A Journey of a Thousand Miles ... Next Steps
Write Your Life Story for Posterity one small step at a time
On January 2, I published a newsletter titled A Journey of a Thousand Miles…
I wrote that the idea of writing your life story might seem daunting but when you break it into bite-sized assignments it is easily do-able.
For the next several weeks, I will post a newsletter every few days with writing “assignments.” Each newsletter focuses on one decade of your life.
At the end, if you keep up, you will have written your life story.
The Write Your Life Story for Posterity method I created captures the most information in the least amount of time.
Each decade of your life is a chapter. If you are 50 years old, for instance, you will write seven chapters — one for each of your five decades plus a summary and your family history.
You can write as much or as little as you want about each decade. If any decade seems difficult, jot down the basics and set it aside for a day or two. But remember that the overarching goal is to keep up the pace. You’ll have plenty of time afterward to edit.
Each newsletter contains a series of writing assignments. Capturing certain kinds of granular information, such as your home address, is standard for every decade.
In addition, each newsletter contains writing assignments specific to your age, such as schools, jobs, hobbies, health, relationships, and how your lifestyle and beliefs changed over the decades.
These details add up to a surprisingly thorough picture. You might even surprise yourself.
After you’ve done the assignments for a particular decade, consider jotting down your impressions of the process in the comments section at the end of each newsletter. This may encourage others to start writing their stories.
The newsletter for Chapter 1: Your First Decade will be published on Wednesday. I will publish additional newsletters every five days unless I hear that you would prefer once a week.
(FYI, the newsletters to be published in the weeks ahead have been updated since they were last published several months ago.)
To be certain of getting each newsletter as it is published, subscribe for free at maureensantini.substack.com/subscribe. The sign-up page lists options to pay but you are welcome to click the “no pledge” button.
Let’s get started.