WOW! Women On Writing Blog: share your story

Thursday, September 05, 2019

Did you ever notice everyone has an opinion about leggings? They are pants, they aren't pants, they're only for thin people, old people shouldn't wear them, and the list goes on...

I've found people seem to feel the same about memoirs: write your story, don't write your story, not everyone is a writer, no one is going to read that, oh how boring, etc...

The fact of the matter is you can wear leggings whenever and wherever you wish and as long as you love the way you look and feel, it's nobody's business! As far as sharing your life story, the same holds true - if you have a story to tell and you feel comfortable sharing it, you go ahead and do it with confidence!

There are always going to be people who turn their nose up at your story (or who don't like the look of your rear end in a pair of leggings), but for every person who isn't interested, there's someone who can't wait to get their hands on your memoir.

I recently read How to Become a Heroic Writer by Jerry Waxler and if you are looking for practical advice on writing and sharing your story, this is an excellent place to start. As far as leggings go - I'll let you do your homework on that! Here's a little more about Jerry's book:

In the 21st century, many of us feel the stirring of an audacious challenge. We want to ride the waves of global communication by writing compelling stories, articles, and essays. To complete and publish such works, we need courage, tenacity, good habits and hope. Throughout history, we have admired such qualities in our heroes. In the 21st century, science offers practical methods to help us achieve these qualities for ourselves. The techniques described in this book draw from the author’s lifelong search for the science and art of becoming a writer. The explanations and exercises, originally developed for students in his writing workshops, will guide you on your quest. “Using skillfully crafted anecdotes and thoughtful writing prompts, Waxler inspires and motivates veteran as well as novice writers to examine themselves and in the process face the world with renewed confidence.” Ed Krizek, author of Afterlife and Other Stories “Waxler demystifies the inner demons I battle daily and offers practical advice and exercises to break down the author-reader connection into bite-size pieces I can digest at my own pace.” Kerry Gans, fiction writer and author of The Goose's Quill “Heroic Writer together with Jerry’s Memoir Revolution, shows how writing offers safe ways to explore the past while creating new memories, behavior and mental models for the future.” Nancy Lubow, PhD, Art Therapist

Now - here's a little pep-talk as our time together comes to a close:

Life is too short to worry about the opinions of others. Confidence is sexy - so whether you are sharing your story, rocking a new outfit, or just living your authentic life, if you do it with confidence and love yourself, you'll find other people are drawn to you. If you are waiting for other people to believe in you before you put on that confident smile, you'll be waiting forever...you can never make everyone happy - so just please yourself!

We here at WOW! are waiting to hear your story and help you share your story with the world - regardless of genre! (and...I'm rocking a pair of leggings and boots today - because I can!)

Crystal is a secretary, council secretary, financial secretary, and musician at her church, birth mother, Auntie, babywearing mama, business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, Press Corp teammate for the DairyGirl Network, Unicorn Mom Ambassador, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and their five youngest children (Carmen 12, Andre 11, Breccan 5, Delphine 4, and baby Eudora who somehow turns 2 later this year), two dogs, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, and over 230 Holsteins.

You can find Crystal riding unicorns, taking the ordinary and giving it a little extra (making it extraordinary), blogging and reviewing books here, and at her personal blog - Crystal is dedicated to turning life's lemons into lemonade!

4 comments confidence is sexy, crystal otto, heroic writer, jerry waxler, leggings are pants, memoir, memoir revolution, share your story, tell your story

Friday Speak Out!: The Power of the Story

Friday, May 30, 2014

by Sioux Roslawski

Why do we write what we do? Who is our audience? And the most important question, the most heartfelt one (and the one that is usually unspoken): Will our writing matter to anyone—does anybody really care? *

I got an answer to that last question recently. And the petite, curly-haired woman who delivered the answer changed my life with just a few soft-spoken words.

Just before Mother's Day, I was honored to celebrate the holiday by sharing my story—my birth mother's story—on a stage. It was the Listen to Your Mother St. Louis show. I had written a piece to submit, had gotten it critiqued, sent it in, auditioned, was chosen, rehearsed, had bonded with the other women, and had now performed for the second show of the day. The rollercoaster day—all highs and thrilling turns—was over. Or so I thought...

I was in an out-of-the-way spot, by the bathrooms, saying goodbye to my half-sister and my daughter and granddaughter. A woman—the petite and pretty one I mentioned earlier—walked up to me. The words seemed to tumble out.

“I enjoyed your story. I'm an adoptee too, and I know who my birth mother is, but she won't admit it.” We spoke for a while. I had already shared a little slice of my life (and bared my soul) in front of the microphone, so all I needed to do now was listen. It was like the two of us were having an intimate conversation, and I had started the dialogue when I was onstage. Now, it was her turn to reply.

Okay, perhaps I won't ever write a best-selling book that will snag rave reviews. Perhaps my little memoir stories won't make me an internationally-known writer. Most likely, I won't ever get rich writing. But my words do matter. My sister was glad our mother's story was finally told. My daughter was proud that that particular part of my history was shared in such a public way. And my telling my story spurred this woman to perhaps tell her own story some day.

Her story. I was prodding her to have the courage to share her unique-to-her story someday soon. Because that is of course how we parted. I reiterated that it was her birth mother's loss—she was losing out because she refuses to let her daughter into her life.(That was one of the first things that came out of my mouth—uncensored—after this lovely woman introduced herself.)

And then I said, “And you have a story to tell. Think about it. Think about submitting your story next year.”

Who knows who will be affected by the words we put down on paper? Who knows what spark will be ignited by our lines? But we'll never find out if we don't have the courage to write...

* I had to give a little nod to the band Chicago, in their early (and great) days, when they were brass-heavy.

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Sioux Roslawski is a third grade teacher by day and by night (and on the weekends) she writes stories to send to Chicken Soup for the Soul and other anthologies. She also rescues dogs for Love a Golden, which results in constant dog hair in her car. More of Sioux's writing can be found on her blog—http://siouxspage.blogspot.com
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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!

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