You don’t have to start at the beginning of your life. Start anywhere–early, middle, or late. Don’t worry about telling your whole life story. Think small. PIck a vivid memory and in 20-30 minutes of writing, capture it by responding to these snapshot questions.
- Where was this?
- Who are these people?
- What’s happening?
- Why is it important?
- What happened before and/or after this snapshot was taken?
Of course, memory jogs memory. One recollection leads to another. Between writing sessions, you will begin to think ahead. Tomorrow I will write about playing baseball. What about the Cuban Missile Crisis, as remembered by a ten-year-old? There that time I lost a lot of money playing cards. There were those funny moments on our wedding night.
Capture the memories that interest you. Below are some general topics or themes that might trigger memories. Those in bold font are links to example snapshots.
A missed opportunity
An accomplishment
Art
Car
Challenge
Children
College
Competition
Courage
Craft
Death
Disappointment
Divorce
Doubt
Embarrassment
Fads
Failure
Family
Fear
Firsts
Food
Friends
Games
Health
Hobbies
Home
House
Humiliation
Lesson learned
Loss
Love
Marriage
Memory
Money
Music
Parents
Progress
Religion
Risk
School
School
Sickness
Sport
Stealth
Success
Team work
Technology
Animals
The opposite sex
The world
Travel
Vacation
Violence
Work
A Legacy Project 