For the rest of this week, go through your story cards. See if you can identify the setting, plot, characters, conflict, and theme of each. Don't overthink this, but just be aware of whether it is a complete story or if not, if it can be made into a story. Can story fragments be combined to tell a complete story? Is this a story or a report?
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 246: The Story Mindset (Day 4)
For the rest of this week, go through your story cards. See if you can identify the setting, plot, characters, conflict, and theme of each. Don't overthink this, but just be aware of whether it is a complete story or if not, if it can be made into a story. Can story fragments be combined to tell a complete story? Is this a story or a report?
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 245: The Story Mindset (Day 3)
For the rest of this week, go through your story cards. See if you can identify the setting, plot, characters, conflict, and theme of each. Don't overthink this, but just be aware of whether it is a complete story or if not, if it can be made into a story. Can story fragments be combined to tell a complete story? Is this a story or a report?
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 244: The Story Mindset (Day 2)
If you started with us at the beginning, you've been writing your life stories for the better part of a year. Now it's time to assess what you've written and begin to put it together into a narrative. From this point on, we will be giving you weekly assignments and tips to help along the way.
If you've recently joined us, you may want to build up a few more stories before you begin this part of the challenge. You can always come back to these posts when you are ready. To continue your daily writing, pick something else from the archive, this question list, or write more on something you wrote earlier. For more information about the challenge, read this post.
TODAY'S 15-MINUTE CHALLENGE
This week's exercises are meant to get you in the story mindset. The better you understand what a story is, the more interesting your writing will be.
Read this post: Show, Don't Tell
Look over your story cards. For each one, ask yourself if it's a story or more of a report. If it's a report, think about how you could turn it into a story. Can you add more detail? As yourself: what is the point of this story? What did I learn from it? What did this event mean to me? etc. If it's just data, put it in a separate pile--you may be able to weave this data into another story.
IN A NUTSHELL
- Take these assignments at your own pace. They are meant only to get you started and to give you a step-by-step process. Depending on how much you have already written, it may take you longer to complete each section.
- If you want to keep going after the 15 minutes are up, go for it!
- Have a question or challenge or triumph to share? Feel free to comment below.
Writing Challenge Day 243: The Story Mindset (Day 1)
This week's exercises are meant to get you in the story mindset. The better you understand what a story is, the more interesting your writing will be.
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 240: Weeding Your Stories (Day 5)
Grab your stack of story cards, in any order. (You will be working on this part of the process all week.)
Pick up a story card, any one, and ask yourself these questions:
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 239: Weeding Your Stories (Day 4)
Grab your stack of story cards, in any order. (You will be working on this part of the process all week.)
Pick up a story card, any one, and ask yourself these questions:
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 238: Weeding Your Stories (Day 3)
Grab your stack of story cards, in any order. (You will be working on this part of the process all week.)
Pick up a story card, any one, and ask yourself these questions:
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 237: Weeding Your Stories (Day 2)
Grab your stack of story cards, in any order. (You will be working on this part of the process all week.)
Pick up a story card, any one, and ask yourself these questions:
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 236: Weeding Your Stories (Day 1)
Grab your stack of story cards, in any order. (You will be working on this part of the process all week.)
Pick up a story card, any one, and ask yourself these questions:
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 233: Story Review (Day 5)
Continue to quickly read through your stories and write any impressions on the corresponding your story card. Do you see any themes or common threads?
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 232: Story Review (Day 4)
Continue to quickly read through your stories and write any impressions on the corresponding your story card.
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 231: Story Review (Day 3)
Continue to quickly read through your stories and write any impressions on the corresponding your story card. Also, be thinking of any themes or common threads that appear in your stories, and jot them down.
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 230: Story Review (Day 2)
Continue to quickly read through your stories and write any impressions on the corresponding your story card.
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 229: Story Review
This week you will be working with your story cards. (You should have an index card with a title or short description on each story or writing segment.) Pick one at random and read the story through quickly. Don't edit or change anything at this point, just read...
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 226: Thinking of Themes
Now that you have a stack of index cards, look them over and think about the stories you've written so far, and the ones you still have yet to write. Look at your purpose, audience, and scope questions from Tuesday's exercise. Do any themes come to mind? Can you see any unifying threads among your stories? If you think of any, write them down.
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 225: Indexing stories (Review Day 4)
Continue to create an index card for each story, segment, or writing exercise you have completed. (All you need on the index card is a title or a few-word reminder.) Look for what's missing--important stories or events that you haven't yet written about. Write a title or reminder on a card for each of these.
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 224: Index your stories (Review Day 3)
Here's a pen-to-paper exercise that will help you visualize what you've already written. Even if (or especially if) your stories are stored electronically, this can help you: Grab a stack of index cards. On the front of each card, jot a title for each story, segment, or writing exercise you have completed. (The title doesn't have to be clever, just a few words to remind you of what the story is about.) If you happen to think of any other stories that you need to write but haven't yet written, make a card for each.
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 223: Purpose, Audience, and Scope (Review Day 2)
Write about these three questions:
1) What do you hope to accomplish by writing your stories? (Purpose) 2) Who are you writing it for? Who do you hope will read it? (Audience) 3) What time period or theme of your life do you want to cover? (Scope)
Read moreWriting Challenge Day 222: Reviewing Your Stories (Day 1)
If you started with us at the beginning, you've been writing your life stories for the better part of a year. Now it's time to assess what you've written and begin to put it together into a narrative. From this point on, we will be giving you weekly assignments and tips to help along the way.
Read more
We are so excited to be back at RootsTech live this year! Come by and see the Pictures and Stories booth (#1609) and see some of the many new books we’ve helped our clients create. Alison is giving two in-person classes: The Seven Deadly Sins of Building a Digital Archive, and Making a Genealogy Story Book. Hope to see you there!