Writing a life / creative writing about your own story of life.

iza

Hi all,  I am just wondering how many of you wrote a book about their own life. I have a bit of writing skills as I wrote quite few poems. However, I never wrote a book about my own life. I would like to find out: which creative writings workshops would you recommend? Any tips  on writing  about own life? Is there anything I should avoid when writing? Is there anything what I should not write about? How long  should be the  story ?  
I have to say I already started a bit of writing but I stuck as I avoid going again through medical history of my illness and certain processes related to it. I just wonder does writing about your life has any sense anyway? I can understand that writing can have therapeutic effects but what else could it help with? 

Please feel free to participate in discussion or advise especially if you have a writing skills experience too. 

Thanks 

pollyanna1052

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @iza,

I have written a blog for nearly 7 years which you could say has documented parts of my life.

Writing a book about your life would be really interesting!

On MeetUp you might find that there are some writing groups around where you live.

hdeakin

Hi @iza,

I write a blog https://hannahdeakin.blogspot.com and have been for the last 2 years. It documents parts of my life and experiences. I hope it raises awareness too. I find it beneficial to write and hope it helps and supports others and they feel they are not alone.
Good luck! 

April2018mom

This is such a interesting pastime. If you are retired, you could join a active U3A writing club in your area for elderly people. Here is the national website (make sure to click on your region) https://www.u3a.org.uk/. It has details of clubs for all interests and hobbies too. 

deb74

I always wanted to write a book but didn't know where to start. I went on the internet and read an article by J K Rowling. She said you should start off by writing about your own life. I started to write about my life but as I went on I found that my life had become less interesting and that was the end of that!

Adrian_Scope

I used to write for magazines, spent a long time working freelance as a copywriter and have been writing various novels for about eight years and reading a million books to try and get me over the finish line.

There are many tips out there if you need them, but the most important thing to remember is to write about what you know. Since you know about yourself, this sounds like a good first step!

iza

Hi All, thank you very much. 

@pollyanna1052, yes it is true that writing about your own life is not easy. 

@Chloe_Scope, thank you for reminding me about the Meet up platform. I will check it out in few minutes. I keep forgetting that such an opportunities exist. I am mostly homebound person. 

@hdeakin, thank you for sharing your blog page, I am sure I will find lots of inspiration there. 

@April2018mom, thank you but unfortunately I am not at retired age yet, I am 42 this year. However, I did "retired" from working lifestyle due to health problems.

@deb74, thank you for sharing, yes I started writing about my own life but I am not sure I will ever finish it. The only thing  I learnt some far is, how my illness changed my life, what I regret I have not done it before  but could have done it by now.  I found out that the illness transformed my inner soul and to be honest I still  what  exactly is my destiny in a life. 

@Adrian_Scope, thank you it is true I know myself the best and I know all my gifts but the only thing I do not know yet is : why the rare illness had to happened to me and I think this is question  I am seeking the answer the most. 

Wishing you all good day. 

Chloe_Alumni

I hope you're able to find something @iza!

Brightsidebecs

Hi @iza I think it’s wonderful that you want to write a book. 

I write a blog also brightsidebecs.com although I haven’t been very active in posting blogs lately, it has been wonderful writing my experiences etc down. 

It is your book so you should write about anything you feel comfortable writing about nothing should be off limits as no one has had your life!  

Good luck and I’m here if you need anything. 

Ails

Hi @iza, it is fantastic to learn that you want to write a book about your life.  It sounds as though you are quite passionate about this and I'm sure you will do really well with it.  I have tried to write a bit about my life in a blog for the last year, but keep coming stuck and finding other things to do instead, so I don't really have any words of wisdom for you, sorry.  My husband writes fiction and has had a couple of his books published, but sadly I'm not as dedicated as him.  As other people have already said, there are quite a few members who write blogs so they are probably the best people to offer advice, as some have already done above.  @Ami2301 has a brilliant blog that I follow and she talks a lot about her life there, so she may offer some help too.  

I wish you well with your book anyway and look forward to reading it once its finished.