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Your Story Matters: Finding, Writing, and Living the Truth of Your Life
Your Story Matters presents a dynamic and spiritually formative process for understanding and redeeming the past in order to live well in the present and into the future. Leslie Leyland Fields has used and taught this practical and inspiring writing process for decades, helping people from all walks of life to access memory and sift through the truth of their stories. This is not just a book for writers. Each one of us has a story, and understanding God's work in our stories is a vital part of our faith. Through the spiritual practice of writing, we can "remember" his acts among us, "declare his glory among the nations," and pass on to others what we have witnessed of God in this life: the mysterious, the tragic, the miraculous, the ordinary. With a companion video curriculum from RightNow Media, this is a "why not" book as opposed to a "how to" book. Leslie asks each of us an important question: "Why not learn to tell your story, in the context of the grander story of God?"
224 pages, Paperback
Published April 7, 2020
124 people are currently reading
302 people want to read
About the author
Leslie Leyland Fields
31 books132 followersWhen you see her, Leslie may be wearing a silk dress and fishnets or wearing Xtra-Tuff boots and mending fishing nets, depending on whether she’s at her fishcamp in the Alaska wilderness or on a speaking tour “Outside.” She’s happy in both places talking about the books, places and topics that move her most.
She's the multi-award winning author of 12 books, with her 12th forthcoming in April, 2020. (Your Story Matters) Her list includes Crossing the Waters: Following Jesus through the Storms, the Fish, the Doubt and the Seas; Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers; The Spirit of Food: 34 Writers on Feasting and Fasting Toward God (Cascade), Surviving the Island of Grace: A Life on the Wild Edge of America (Thomas Dunne), and Parenting is Your Highest Calling . . . and Eight Other Myths That Trap Us in Worry and Guilt (Waterbrook), and five others. Her essays have won a number of awards and have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Christianity Today, Beliefnet, Books and Culture, Orion, etc. She takes on garbage, a theology of the body, culture-making, motherhood, narrative theology and points between and beyond. Her essays have won Pushcart nominations, the William Wilberforce Award and the Virginia Faulkner Award.
“As much as I love words on the page, I’m not fully satisfied until I get to speak them in person with others,” Leslie adds. She says she’s honored to travel and share from her passions nationally and internationally at conferences, universities, churches and retreats. With three master’s degrees, she has taught collegiate and undergraduate classes for many years, including six years in Seattle Pacific University’s MFA program. If she can’t see her audience, radio is a good second. She has appeared on more than 150 radio shows including Family Life Today, Prime Time America, Keepin' the Faith, Chris Fabry Live!
Leslie blogs at www.leslieleylandfields.com about life in her house, in the wild and on the road. She lives in Kodiak, Alaska with her husband and two teens. In the summer, her four older children return to their fishcamp island where cell phones don’t work, and where they all happily (sometimes) work together in commercial salmon fishing. You can reach her at leslieleylandfields@gmail.com
She's the multi-award winning author of 12 books, with her 12th forthcoming in April, 2020. (Your Story Matters) Her list includes Crossing the Waters: Following Jesus through the Storms, the Fish, the Doubt and the Seas; Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers; The Spirit of Food: 34 Writers on Feasting and Fasting Toward God (Cascade), Surviving the Island of Grace: A Life on the Wild Edge of America (Thomas Dunne), and Parenting is Your Highest Calling . . . and Eight Other Myths That Trap Us in Worry and Guilt (Waterbrook), and five others. Her essays have won a number of awards and have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Christianity Today, Beliefnet, Books and Culture, Orion, etc. She takes on garbage, a theology of the body, culture-making, motherhood, narrative theology and points between and beyond. Her essays have won Pushcart nominations, the William Wilberforce Award and the Virginia Faulkner Award.
“As much as I love words on the page, I’m not fully satisfied until I get to speak them in person with others,” Leslie adds. She says she’s honored to travel and share from her passions nationally and internationally at conferences, universities, churches and retreats. With three master’s degrees, she has taught collegiate and undergraduate classes for many years, including six years in Seattle Pacific University’s MFA program. If she can’t see her audience, radio is a good second. She has appeared on more than 150 radio shows including Family Life Today, Prime Time America, Keepin' the Faith, Chris Fabry Live!
Leslie blogs at www.leslieleylandfields.com about life in her house, in the wild and on the road. She lives in Kodiak, Alaska with her husband and two teens. In the summer, her four older children return to their fishcamp island where cell phones don’t work, and where they all happily (sometimes) work together in commercial salmon fishing. You can reach her at leslieleylandfields@gmail.com
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March 31, 2020
Leslie Leyland Fields has created the most practical, inspiring writer’s guide I have ever read! Her writing prompts are accompanied by samples of excellent writing by participants in her writing workshops. For those of us who can’t make the trek to sit under her tutelage in person, this is the next best thing. I plan to read and write with a group of friends this summer.
Currently reading
March 6, 2020I have the privilege of being a part of the launch team on this wonderful new book Your Story Matters by Leslie Leyland Fields.
In her introduction she writes, 'I've been laying down one word after another now for most of my life. And have been teaching others to do the same for three decades. The process we'll enter in this book isn't about becoming a writer, though some of you will. It's not about writing a bestseller though that is possible. No -- This act of turning around to write into our lives is about recovering what's been lost and discovering all that's new'.
She leads the reader through a series of exercises, stories, gently guiding us to stop, see, feel, and realize there is something in us that needs to be told. How else will our imprint live on if we don't write about it.
Leslie helps you ebb and flow with your thoughts and feelings and it all is just a wonderful experience. Many who read this book I am sure will go on to write in some fashion, that may get published. Some will write for family and others may only write for themselves. For me I found healing on this new journey within the first three chapters. Something I had not expected.
I highly recommend you pre order a copy, and then take the journey into your story, it matters.
In her introduction she writes, 'I've been laying down one word after another now for most of my life. And have been teaching others to do the same for three decades. The process we'll enter in this book isn't about becoming a writer, though some of you will. It's not about writing a bestseller though that is possible. No -- This act of turning around to write into our lives is about recovering what's been lost and discovering all that's new'.
She leads the reader through a series of exercises, stories, gently guiding us to stop, see, feel, and realize there is something in us that needs to be told. How else will our imprint live on if we don't write about it.
Leslie helps you ebb and flow with your thoughts and feelings and it all is just a wonderful experience. Many who read this book I am sure will go on to write in some fashion, that may get published. Some will write for family and others may only write for themselves. For me I found healing on this new journey within the first three chapters. Something I had not expected.
I highly recommend you pre order a copy, and then take the journey into your story, it matters.
April 17, 2020
Every person has a story to tell, and Leslie Leyland Fields believes those stories are worth telling. She’ll convince you too and will walk you through writing it. Your Story Matters is a motivating and practical writing manual.
The book begins with a call to tell stories based on the fact that, “there is no part of human experience not worthy of attention, illumination, and restoration.” We shine attention on events in our lives, because they are uniquely lived by us but also share common elements with other people. In writing our stories, we discover aspects of ourselves and of others which, beforehand, were hidden. We also can restore that which past events have stolen from us by recognizing what they took and by giving it back to ourselves in a better way. The past, “lives on in us, no matter how cleverly we disguise ourselves, no matter how fast we try to run from it.” Some stories we’ve been entrusted with we write to help others who’ve shared similar experiences, but other stories we write simply for our healing.
After Leslie persuades us that events in our lives are worth telling, she shows us how to write them. She begins small, with a single scene, and explains how to construct that scene, build on it and find deeper meanings buried within it. At the end of each chapter the reader finds hands-on exercises to practice the chapter’s lessons. The book is peppered with stories written by Leslie and her students which further demonstrate the steps Leslie gives.
The book discusses several outlets for the stories we write and criteria for helping us determine which paths(s) are best for us to choose. For writers wanting to compile a book, Leslie discusses different methods to organize individual stories into a cohesive project. With eleven books published, she knows her subject.
I attended one of Leslie’s workshops in which she led using the tools written in this book. The practical steps and inspired motivation she lent us impressed me. At the conclusion of the workshop, each of us read our essays we had written during our time together. The pieces, without exception, were remarkable. We laughed spontaneously in some and wept during others. Some essays left us speechless. We were a hodgepodge group of a dozen people, not professional writers. One of the chapters of the book addresses writing groups. Our experience can be yours. Your Story Matters will equip you to make it happen.
The book begins with a call to tell stories based on the fact that, “there is no part of human experience not worthy of attention, illumination, and restoration.” We shine attention on events in our lives, because they are uniquely lived by us but also share common elements with other people. In writing our stories, we discover aspects of ourselves and of others which, beforehand, were hidden. We also can restore that which past events have stolen from us by recognizing what they took and by giving it back to ourselves in a better way. The past, “lives on in us, no matter how cleverly we disguise ourselves, no matter how fast we try to run from it.” Some stories we’ve been entrusted with we write to help others who’ve shared similar experiences, but other stories we write simply for our healing.
After Leslie persuades us that events in our lives are worth telling, she shows us how to write them. She begins small, with a single scene, and explains how to construct that scene, build on it and find deeper meanings buried within it. At the end of each chapter the reader finds hands-on exercises to practice the chapter’s lessons. The book is peppered with stories written by Leslie and her students which further demonstrate the steps Leslie gives.
The book discusses several outlets for the stories we write and criteria for helping us determine which paths(s) are best for us to choose. For writers wanting to compile a book, Leslie discusses different methods to organize individual stories into a cohesive project. With eleven books published, she knows her subject.
I attended one of Leslie’s workshops in which she led using the tools written in this book. The practical steps and inspired motivation she lent us impressed me. At the conclusion of the workshop, each of us read our essays we had written during our time together. The pieces, without exception, were remarkable. We laughed spontaneously in some and wept during others. Some essays left us speechless. We were a hodgepodge group of a dozen people, not professional writers. One of the chapters of the book addresses writing groups. Our experience can be yours. Your Story Matters will equip you to make it happen.
April 5, 2020
Just wow. First of all, I adore Leslie's writing style. It's intimate and understandable while still being elegant and artful. She is skilled and kind and brings a tremendous amount of wisdom and passion to these pages. And while this is a book about writing, it's truly not only for writers. It's for anyone who wants to find healing, freedom, peace, and meaning from the stories of his/her life.
Before reading this book, I had already accepted the challenge to revisit, through writing, the dark and murky moments of teaching in bush Alaska, and, as I wrote, those memories became sacred testimonies of God's faithfulness in the wilderness. I can personally vouch for the power of using words to reclaim my story. To own it. To even love it.
Even if you don't like writing, be assured that Leslie offers complete freedom in how, when, and with whom you share your stories. There is a path that is right for you.
One of my favorite aspects of this book is its offering of spiritual encouragement and growth. Here's a quote from early on that I adore:
"Do you see? It all matters. In a divine economy, none of these moments are wasted. Not the fall of a chickadee from your tree or the wandering of a rebellious sheep or the loss of a strand of your hair goes unnoticed by God. And since the One Who Is Running All Things, including galaxies, takes care to notice lost sheep, dying sparrows, and falling hair, we should notice as well. Writing helps us notice what God notices. So write your story because God attends to every moment of your life, and you should too. Writing is a form of attention, a form of prayer, a form of listening to God. Even when God feels distant, through writing, through this book, we have a new way to aim our eyes, to tilt our heads to hear.
If you could see me here, you'd see me leaning in close, and maybe even whispering: Writing the stories from our past enables us to live them again, but this time we live them wiser, better."
I can't recommend Your Story Matters highly enough. Buy it. Read it through once, doing the exercises as you go. Read it again, experiencing it deeper with some friends. It will change your perspective and, therefore, change your life.
Before reading this book, I had already accepted the challenge to revisit, through writing, the dark and murky moments of teaching in bush Alaska, and, as I wrote, those memories became sacred testimonies of God's faithfulness in the wilderness. I can personally vouch for the power of using words to reclaim my story. To own it. To even love it.
Even if you don't like writing, be assured that Leslie offers complete freedom in how, when, and with whom you share your stories. There is a path that is right for you.
One of my favorite aspects of this book is its offering of spiritual encouragement and growth. Here's a quote from early on that I adore:
"Do you see? It all matters. In a divine economy, none of these moments are wasted. Not the fall of a chickadee from your tree or the wandering of a rebellious sheep or the loss of a strand of your hair goes unnoticed by God. And since the One Who Is Running All Things, including galaxies, takes care to notice lost sheep, dying sparrows, and falling hair, we should notice as well. Writing helps us notice what God notices. So write your story because God attends to every moment of your life, and you should too. Writing is a form of attention, a form of prayer, a form of listening to God. Even when God feels distant, through writing, through this book, we have a new way to aim our eyes, to tilt our heads to hear.
If you could see me here, you'd see me leaning in close, and maybe even whispering: Writing the stories from our past enables us to live them again, but this time we live them wiser, better."
I can't recommend Your Story Matters highly enough. Buy it. Read it through once, doing the exercises as you go. Read it again, experiencing it deeper with some friends. It will change your perspective and, therefore, change your life.
March 18, 2021
I really like this author and her personal story, as well as all the time and effort she has put into helping writers. It was a unique collaboration of instruction, personal stories and encouragement. I would recommend this to beginner writers, because it focuses a lot on just getting stories written down.
March 9, 2020
*A pdf copy of this book was provided for an honest review.
Your Story Matters: Finding, Writing, and Living the Truth of Your Life is a great resource for anyone wanting to write about their life; the book flows well and is clear the way it imparts information, but it isn’t dry. It is in turns informative, instructional, humorous, and engaging. The book is broken down into chapters. The chapters are easy to read and understand and offer a lot of encouragement, because let's face it, writing your own story is hard and scary work. It is also necessary work for many, especially in a world that insists not everyone matters.
What makes this book different from others is, in my opinion, several things: it can be done as part of a group or as a solo attempt and guidance is given for both ways; the author Leslie Leyland Fields shares her own struggles as a writer, the lessons she's learned have been hard won; at the end of each chapter are exercises designed to get anyone of any writing level working on writing their own story.
I've read the book, but haven't done any of the exercises yet because I'm in the middle of another writing project and need to get it done before unmaking anything new. But I'm excited to try some of the exercises out when I've finished with my current project. But until I get to that point, there are some excellent quotes I've highlighted as I've read; quotes that give me something to think about, even as a fiction writer.
Leslie writes "compelling storytelling isn’t about intellect or education. It’s about courage. It’s about persistence. It’s about daring to dig through vague words to get at the real, concrete world." Even though I am primarily a fiction writer, this book's advice carries over into the fiction world as well. This quote stops and makes me think of how to approach my fiction and prods me into taking another look at some non-fiction I've written but is somehow incomplete.
Leslie also writes early on in the book "Writing is a form of attention, a form of prayer, a form of listening to God." I don't think I've ever really thought about any of this before. I vaguely acknowledged some of this idea, but this book had me slowing down and thinking about the idea of writing as a form of listening to God.
I've plenty of books on the writing craft, but this one is different because it gets to the core of who we are--storytellers. And as storytellers, it is incumbent upon us to take the time to learn how to tell our stories and tell them well because no one can tell them for us. It doesn't matter if you're telling your story to yourself in order to make sense out of a chaotic life or telling your story for multitudes to hear, this book will help you to tell your story and tell it well.
March 23, 2020
I have read dozens of books on writing over the years and this is one of the best! Practical, full of advice, but also having enough of Leslie and her story in it to make it like a cross between memoir and a how-to-book on writing. That mixture is magic! The book pulls you into Leslie's life story while asking great questions and giving the reader practice questions to enable them to begin writing their own stories.
Lessons include mapping out your story, scene-making, gathering information to broaden your story, being reflective to add depth to your story, and the all important Focusing of your story so it fits together as a whole. The book ends with sharing/launching your story and the "Fear Nots" of writing.
A few favorite quotes:
"Your story is not just the thing that happened then, but how you understand it now."
"Writing always accesses a deeper well than our spoken words."
"If we want our writing to move our reader, it must move us first."
"As our manuscript grows, so will we."
If you have ever wanted to write your story, and especially if you want to learn to write with a spiritual perspective to your work, I highly recommend Leslie's fine book, "Your Story Matters."
Lessons include mapping out your story, scene-making, gathering information to broaden your story, being reflective to add depth to your story, and the all important Focusing of your story so it fits together as a whole. The book ends with sharing/launching your story and the "Fear Nots" of writing.
A few favorite quotes:
"Your story is not just the thing that happened then, but how you understand it now."
"Writing always accesses a deeper well than our spoken words."
"If we want our writing to move our reader, it must move us first."
"As our manuscript grows, so will we."
If you have ever wanted to write your story, and especially if you want to learn to write with a spiritual perspective to your work, I highly recommend Leslie's fine book, "Your Story Matters."
March 20, 2020
Several weeks ago, my pastor encouraged us to write down our testimony. Why? For one reason, because it is your story and no one can argue with it.What better way to demonstrate how God has worked in our lives? As Fields reminds us, God attends to every moment of our life, therefore, so should we. If you have ever wanted to share your story (and we all have one), this book will help you know where to start, what to write about, and what not to write about. She will lead you chapter by chapter with writing prompts and assignments at the end of each chapter.
This book is now available for preorder, so don't wait to get started on telling your story!
For a more complete review, please visit my blog at:
http://pmgilmer.com/2020/03/20/your-s...
*A pdf copy of this book was provided for me for an honest review.
This book is now available for preorder, so don't wait to get started on telling your story!
For a more complete review, please visit my blog at:
http://pmgilmer.com/2020/03/20/your-s...
*A pdf copy of this book was provided for me for an honest review.
March 12, 2020
This book is designed to help the reader write a creative nonfiction memoir, and it's very informative. The recommendations are practical and easy to follow and understand. The author reminds the reader that everyone has a story, and she encourages them to write it.
While there's a lot of information, the book isn't boring. It's engaging and even humorous at times. The author shares her own story and struggles to encourage the reader. Each chapter contains exercises to help the reader start writing. I haven't tried all the exercises yet, but I look forward to doing so.
If you're interested in writing a memoir, this would be a great book to check out.
A favorite quote:
"Writing is a form of attention, a form of prayer, a form of listening to God."
While there's a lot of information, the book isn't boring. It's engaging and even humorous at times. The author shares her own story and struggles to encourage the reader. Each chapter contains exercises to help the reader start writing. I haven't tried all the exercises yet, but I look forward to doing so.
If you're interested in writing a memoir, this would be a great book to check out.
A favorite quote:
"Writing is a form of attention, a form of prayer, a form of listening to God."
March 11, 2020
It's my great pleasure to be a part of the launch team for Your Story Matters. I've been a reader of Leslie Leyland Fields' books since I was first handed an early work of hers, "Surviving the Island of Grace." I fell in love with her writing. I also decided I wanted to learn to write as she did; telling big, bold, life-changing stories of faith and transformation. So I jumped on the chance to help let you know about Your Story Matters.
Your Story Matters IS Leslie teaching how to write a creative nonfiction memoir. I've read up through chapter 4. So far, it does not disappoint. I'm following along with her recommendations, making progress in my writing, and feeling confident that I can write a memoir by following her guidance in this book. If you're interested in learning to write scenes from your life, I recommend buying this book!
Your Story Matters IS Leslie teaching how to write a creative nonfiction memoir. I've read up through chapter 4. So far, it does not disappoint. I'm following along with her recommendations, making progress in my writing, and feeling confident that I can write a memoir by following her guidance in this book. If you're interested in learning to write scenes from your life, I recommend buying this book!
April 27, 2020
I've admired Leslie Leyland Fields for years as a tutor and mentor for those who long to put pen to paper in story form. But this book is far more than guide filled with practical tips. It is a contemplative journey to help us discover, deep-dive, and find greater meaning in our stories regardless of where and how (or if) we share them. I want to now give this book to all who question the purpose of their day-to-day, who wonder if there is something more purposeful in the celebration, heartbreak, and mundane moments.
'The best life stories, the most powerful memoirs, offer this dual lens: what happened in the past and how our present reckons with that past. The most compelling parts of our story are often this "story of thought."
A thoughtful book of lessons? Yes. A thought-full book for our life's lessons? Absolutely. Thank you, Leslie.
'The best life stories, the most powerful memoirs, offer this dual lens: what happened in the past and how our present reckons with that past. The most compelling parts of our story are often this "story of thought."
A thoughtful book of lessons? Yes. A thought-full book for our life's lessons? Absolutely. Thank you, Leslie.
April 4, 2020
Ever feel like you have a story to tell, but just don't know how or where to start? It's not as difficult as you might think. We all have experiences that need to be written, even if only for our own growth or to pass on to our children and grandchildren. Your stories matter, your life matters. Don't let it pass by and fade into oblivion.
Growing up I used to love hearing my family's stories. I treasure these memories, but now they are just bits and pieces, the details fuzzy fragments. We need each other's stories to encourage us and let us know we're not the alone. Others have gone before us and can offer wisdom and encouragement. Even after they're gone.
In the book Your Story Matters, Leslie Leyland Fields communicates the importance of writing our stories, not just for ourselves, but for those we will leave behind, and for God. What might seem like a daunting task, Leslie breaks down into a series of very manageable exercises to help us write our stories. This book is an excellent resource for anyone with a story to tell, not just seasoned or aspiring writers. This is one of the most important and impactful books I've ever read. I wish I could gift all my friends and family a copy. Please consider getting this book. It will be such a gift to your spirit, and to those who will one day read your words. Don't let your time here on earth pass unnoticed. We are entrusted with the time we have here, and it would be so sad not to share your experience, only the way you can tell it. This is not ego. We've all experienced hard things, embarrassing things, beautiful things. I don't really think bad things happen to us for a reason, but I do believe that God can bring good things out of bad. We survived or even thrived in spite of some of our experiences. If you are a person of faith, think about how telling your story may comfort or encourage someone else. Think about how sharing your experience and your faith honors God. Even if it helps just one person, isn't it worth it?
I read an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Growing up I used to love hearing my family's stories. I treasure these memories, but now they are just bits and pieces, the details fuzzy fragments. We need each other's stories to encourage us and let us know we're not the alone. Others have gone before us and can offer wisdom and encouragement. Even after they're gone.
In the book Your Story Matters, Leslie Leyland Fields communicates the importance of writing our stories, not just for ourselves, but for those we will leave behind, and for God. What might seem like a daunting task, Leslie breaks down into a series of very manageable exercises to help us write our stories. This book is an excellent resource for anyone with a story to tell, not just seasoned or aspiring writers. This is one of the most important and impactful books I've ever read. I wish I could gift all my friends and family a copy. Please consider getting this book. It will be such a gift to your spirit, and to those who will one day read your words. Don't let your time here on earth pass unnoticed. We are entrusted with the time we have here, and it would be so sad not to share your experience, only the way you can tell it. This is not ego. We've all experienced hard things, embarrassing things, beautiful things. I don't really think bad things happen to us for a reason, but I do believe that God can bring good things out of bad. We survived or even thrived in spite of some of our experiences. If you are a person of faith, think about how telling your story may comfort or encourage someone else. Think about how sharing your experience and your faith honors God. Even if it helps just one person, isn't it worth it?
I read an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
April 1, 2020
I’d never taught with laryngitis before, and it was enlightening, because in losing my voice, I realized what an important tool it has been to me in the communication of content and the conveyance of mood and emotion. A class on parenting is nothing without a few accounts of real life encounters, and even though my delivery was weak and croaking, I sensed students leaning in, listening hard to the stories I was sharing from the crucible of our parenting life here on this country hill in Maine.
That awkward teaching experience coincided with my reading of Your Story Matters: Finding, Writing, and Living the Truth of Your Life by Leslie Leyland Field, and as she described the holy wrestling that accompanied the compiling and the sharing of her own story, her words connected on a deep and very practical level. Field has been laying down one word after another for most of her adult life, and in the past several years she has developed and led a writer’s workshop, set against the rugged backdrop of her home in Kodiak, Alaska. Glimpses of interactions from past years’ workshops, suggested exercises accompanied by examples from the work of her students, and practical tips about the writing and publishing processes make the book a master class for aspiring writers honing their craft, but it’s also a valuable resource for the family remember-ers among us who embrace the significance of daily life and then curate stories for future generations so that nothing important falls through the cracks.
Our Truest Words
When we write, we join God in the sacred act of paying attention. A right response to this privilege then, is to record what we’ve seen, to share “the truest words we can find” with the world–or with our own precious people. (5) Pinning a memory to the page illuminates and clarifies the lived experience, and the words we select in the process shine a light into the event, revealing the presence of God where before he may have gone unseen. Writing from where we stand and then letting the words find their home is our offering toward God’s solo work of redemption.
Doesn’t our story deserve the truest, clearest, brightest words we can find?” (174)
Many thanks to NavPress for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which, of course, is offered freely and with honesty.
That awkward teaching experience coincided with my reading of Your Story Matters: Finding, Writing, and Living the Truth of Your Life by Leslie Leyland Field, and as she described the holy wrestling that accompanied the compiling and the sharing of her own story, her words connected on a deep and very practical level. Field has been laying down one word after another for most of her adult life, and in the past several years she has developed and led a writer’s workshop, set against the rugged backdrop of her home in Kodiak, Alaska. Glimpses of interactions from past years’ workshops, suggested exercises accompanied by examples from the work of her students, and practical tips about the writing and publishing processes make the book a master class for aspiring writers honing their craft, but it’s also a valuable resource for the family remember-ers among us who embrace the significance of daily life and then curate stories for future generations so that nothing important falls through the cracks.
Our Truest Words
When we write, we join God in the sacred act of paying attention. A right response to this privilege then, is to record what we’ve seen, to share “the truest words we can find” with the world–or with our own precious people. (5) Pinning a memory to the page illuminates and clarifies the lived experience, and the words we select in the process shine a light into the event, revealing the presence of God where before he may have gone unseen. Writing from where we stand and then letting the words find their home is our offering toward God’s solo work of redemption.
Doesn’t our story deserve the truest, clearest, brightest words we can find?” (174)
Many thanks to NavPress for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which, of course, is offered freely and with honesty.
April 3, 2020
I was fortunate enough to receive early access to this book as a member of the launch team. What an honor it has been. I've thought about writing my own story for several years and just didn't have the gumption to get started. It's no accident that I found this opportunity in my path this year.
"Your Story Matters" by Leslie Leyland Fields brings an intensive yet easy-to-follow writing workshop directly to you. Every chapter concludes with writing samples from former students, and writing prompts and other exercises to help you on your journey. This book is also part memoir. Leslie gives the reader a glimpse into her own adventure with words.
Could there be a better time in history to begin recording your own story? You don't have to record it with the intent to publish a book. You can journal for yourself, write essays for your family members to read for generations to come, or simply write letters. The options are endless.
This book is the tool to help you do just that. The inspiration is right there its pages. I will leave you with this quote from Leslie in chapter 3: "We read to live beyond our own single life in our own tiny cottage, to live a thousand, ten thousand lives in huts, hovels, and faraway palaces. Never forget that people are reading your life to discover and enlarge their own. They've come to live with you awhile."
"Your Story Matters" by Leslie Leyland Fields brings an intensive yet easy-to-follow writing workshop directly to you. Every chapter concludes with writing samples from former students, and writing prompts and other exercises to help you on your journey. This book is also part memoir. Leslie gives the reader a glimpse into her own adventure with words.
Could there be a better time in history to begin recording your own story? You don't have to record it with the intent to publish a book. You can journal for yourself, write essays for your family members to read for generations to come, or simply write letters. The options are endless.
This book is the tool to help you do just that. The inspiration is right there its pages. I will leave you with this quote from Leslie in chapter 3: "We read to live beyond our own single life in our own tiny cottage, to live a thousand, ten thousand lives in huts, hovels, and faraway palaces. Never forget that people are reading your life to discover and enlarge their own. They've come to live with you awhile."
April 5, 2020
This book is one for all of the shelves. For the reader who has had the whisper of a dream to write, for the person wondering if their story truly matters, for the accomplished author wanting more, or for those just needing a bit of inspiration, this book hits all of the right notes. From page one, Leslie lights a fire in your spirit to take pen to paper or fingers to keyboard to bring light to the volumes hidden inside of your soul. This book inspires your next step, and cheers you through the wresting matches that comes with every story. Most importantly, this book provides the greatest umbrella of grace to take that first step, to see that your story not only matters, but also that it is story that needs to be heard.
I was given an early copy of this book to read. All of the opinions are my own.
I was given an early copy of this book to read. All of the opinions are my own.
March 18, 2020
“Listen. Listen deeply.”
“This is the word You want me to focus on this year, Lord? I thought I was listening. After all, it’s the first word in my mission statement! You want me to go even deeper? Deeper than studying hard to teach the ladies at church? I try to understand the biblical characters’ cultures, emotions, needs, desires, and sins and apply them to myself and to the ladies. What more is there to listen to?”
In March, I received the path that God wants me to take to listen deeply.
"Your Story Matters: Finding, Writing, and Living the Truth of Your Life," by Leslie Leyland Fields, provides the winding, sometimes circling, uphill, downhill path God is taking me on as I listen more deeply than I ever have.
“We know some of the truth of our story, but not all of it”
(Fields, p. 4).
“Wait! I have memorials throughout my house that remind me of You working in my life. “
This book showed me that I’ve only addressed the outer story. Fields prompts the reader to go deeper to understand her fuller story, to understand it, and to share it with her children, grandchildren, and perhaps the world.
I have so many questions about my family’s history, and I know that you do, too. I wish my grandpa would have told me more about his journey to Oklahoma in a covered wagon, his checker games with Geronimo, and his church planting ministry.
God told the Israelites to remember how He worked in the nation’s life and to tell their children and grandchildren the stories of His works in their lives.
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children–” Deuteronomy 4:9
I haven’t done this well. Your Story Matters has shown me how to listen to the story God has given me. I will begin to listen to that story and write it, so that I can listen deeply to the story God is writing. I’ll then share God’s story with others.
"We're still naming the word-spoken world; we're writing the story of our life. We're answering back. Not just to ourselves and to God, but also to one another" (p. 79).
This book will take small groups to a deeper level, as they study the Bible, relate the Scriptures to their lives, and remember how God worked in their outer and inner life stories.
Fields has given writers, those who journal, small groups, and support groups an in-depth guide to discovering the depth of their stories.
You will want to pre-order "Your Story Matters," so that you can get started on your path to listen deeply to God’s story of your life and pass it on to others.
I received an Advance Reader Copy for my honest review.
“This is the word You want me to focus on this year, Lord? I thought I was listening. After all, it’s the first word in my mission statement! You want me to go even deeper? Deeper than studying hard to teach the ladies at church? I try to understand the biblical characters’ cultures, emotions, needs, desires, and sins and apply them to myself and to the ladies. What more is there to listen to?”
In March, I received the path that God wants me to take to listen deeply.
"Your Story Matters: Finding, Writing, and Living the Truth of Your Life," by Leslie Leyland Fields, provides the winding, sometimes circling, uphill, downhill path God is taking me on as I listen more deeply than I ever have.
“We know some of the truth of our story, but not all of it”
(Fields, p. 4).
“Wait! I have memorials throughout my house that remind me of You working in my life. “
This book showed me that I’ve only addressed the outer story. Fields prompts the reader to go deeper to understand her fuller story, to understand it, and to share it with her children, grandchildren, and perhaps the world.
I have so many questions about my family’s history, and I know that you do, too. I wish my grandpa would have told me more about his journey to Oklahoma in a covered wagon, his checker games with Geronimo, and his church planting ministry.
God told the Israelites to remember how He worked in the nation’s life and to tell their children and grandchildren the stories of His works in their lives.
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children–” Deuteronomy 4:9
I haven’t done this well. Your Story Matters has shown me how to listen to the story God has given me. I will begin to listen to that story and write it, so that I can listen deeply to the story God is writing. I’ll then share God’s story with others.
"We're still naming the word-spoken world; we're writing the story of our life. We're answering back. Not just to ourselves and to God, but also to one another" (p. 79).
This book will take small groups to a deeper level, as they study the Bible, relate the Scriptures to their lives, and remember how God worked in their outer and inner life stories.
Fields has given writers, those who journal, small groups, and support groups an in-depth guide to discovering the depth of their stories.
You will want to pre-order "Your Story Matters," so that you can get started on your path to listen deeply to God’s story of your life and pass it on to others.
I received an Advance Reader Copy for my honest review.
April 9, 2020
Having read several of her books, I expected the insightful examples penned by the author and from students fortunate enough to be part of her writing retreats in Alaska. I looked forward to being nudged into a decision to tell some of the stories of my life and was not disappointed because all that is in Your Story Matters: Finding Writing, and Living the Truth of Your Life. The reason you should read this book is because of the well-practiced strategies, the encouraging lessons, and the writing prompts that accompany each chapter; in short, Leslie's gift of teaching.
(I was given a pre-publication copy in exchange for my honest review.)
(I was given a pre-publication copy in exchange for my honest review.)
February 17, 2022
This is a book about both the self-therapy and growth through writing, examining your life and searching for meaning, and the writing as such. There's definitely too many references to god for my taste, and they were completely unnecessary in my opinion. However, the author felt the need to tribute the higher power, so there. My point is, the book functions very well with and without those. Blurb is very misguiding in a sense that it gives impression this is a religious book. It isn't, it's still about writing, 99% of time. So if your agnostic or atheist, don't let it deter you from reading.
May 24, 2024
Helpful guidance to sort out how to write your life story and find the meaning behind your experience. Teaching solid on how to improve the telling of the story. Worth reading and employing techniques.
March 10, 2020
Leslie is the most energetic and positive teacher I have ever met. She is pointblank honest and her purpose is write truth. In this new book she encourages you to understand we all have important stories and we should write them. Fields shares how we can find the deeper meaning to our stories and bring them to light for healing.
April 14, 2020
Am working through the exercises as I read this terrific book on writing memoir. Even the intro is moving when you learn that the women she's teaching don't feel worthy of telling their story; hence, the title. Field's purpose is that "learning to tell a truer story will help us live a better story." Although the author comes from a Christian perspective, this book is for people of all faiths who want to learn step-by-step how to tell the turning points of their lives either for their own healing or to leave a legacy for others. You won't believe how the exercises will loosen your thoughts and pen. This is a must-have book for anyone wanting to write or teach memoir. Five stars. Bravo Leslie Leyland Fields.
March 25, 2020
As a reader and writer and a multi-grade teacher of literature and writing, I read (and reread) a lot of writing books. This book was a pleasure. It will be a reread.
Your Story Matters is as engaging and motivating as it practical and informative--especially when it comes to paying attention to the life we live and the hard work of pushing deeper into the story. Never, never, have I been able to grasp the purpose of or consistently pursue free writing of any kind. Until now. Leslie's instruction, encouragement, and examples have broken down some barriers for me as a learner and helped me better wield the tools not only of the craft of writing but of remembering and living, as well.
"Writing the stories from our past enables us to live them again, but this time we live them wiser, better," she tells us. Read this book, and I believe you'll learn not only how to write a better story, but you'll also discover how to live a deeper life.
Your Story Matters is as engaging and motivating as it practical and informative--especially when it comes to paying attention to the life we live and the hard work of pushing deeper into the story. Never, never, have I been able to grasp the purpose of or consistently pursue free writing of any kind. Until now. Leslie's instruction, encouragement, and examples have broken down some barriers for me as a learner and helped me better wield the tools not only of the craft of writing but of remembering and living, as well.
"Writing the stories from our past enables us to live them again, but this time we live them wiser, better," she tells us. Read this book, and I believe you'll learn not only how to write a better story, but you'll also discover how to live a deeper life.
January 5, 2022
This is really encouraging, and I'll be revisiting it in the future.
July 5, 2020
Write Your Faith-Based Story
I am a sucker for books about any type of writing, so when I saw this at a favorite book review site, I picked it up based on the title and the subtitle alone. I didn't realize that it was not just for anyone's self-help journey; that's the way the title and subtitle came across to me. I didn't realize it's strong Christian bent. If I had realized that it was so specific, I would not have chosen it. That said, I still read the book. If you are Christian and interested in writing your story based on your faith, you might find this book helpful and enlightening. I felt, though, that the author shared too much of her own stories and the stories of others she has worked with. I felt like she needed to focus more on what the reader should do rather than on herself and her students. As such, the reader might find it is not as helpful for them in helping to craft their faith-based story.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
I am a sucker for books about any type of writing, so when I saw this at a favorite book review site, I picked it up based on the title and the subtitle alone. I didn't realize that it was not just for anyone's self-help journey; that's the way the title and subtitle came across to me. I didn't realize it's strong Christian bent. If I had realized that it was so specific, I would not have chosen it. That said, I still read the book. If you are Christian and interested in writing your story based on your faith, you might find this book helpful and enlightening. I felt, though, that the author shared too much of her own stories and the stories of others she has worked with. I felt like she needed to focus more on what the reader should do rather than on herself and her students. As such, the reader might find it is not as helpful for them in helping to craft their faith-based story.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
April 7, 2020
This is not simply a book about how to tell your story. It's a book about how to make sense of your life.
Leslie teaches readers how to validate every season of their lives, even the ones that they might be tempted to overlook or dismiss. Your Story Matters is a deeply spiritual and incredibly healing work, written by someone who sees the full arc of her life (so far!) and understands how the pieces fit together. Her goal is to help us do that too. Every time I read one of Leyland Fields' books I think this one is my favorite. But really, this one is my favorite.
Leslie teaches readers how to validate every season of their lives, even the ones that they might be tempted to overlook or dismiss. Your Story Matters is a deeply spiritual and incredibly healing work, written by someone who sees the full arc of her life (so far!) and understands how the pieces fit together. Her goal is to help us do that too. Every time I read one of Leyland Fields' books I think this one is my favorite. But really, this one is my favorite.
July 20, 2020
I write a lot. Book reviews. Ministry materials. Emails. I’ve written professionally in the past: a published book of Bible stories, a venture with NYT bestselling author Ted Dekker, and an upcoming novella. But when it comes to writing my story, I freeze. What could there possibly be in my ordinary life to write about?
Your Story Matters is Leslie Leyland Fields’ slap in the face to my pretend humility that there’s nothing in my life worth writing about. (Just a few months ago, my wife and I got on a nostalgia kick and spent three hours when we should have been sleeping recounting our shared story to the other.) The truth is, I know I have a story. But it’s my story and I want to tell it the right way. And that keeps me from telling it at all. Fields is just the person I needed to tell me to drop the pretense and just write.
Throughout the book, she also teaches us to tie our story together to God’s larger story. Writing our story is really just a recognition of the story God is writing through us, the story he is sharing with us. The book’s nine chapters go through witnessing, mapping, scene-making, gathering, reflecting, understanding, editing, ordering, and launching your story.
It’s more than just exhortation. Your Story Matters lays out practical step-by-step processes to write your story. In the chapter on mapping. Fields uses the “time for everything” passage in Ecclesiastes 3 to help writers map out their memories. There’s also a helpful chart of questions to consider at every time period to attempt to draw out memories.
Another central point is the LifeStory circle, or developing a group of people who tell and write their stories together. Sharing your story with friends is much easier than sharing it with a keyboard or with yourself. Painful memories, in particular may be more easily dealt with in community.
Each chapter ends with a list of action items, discussion questions, and examples taken from Fields’ writing workshop. It’s a very empowering way of taking the exhortation and compelling readers to put it into practice. It’s helpful to see other stories and other examples of writing. It breaks up the didactive, educational portion and just allows you to get lost in story, offering a much-needed brain break.
Above all, I appreciate Fields consistent reminder that we write our stories to remember and that remembering our past and God’s work in it is a holy endeavor. Too often, we can think that talking about ourselves isn’t appropriate. It seems prideful or showy. Fields reminds us that our story is God’s story and our stories matter—not just for ourselves, but for others.
Your Story Matters is a book that I digested in small sections over the course of a cross-country move (that could be a whole chapter, right?). It’s encouraged me to write just a bit every day of this new adventure that we’re on. Your Story Matters epitomizes the heart of what we believe here at Life is Story. Go unleash your soul’s narrative upon the world.
Your Story Matters is Leslie Leyland Fields’ slap in the face to my pretend humility that there’s nothing in my life worth writing about. (Just a few months ago, my wife and I got on a nostalgia kick and spent three hours when we should have been sleeping recounting our shared story to the other.) The truth is, I know I have a story. But it’s my story and I want to tell it the right way. And that keeps me from telling it at all. Fields is just the person I needed to tell me to drop the pretense and just write.
Throughout the book, she also teaches us to tie our story together to God’s larger story. Writing our story is really just a recognition of the story God is writing through us, the story he is sharing with us. The book’s nine chapters go through witnessing, mapping, scene-making, gathering, reflecting, understanding, editing, ordering, and launching your story.
It’s more than just exhortation. Your Story Matters lays out practical step-by-step processes to write your story. In the chapter on mapping. Fields uses the “time for everything” passage in Ecclesiastes 3 to help writers map out their memories. There’s also a helpful chart of questions to consider at every time period to attempt to draw out memories.
Another central point is the LifeStory circle, or developing a group of people who tell and write their stories together. Sharing your story with friends is much easier than sharing it with a keyboard or with yourself. Painful memories, in particular may be more easily dealt with in community.
Each chapter ends with a list of action items, discussion questions, and examples taken from Fields’ writing workshop. It’s a very empowering way of taking the exhortation and compelling readers to put it into practice. It’s helpful to see other stories and other examples of writing. It breaks up the didactive, educational portion and just allows you to get lost in story, offering a much-needed brain break.
Above all, I appreciate Fields consistent reminder that we write our stories to remember and that remembering our past and God’s work in it is a holy endeavor. Too often, we can think that talking about ourselves isn’t appropriate. It seems prideful or showy. Fields reminds us that our story is God’s story and our stories matter—not just for ourselves, but for others.
Your Story Matters is a book that I digested in small sections over the course of a cross-country move (that could be a whole chapter, right?). It’s encouraged me to write just a bit every day of this new adventure that we’re on. Your Story Matters epitomizes the heart of what we believe here at Life is Story. Go unleash your soul’s narrative upon the world.
March 21, 2020
Your Story Matters is first and foremost a craft book for writing narrative non-fiction. As such, Field’s shares lessons from decades of teaching and weaves her own story and some from her students into the chapters, beginning with the why—why tell your story? Fields: “Writing the stories from our past enables us to live them again, but this time we live them wiser, better.”
How to start this “wiser, better” process? Create a timeline and write the remembered “high points” in scene—the outer story. Fields advises: “Don’t try to write a book. Just write some stories.” (How I wish I’d known this before starting to write ten years ago.) Once you gather the scenes then explore the inner story, that which transformed you. Fields: “The best life stories, the most powerful memoirs, offer this dual lens: what happened in the past and how our present reckons with that past.”
Fields boldly describes her struggles as a writer and some challenging moments as a teacher: “Writing is messy because spiritual work is messy.” Indeed, Fields’ spiritual focus is what separates Your Story Matters from other creative nonfiction craft books. Writing your story means unmasking yourself and telling the truth, which is both painful and healing.
One of my favorite take-away quotes:
“We cannot be the heroes of our stories because these stories aren’t actually about us. We’re not studying our lives simply to know ourselves better (though this will happen). Or to offer up to the world our own guttural howl and yelp to the moon. (Though occasionally that is just what is needed.) We are not writing to justify or defend or ennoble ourselves. We are far more ambitious. We’re after growth, however painful. We’re after truth, however hard. We’re hoping our words will serve others. If we’re seekers, we may even be writing ourselves toward God, that he may further shape and author us, allowing us to find ourselves in his story and him in ours.”
I had the privilege of meeting Leslie Leyland Fields at the 2018 Festival of Faith and Writing and a few weeks ago was provided with an advance copy of her book to write an honest review. Because this year’s Festival has been canceled, along with all other book events, Fields is providing online prompts and encouragement. Her book is available for pre-order.
This is a good time to find your story and write, because your story matters.
How to start this “wiser, better” process? Create a timeline and write the remembered “high points” in scene—the outer story. Fields advises: “Don’t try to write a book. Just write some stories.” (How I wish I’d known this before starting to write ten years ago.) Once you gather the scenes then explore the inner story, that which transformed you. Fields: “The best life stories, the most powerful memoirs, offer this dual lens: what happened in the past and how our present reckons with that past.”
Fields boldly describes her struggles as a writer and some challenging moments as a teacher: “Writing is messy because spiritual work is messy.” Indeed, Fields’ spiritual focus is what separates Your Story Matters from other creative nonfiction craft books. Writing your story means unmasking yourself and telling the truth, which is both painful and healing.
One of my favorite take-away quotes:
“We cannot be the heroes of our stories because these stories aren’t actually about us. We’re not studying our lives simply to know ourselves better (though this will happen). Or to offer up to the world our own guttural howl and yelp to the moon. (Though occasionally that is just what is needed.) We are not writing to justify or defend or ennoble ourselves. We are far more ambitious. We’re after growth, however painful. We’re after truth, however hard. We’re hoping our words will serve others. If we’re seekers, we may even be writing ourselves toward God, that he may further shape and author us, allowing us to find ourselves in his story and him in ours.”
I had the privilege of meeting Leslie Leyland Fields at the 2018 Festival of Faith and Writing and a few weeks ago was provided with an advance copy of her book to write an honest review. Because this year’s Festival has been canceled, along with all other book events, Fields is providing online prompts and encouragement. Her book is available for pre-order.
This is a good time to find your story and write, because your story matters.
April 1, 2020
"Your Story Matters" is for anyone who’s ever had an inkling to write a story from their life experiences. Leslie Leyland Fields believes writing our life stories is a holy endeavor—a step of faith that involves wrestling with our past and our Creator—as we trust God to reveal universal truths through the stories of our lives.
But how do we do it? With her reassuring voice, Leslie leads us through the entire process in easy-to-read chapters that combine practical writing advice with vignettes from her teaching career and from personal lessons she learned while crafting her own memoir. Each chapter concludes with essays from her students—people from all walks of life with varying degrees of writing experience. Reading these essays made me think, "If they can do it, why couldn’t I?"
I especially enjoyed the chapter on WordSeeking. This exercise (akin to free writing) allows the creative side of our brains to work unhindered from the constraints of editing. “Writing is messy because spiritual work is messy.” How freeing it is to lock up our inner editors and simply write. When we do this, we’re often surprised by the treasures we find among the clutter. “We write to excavate,” Leslie says. “We write to discover that inner story.”
Once we find that inner story, we can move on to structuring and polishing our work and, eventually, to sharing it with others.
Leslie, a fisherwoman from Alaska, describes the sacred fellowship that comes from sharing our life stories: “We risk passing like strange ships in the long night. Time, busyness, the speed of life will keep us apart unless we braid word around word from our own passage, then toss it out, coiled, shimmering, toward the hands on the other deck open, waiting to catch, to coil and secure the two ships together, hull to hull. Don’t we all sail the same turbulent waters? Aren’t we longing to stop for a while, to not be alone on the high seas?”
"Your Story Matters" isn’t a book to be read in one sitting. Its power comes from digesting slowly, chapter by chapter, letting each morsel nourish us so that we may craft our stories well and … in due time … find the courage to release them into the night.
But how do we do it? With her reassuring voice, Leslie leads us through the entire process in easy-to-read chapters that combine practical writing advice with vignettes from her teaching career and from personal lessons she learned while crafting her own memoir. Each chapter concludes with essays from her students—people from all walks of life with varying degrees of writing experience. Reading these essays made me think, "If they can do it, why couldn’t I?"
I especially enjoyed the chapter on WordSeeking. This exercise (akin to free writing) allows the creative side of our brains to work unhindered from the constraints of editing. “Writing is messy because spiritual work is messy.” How freeing it is to lock up our inner editors and simply write. When we do this, we’re often surprised by the treasures we find among the clutter. “We write to excavate,” Leslie says. “We write to discover that inner story.”
Once we find that inner story, we can move on to structuring and polishing our work and, eventually, to sharing it with others.
Leslie, a fisherwoman from Alaska, describes the sacred fellowship that comes from sharing our life stories: “We risk passing like strange ships in the long night. Time, busyness, the speed of life will keep us apart unless we braid word around word from our own passage, then toss it out, coiled, shimmering, toward the hands on the other deck open, waiting to catch, to coil and secure the two ships together, hull to hull. Don’t we all sail the same turbulent waters? Aren’t we longing to stop for a while, to not be alone on the high seas?”
"Your Story Matters" isn’t a book to be read in one sitting. Its power comes from digesting slowly, chapter by chapter, letting each morsel nourish us so that we may craft our stories well and … in due time … find the courage to release them into the night.
March 26, 2020
I feel completely energized and capable enough to write “my story” after reading this book. In “Your Story Matters,” Leslie dangles some delicious, fresh, enticing “carrots” to lead readers through some very meaningful writing practices. She does this by skillfully weaving an interesting mix of stories from her life, stories from students in her workshops, and stories from the Bible, into some very simple, practical, step-by-step instructions. You sit down to read the book, and practically “voilà,” there you are able to write some of your most meaningful stories.
Leslie says that writing our stories is all about “remembering.” She writes, “Remembering is a crucial activity for all of us. We will not know who we are without remembering.” She also assures readers that “Covering the entire scope of a life is not possible” (whew!) but that there is real value in remembering and sharing certain significance stories with others.
I wish Leslie had written this book about a decade ago. I would have given copies to my parents. My mom passed away before she could write her stories. I have just a few of her written memories and would have so loved more. My Dad did write his “autobiography.” for us, finishing it at 89 years of age after working on it for years. It’s pages and pages of facts and details but little story. I would love to have some stories behind those facts. Leslie's book would have made that easily possible.
This book is being published at a crucial time in the history of the world. The Corona Virus has sent most of the world into isolation. I can’t think of a better book to buy right now, when there is time to remember and write our stories. This book is a great “shelter in place” opportunity!! Leslie’s given us a gift for these times. She’s a fantastic writer who shows more than tells, and leads by example that “Your Story Matters.”
“We’re after true stories written as deeply and beautifully as we’re able.” (one of my favorite quotes)
Leslie says that writing our stories is all about “remembering.” She writes, “Remembering is a crucial activity for all of us. We will not know who we are without remembering.” She also assures readers that “Covering the entire scope of a life is not possible” (whew!) but that there is real value in remembering and sharing certain significance stories with others.
I wish Leslie had written this book about a decade ago. I would have given copies to my parents. My mom passed away before she could write her stories. I have just a few of her written memories and would have so loved more. My Dad did write his “autobiography.” for us, finishing it at 89 years of age after working on it for years. It’s pages and pages of facts and details but little story. I would love to have some stories behind those facts. Leslie's book would have made that easily possible.
This book is being published at a crucial time in the history of the world. The Corona Virus has sent most of the world into isolation. I can’t think of a better book to buy right now, when there is time to remember and write our stories. This book is a great “shelter in place” opportunity!! Leslie’s given us a gift for these times. She’s a fantastic writer who shows more than tells, and leads by example that “Your Story Matters.”
“We’re after true stories written as deeply and beautifully as we’re able.” (one of my favorite quotes)
April 3, 2020
Everyone has a story to tell, it is in each of us waiting to come out but we need a road map, guidance, and a guide to lead us on the journey. Leslie Leyland Fields is your guide. She wrote this book for each of us to help pull the stories from our lives and put them on the page. Fields tells us, "Everyday people like you and me have discovered that writing the truest words we can find from our lives can order our chaotic present, help us make sense of a jumbled past, move us from grief to hope" She further tells us "Learning to tell a truer story will help us live a better story."
I have had a story inside me for a lot of years and have never written it down. Through the prompts at the end of each chapter it walks you step by step through the writing process encouraging you to go deeper. Delving into each memory to help you to remember and to assist you to make sense of it from your prospective today, encouraging growth and the broadening of your story. "Writing stories from our past enables us to live them again, but this time we live them wiser, better."
Experienced writers as well as the novice will find encouragement, prompts, and examples of each step in the writing process. The book is both a how to and is filled with stories as examples giving the reader more than just a dry look at the writing process. This book brings writing to life. It encourages you to try and excites you with all of the possibilities.
Your story matters not only to you but to each reader who can see themselves in your work. Fields offers options and opportunities for where to share your story so you are writing for more than yourself. Ending with five ideas for how to send your words out into the world she is forever your guide, nudging, encouraging and teaching the entire way.
Give yourself the gift of writing by reading Your Story Matters. You have a story to tell, now is your time to share it.
I have had a story inside me for a lot of years and have never written it down. Through the prompts at the end of each chapter it walks you step by step through the writing process encouraging you to go deeper. Delving into each memory to help you to remember and to assist you to make sense of it from your prospective today, encouraging growth and the broadening of your story. "Writing stories from our past enables us to live them again, but this time we live them wiser, better."
Experienced writers as well as the novice will find encouragement, prompts, and examples of each step in the writing process. The book is both a how to and is filled with stories as examples giving the reader more than just a dry look at the writing process. This book brings writing to life. It encourages you to try and excites you with all of the possibilities.
Your story matters not only to you but to each reader who can see themselves in your work. Fields offers options and opportunities for where to share your story so you are writing for more than yourself. Ending with five ideas for how to send your words out into the world she is forever your guide, nudging, encouraging and teaching the entire way.
Give yourself the gift of writing by reading Your Story Matters. You have a story to tell, now is your time to share it.
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