5 Ways to Cross-Train Your Memoir Writing
by Brooke Warner
Dear Writers,
We’re past the halfway point in the JanYourStory writing challenge and we’re so impressed by how many people are on daily (or mostly daily writing streaks). Congratulations!
Also, we know it’s hard to stay on track with memoir writing, especially if the story is heavy at points, particularly if you’re writing into trauma, which so often we are. Churning up old memories. Staring down the telescope to the past right to those oftentimes loaded, hurtful moments. This work is so important, and yet, it’s also important to take breaks, and to pace ourselves, and to give ourselves permission to do other kinds of writing.
During JanYourStory, people have asked if their words “count” if they’re writing other things—journaling, a story that’s not about the topic of the memoir, a post for Substack. We say yes! It counts. Writing is writing, and writing begets writing. Writing is a practice, after all. This challenge is a lot like a long-distance exercise challenge. Any runner or swimmer knows that lifting weights or going to a yoga class or even walking instead of a long run “counts” toward the eventual goal.
Yes, you can mix it up, and it may be necessary to. Sometimes the creativity doesn’t flow, which is why we always provide a prompt in our newsletter, and why we have ready prompts on our site, and prompts to accompany our Show Up & Write accountability sessions. Prompts are there to get the juices flowing, and sometimes—oftentimes—they trigger new memories, things we hadn’t thought of before.
This week we invite you to mix it up, but only if you want to. If you’re on a roll with your memoir, ride that energy, friends! But if you’re struggling, or feeling sluggish, or just need a break but you want to keep up your training, here are some things you might do.
1. Morning Pages
Morning pages involves journaling, by hand or on the computer. Set a timer, and let it rip. Write about your writing. Write about what you’re learning about yourself. Write about something surprising, enjoyable, or unexpected that’s come from your writing practice. There’s zero investment here; just the joy of uncovering meaning in your work.
2. Follow Another Thread
Try one of our prompts and see what happens. Consciously write “off-topic” and see where it goes. Writing prompts remind me a bit of a tasting menu. You don’t have to do much more than take a bite. You’re seeing what you like, trying something new, mixing things up—and if you’re stuck or frustrated with your book-length project, prompts are an extraordinary gift. A way to keep writing without pressure.
3. Op-eds
Op-eds, or opinion pieces of any sort, are amazing ways to take a break from your writing and to explore a “what’s at stake” angle. You can’t get an op-ed published if it’s not trying to make a point, and sometimes memoirists need space to figure out what exactly is the point? What do I want my reader to see and to care about? Taking a topic central to your book and forming an opinion piece will also help you greatly with your reflection and takeaways.
4. Write a letter
Maybe it’s time to write a letter to someone you care about. Could be to a friend, or to a child. Something you might not even share, just to tuck away to uncover later. You might write a letter to your younger self, or to someone you love who’s no longer with us. A profound exercise I use in my memoir classes (that comes by way of Liz Gilbert) is to write a letter to yourself from an aspect of yourself: your joy, your curiosity, your perseverance, your courage. This exercise is bolstering, buoying, and life-affirming.
5. Substack (or other mediums/socials) post
Countless people are sharing personal writings and revelations on Substack. Many of you have a regular Substack practice. So do we! This counts, by gosh. It may be exercising different muscles, but it’s still words on the page and articulating ideas and thoughts and things you care about. It’s also a great place to explore your voice, your style, and to think about how you deliver what you want your reader to know/understand/take in.
If you’re doing JanYourStory, share with us how it’s going. Have you been writing off topic already? How many words in are you? Is anyone on a 19-day streak? We’d love to hear from you, and of course we’re sharing like mad in the Community space, so if you’re looking for more connection, come find us here. It’s not too late to join. We still have 13 days to go, and a lot of writing can transpire between now and then.
You’ve got this!
Podcast: Suzette Partido
This week’s Memoir Nation show shares a story of poverty, and shines light on a particular kind of story that’s much more prevalent than many of us would like to think. Guest Suzette Partido writes in her new book, Love Will Save Us, Right?, about how she slid into poverty, the struggles she and her family face given that everything is uncertain. And yet, this is a book about love and looking out for family, and about how we survive, and how we brace for what we cannot control. This is a tough but also sweet and heartfelt episode about writing into the challenges of our lives without pity—and even with humor.
Suzette Partido has worked as a community developer and non-profit organizer for three decades. She trained as an AIDS chaplain, street outreach worker, substance abuse counselor, reproductive health educator, volunteer coordinator, and public speaker. She managed an HHSA community liaison for children's public behavioral health and served as the Director of Education for a local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. She lives with her neurodivergent young adult son and her wife inside a ten-by-ten canvas tent in her mother's backyard in San Diego, and her memoir is Love Will Save Us, Right? .
An Inspirational Quote
“When you rest, you catch your breath and it holds you up…”
—Anne Lamott
A Memoir Prompt
Write a letter from an aspect of your self:
Write a letter to yourself from an aspect of yourself: your joy, your curiosity, your perseverance, your courage.
Dear ______(fill in your name),
I am your courage . . .
See what you have to offer to yourself on this memoir-writing journey.
Weekly Question
Answer this in the Community.
What are some ways you’ve written “off topic” or “off memoir” this month? What was it? Did it feel like it helped your memoir, and if not, what did it / does it offer your practice?
