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I feel like it’s been known universally that to tell your story, you need to check at least one of the following boxes; a traumatic past, you’re a celebrity, or you have a success story. Well, I’m here to tell you that you don’t need any of these things. Telling your story doesn’t necessarily mean reciting your life events chronologically. It could be you explaining a realization that you have come upon, it could be explaining your journey into becoming the person you are now, no matter how mundane you feel your story is.
Because no matter how insignificant your story is, it’s still completely different from anyone else’s story; there are no two people that have lived the same life. Sure, there will be some similarities in there. But in this case, these similarities will aid you, you are most likely going to have similarities with at least a few million people, these similarities will be the thread that connects you to your readers, when people see themselves in your story they will relate to it personally, and that will have a much bigger impact.
How to tell your story?
Now let’s discuss how you are going to tell your story. Firstly, you are going to need to get a piece of paper. On this piece of paper, I am going to need you to answer each question with at least a paragraph:
- What is(are) the most significant moment(s) in your life?
- Which person/ people had the biggest effect on your life, whether positively or negatively?
- Do you want to tell your story chronologically and talk about all points in your life, or do you have one certain point in your life that you want to discuss?
- Who is going to be your audience; adults, teens, children, or all three?
After doing so, you need to start planning out or outlining your novel. You could do it yourself, or you can get the assistance of someone. May I also remind you that if you feel that you aren’t as good at writing as you could be or if you feel that writing a book is a task you can’t handle, don’t fret! You can still tell your story; all you have to do is employ a writer to write your book for you or help you write your book.
Many people have had others write their autobiographies. Do not feel let down by the fact that you aren’t fully writing it yourself. There is no shame in it. After all, that writer’s name will also be on the book cover adjacent to yours.
Another very helpful thing to do is to catch up on your reading. The more you read, the smoother your writing will flow. It will feel natural and even enjoyable instead of it being an exhausting task. Reading autobiographies or biographies would help. It’s important to note that when doing so, you shouldn’t try to mimic the content in those books, but instead, you should pay close attention to the structure and format of the book and how the author tackles certain topics.
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Be vulnerable
Writing your story wouldn’t only benefit you, but it would benefit you as well. Being able to talk about your life in such an open manner is such a brave thing to do. Very few people have it within them to open themselves to the whole world, and that in itself would strengthen your personality as well as your self-esteem. It takes guts to be vulnerable, but it’s what makes us human.
The biggest problem when reading some people’s stories is that they try to put up this front that masks their actual emotions; instead, this front resembles perfection. Hence people start believing that they are at fault for having off days or feeling vulnerable.
Therefore, your book should be honest and raw; that’s what is going to attract people. People need something to connect to and eventually idolize. They don’t need a picture-perfect life that they find intimidating. It’s normal to have off days or weeks or even years, and that should be normalized in your writing.
Now my point from this whole article is to tell your story that if you have a story, you need to tell your story and worry about all its antics and details later on. Your story could inspire many others.
” There is something in us, as storytellers and as listeners to stories, that demands the redemptive act, that demands that what falls at least be offered the chance to be restored. The reader of today looks for this motion, and rightly so, but what he has forgotten is the cost of it. His sense of evil is diluted or lacking altogether, and so he has forgotten the price of restoration. When he reads a novel, he wants either his sense tormented or his spirits raised. He wants to be transported, instantly, either to mock damnation or a mock innocence.”