Tips on Writing a Spiritual Memoir
We are a community of teachers and learners.
Sometimes we coach and teach others.
Other times we learn from others.
After a successful career as a scientist-entrepreneur, I wanted to write an autobiography for my four grandchildren. I heard from my older daughter Gwyneth that David Hazard was giving a zoom talk on memoir writing at her local Loudoun County library in Virginia. Forgetting to set my alarm for East Coast time (I live in California), I missed David’s talk. I did manage to get the library to put me in touch with him.
David impressed me from the start with his experience as a writing coach. We started out with a one-on-one tutorial during which he convinced me that writing a thematic memoir would likely be more successful than the general, detailed autobiography of my life I had planned. Armed with that knowledge I made my first pivot from writing an autobiography for my four grandchildren to writing a thematic memoir about my surprise spiritual journey for a larger, more general audience of spiritual seekers.
From the get-go, Coach David blessed me with many writing tips, such as:
Make sure you share with the reader both the external and internal story arcs — what’s playing out there in the outer world as your action unfolds, as well as what’s going on inside you as a reaction to these external events and forces. Your memoir will be well-served by going back and forth between these realities. I not only found this to be true. I found that my own spiritual development was well served by reflecting on this back-and-forth relationship between my inner and outer life, each one nurturing the other and setting it on fire.
Set aside some time each day to write and be rigorous about this. Inform family and friends as needed about your time commitment, so you secure their understanding and support.
Show don’t tell. Your story will come to life with scenes and dialogue. Don’t just narrate.
As I would submit completed chapters to David for his review, he would ask the high-level questions to help me engage the reader even more. What are the one or two universal questions that this chapter answers, even though it’s a story about your life? Make sure these questions are included on the first page of each chapter to keep the reader engaged throughout.
By listening well to David’s coaching tips, both my books Surprise Journey: A Spiritual Memoir and Traveling: A Spiritual Seeker’s Guide have already been manifesting their impact, a mere two months after their release. My writing hobby has taken its own “surprise journey” into a ministry to bring eclectic, inclusive spirituality to individuals, homes, institutions of higher learning, workplaces, communities. I have been invited to give a class on prepping and publishing a spiritual memoir, a leadership development workshop on spirituality at a center for social entrepreneurship, a series of lessons on spiritual discernment for interns and fellows at a local university, an ongoing 12-week faith-sharing retreat, based on my Traveling book, at two local Christian parishes. I have even been asked to discuss my books with women in California state prisons as part of their education, treatment, and rehabilitation process. I don’t believe my books would have had this immediate impact without the help Coach David gave me.
So if you are a first-time writer of memoirs (or any other genre for that matter), consider hiring a writing coach.
And, if you would like assistance setting up a spiritual formation or faith sharing event in your setting (classroom, workplace, church), I’m here to help! Email me at jjcard@hearkenbooks.org.
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