Cheryl Svensson has been involved in the field of aging since the 1970s. She works closely with the Birren Center for Autobiographical Studies to help older adults write their life stories. She currently teaches at USC and has taught Guided Autobiography classes at libraries, senior centers, and assisted living centers.

"Richard Campbell's and Cheryl Svensson's Writing Your Legacy is a user-friendly guide to crafting one's autobiography, offering 35 guided themes, supplementary exercises, suggestions for sharing one's milestones/relationships/career paths, and much more." --Midwest Book Review