During 2020, you likely went through some kind of hardship.  Maybe you lost a loved one, a home, or a job.  Maybe you had to transition to interacting with people virtually or to working from home.  Maybe you were OK but had to support someone who was struggling.  Between the pandemic, protests, political upheaval, and economic uncertainty, 2020 turned out to be a disappointment even to the least affected. 
 
So, what did you learn from that experience?  I bet that you learned what is important in your life.  I bet you learned what you truly value.  And I bet you learned to pivot on a pin to be able to persevere through difficulty.  After experiencing challenging events, writing about them can help initiate the healing process. 

​Here are five reasons why you should write your memoir in 2021.

Writing Helps Organize Thoughts

Writing helps us make sense of our thoughts and feelings and can be a conduit for better understanding your experiences.  Reflective writing helps the writer first and foremost by allowing a pathway to organize our thoughts.  
 
Writing Improves Memory

Did you know that writing down your memories improves your memory?  I have experienced this myself.  When you take the time to write about your experiences, not only can you support yourself by making sense of them but the process can improve your memory and allow you to recall more depth and detail of your memories.

Make Your Writing a Gift

In most cases, we write for ourselves and for those in our immediate circles.  Your writing, especially your memoir writing, is more likely to end up in the hands of friends and family than anywhere else, so make it into a gift of love for them.  Write down your life stories with the intention of sharing yourself with those you care for most.
 
Writing is an Exploration of the Unknown

The process of writing not only helps the writer make sense of their thoughts but reveals layers of the unknown.  We don’t know what stories are waiting to be excavated until we begin digging.  As we write, we reveal ideas, stories, information that can be collected and preserved. 

Write Your Book

Many people will say they feel like they have a book inside of them, and most are right.  Even if that book doesn’t end up being a New York Times bestseller, many people have a book idea sitting in the back of their minds.  The only way to access that book is to start writing. 
 
The process of writing is a process of revelation, discovery, and healing.  As we engage in reflective, memoir writing, we take part in an opportunity to improve as writers and as people. 

For help getting started on your memoir, check out our book:

I think everyone would agree that 2020 could have gone better.  The list of challenges that popped up during the year strained every aspect of our lives: personal, familial, professional. 
 
Not only that but many creative people found their livelihoods yanked from beneath them as galleries closed, bookstores and libraries postponed events, and theaters went dark.  The places we depend upon for creative connection shuttered.  As we transitioned to connecting virtually, many people came to terms with the shifting balance that we had to give more and receive less. 

So, how can writers move beyond a difficult year?  Write about it. 
 
We have known for decades that writing offers therapeutic benefits for people who make time to reflect on their experiences.  When we write, all the grief and pain of our lives do not disappear as the ink dries, but the process of collecting our thoughts, feelings, and memories onto paper can lighten the burden. 
 
When we write about our experiences, the process can help us to make sense of them.  In a similar way that talking through a situation with a friend can bring us some relief, so it goes with writing.  Though writing may not offer the full effects of professional therapy, it can improve our relationships with the past. 

Too, when we write about our experiences, we can improve our understanding of events but we can also improve our memory and ability to remember.  As we age, recalling the details of past events can be more challenging than when we were young.  When we write about what happened, more details make themselves known.  For example, I recently wrote up memories of a friend who passed, and while I was writing I was able to recall not just the details like what we were wearing on eventful days, but I also remembered more events as I wrote.  In all, I ended up writing twice as much as I had originally planned. 
 
Writing is good for you.  It taps into your creative energy, gives you an outlet for your thoughts and feelings, and provides a process to make sense of the world around you.  After surviving 2020, spend some time writing about your experiences.  The outcome could be the foundation for a rich section of your memoir. 

We all walked away with new lessons learned after 2020. 

• Take care of those around you. 
• Everything you do makes an impact. 
• Time is not to be wasted. 

 
With the year behind us, now is an excellent opportunity to capture your memories while they are still fresh. 
 
As you write, consider how you can integrate lessons learned, revelation of self, and reflections on the events.  These elements make for engaging memoir stories.  When you share lessons learned, it allows your reader to understand the series of events in your life and how they unfolded.  Revelation of self helps your reader to connect to you as a writer.  And reflecting on the events gives you, the writer, opportunity to analyze the events in retrospect which can allow for greater analysis of what happened. 

​We made it through 2020 in one piece, so now it is time to put those stories together.  Start by thinking of one event that happened in 2020 and write about that.  Perhaps you will write about when you first realized that Covid was a pandemic.  Perhaps you will write about the political division in communities.  Or perhaps you will write about the adjustments you made to communicating with people virtually. 
 
Start with one event and write about it.  Then move onto another event.  The writing can be very short; a page per story is plenty to get things started.  Once you've written about the year behind you, keep going.  The process of collecting your stories can take some time, but the memories tend to bubble to the surface as you are working.  And the result can offer a treasure trove of memoir material. 

For memoir writing prompts, check out the book, Letters to the Future​: