What's Your Story
Everyone has a story to tell. The question is, how do you best tell your story without sounding contrite or boring? If you are famous, writing your autobiography or memoir could be a great selling point. For the rest of us who reside under the radar of fame and fortune, we have to be a bit more practical, if not inventive.
When I wanted to tell my story, I thought people would line up to read it. My story was unique, mystical, and something that was typically reserved for fantasy novels, not an autobiography. I wrote and wrote, entitling my masterpiece, This is Not the Life I Ordered! The words flowed from my mind to the keyboard, until one day, my computer contracted the screen of death. Yep, the big blue popped up and hummed before me like a demon reaching for my soul. My story was lost.
Wallowing in my grief, I joined my family by the bonfire in our spacious backyard. Brandy in hand, I relived my horror of losing the story. My husband and two youngest boys grew silent, until my youngest, at the ripe and boisterous age of nine, said, “Mom, the story kind of sucked, anyway.”
The brandy flowed down my throat like liquid fire, adding to the pain of his words. I looked around at the others, all staring at me with affirming expressions. My story sucked.
“Why?” I asked, feeling the need to add insult to injury.
“It’s too weird, Mom,” my older son said. “It’s like a fantasy, but not.”
It was then I decided to turn my ridiculous autobiography into a romantic fantasy—a new romance series with a unique twist because it was based on fact. Protected The first book of the Spirian Series was born. In three months, it hit the shelves. I entered it into contest, mailed free copies to anyone willing to review it. It won two of the contests, and received outstanding reviews. My story was a success.
I wrote the other two books in quick succession, thinking the series would end after book three. Boy, was I wrong. My fans hit the roof, emailing me with pleas to keep the series going. The Spirian Series turned into the Spirian Saga. Now, six book into the Saga, I look back at my original story and sigh. Funny how life just seems to flow in the oddest directions.
How much is true in the Saga? Quite a bit, with a few exaggerations tossed in to keep things interesting. Every character I write about is a person I personally know. For those who know me, they can see the person I’m writing about and have an intimate insight to the events I used as scenes.
So, if you have a story to tell, but don’t think anyone will be interested, think again. People love stories—they always will. The trick is telling those stories so that your reader becomes involved and personally vested in the outcome. Don’t think your story has to be all fact. Have fun with it. few stories told over the history of time are rarely 100 percent factual. Reality is told through the eyes that observe the illusions of life. What is real is irrelevant and often untrue.
Tell your story. The rest will come naturally.
When I wanted to tell my story, I thought people would line up to read it. My story was unique, mystical, and something that was typically reserved for fantasy novels, not an autobiography. I wrote and wrote, entitling my masterpiece, This is Not the Life I Ordered! The words flowed from my mind to the keyboard, until one day, my computer contracted the screen of death. Yep, the big blue popped up and hummed before me like a demon reaching for my soul. My story was lost.
Wallowing in my grief, I joined my family by the bonfire in our spacious backyard. Brandy in hand, I relived my horror of losing the story. My husband and two youngest boys grew silent, until my youngest, at the ripe and boisterous age of nine, said, “Mom, the story kind of sucked, anyway.”
The brandy flowed down my throat like liquid fire, adding to the pain of his words. I looked around at the others, all staring at me with affirming expressions. My story sucked.
“Why?” I asked, feeling the need to add insult to injury.
“It’s too weird, Mom,” my older son said. “It’s like a fantasy, but not.”
It was then I decided to turn my ridiculous autobiography into a romantic fantasy—a new romance series with a unique twist because it was based on fact. Protected The first book of the Spirian Series was born. In three months, it hit the shelves. I entered it into contest, mailed free copies to anyone willing to review it. It won two of the contests, and received outstanding reviews. My story was a success.
I wrote the other two books in quick succession, thinking the series would end after book three. Boy, was I wrong. My fans hit the roof, emailing me with pleas to keep the series going. The Spirian Series turned into the Spirian Saga. Now, six book into the Saga, I look back at my original story and sigh. Funny how life just seems to flow in the oddest directions.
How much is true in the Saga? Quite a bit, with a few exaggerations tossed in to keep things interesting. Every character I write about is a person I personally know. For those who know me, they can see the person I’m writing about and have an intimate insight to the events I used as scenes.
So, if you have a story to tell, but don’t think anyone will be interested, think again. People love stories—they always will. The trick is telling those stories so that your reader becomes involved and personally vested in the outcome. Don’t think your story has to be all fact. Have fun with it. few stories told over the history of time are rarely 100 percent factual. Reality is told through the eyes that observe the illusions of life. What is real is irrelevant and often untrue.
Tell your story. The rest will come naturally.
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