Affirmations for Memoir and Life Story Writers
Photo by Dorka Hegedus
A big part of a writing coach’s job is to help authors maintain confidence in their own abilities. Fortunately, I have a lot of experience in that realm because I’ve been giving myself writer pep talks for years. I still need them. I will always need them.
During two Zoom conversations with memoir clients yesterday, I pulled out some of my favorite writer affirmations, and then I myself needed some encouragement after I received some well-meaning but extensive critique on the book I’m soon to self-publish. I’m in the proofreading phase with that book, not the rewriting and revising phase, so the level of critique was deflating.
To process the critique and my emotional response, I wrote down the advice I’d so recently offered my clients—for myself. Processing it in this way helped. May the affirmations below help you, too, the next time you’re in need of encouragement to keep at the writing life. We must keep writing!
Some truths for life story and memoir writers to hold in their hearts:
Your story has value. If it didn’t, you’d be able to let it go easily. It wouldn’t call to you from inside your dreams. It wouldn’t follow you on your walks. Its fragments wouldn’t bully their way onto scraps of paper around your house, or into the notes app on your phone, or into the quiet conversations in your head.
No one else can tell your story like you can. Literally no one else.
To elaborate on the previous point, no one wholly shares your perspective on your topic (you). You’ve formed your perspective on your topic (you) by observing your topic (you) over the course of a lifetime, as you’ve lived through a set of experiences unique to you alone. You are the number one expert on you.
You have an original writing voice. Everyone does. Your writing voice is a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger it will become. By your own judgement, your writing voice may not be as “good” as someone else’s, but even if you’re correct (and you might not be), your work still has value. A story told honestly and from the heart always connects. Trust that your writing voice is the perfect pitch for telling your story.
You’re already a writer. You’ve written many, many things in the past, whether student essays or grocery lists or books. You’re a writer. You’re a writer. You’re a writer. You may as well own that fact. You’ll have more energy left over for writing if you do.
A variety of motivations brings us to the page. If one of your motivations is to help others—to instruct your reader in some way, or to create an intimacy between yourself and your reader that makes them feel seen and held, or simply to give them the pleasure of entertainment—how many readers do you believe you need to help for your writing to be worthwhile? I think if we help one person, if we make one person’s day a little lighter, if we bring one person closer to understanding some core element of humanity, that’s a solid day’s work. Write toward that one reader who needs you.
What are your favorite writer affirmations? Tell me in the comments. I’d love to add yours to my repertoire.