techniques Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Forever Young Autobiographies

Painful stories: How to write about sad memories and hard conversations

3 ideas for approaching and exploring painful memories in your writing

First published May 19, 2018: This article has been updated and improved.

Australia recorded its most deadly day for coronavirus deaths last week.

Certainly it is such a scary time for all of us around the world as the pandemic takes hold in successive waves.

The new normal feels sombre and has me thinking about important memorial days such as Anzac Day.

Likewise these can bring up sad and painful stories.

Wars and the loss of a loved one are difficult topics to address in an autobiography, memoir, biography or a life-story interview.

Many do not know how to sit down and write about or approach such stories no matter how much they want to.

But this doesn’t mean painful stories should be left out of writing stages.

Some memories, even painful ones, need to live on, be understood and learnt from.

Here are a few tips to help keep you writing when you come to painful stories …

Foreign words: How to clearly write foreign phrases and foreign expressions in 5mins

The fast way to writing foreign words and meaning in your book

A friend recently came to me with a foreign words question, specifically about translating New Zealand Maori.

She asked what was the best way to introduce and use foreign words and foreign phrases in an autobiography, memoir, biography or life story?

Curiosity sent me on a deep dive of style guides to confirm some suggestions.

Even if you don’t write many foreign words you probably use jargon or vernacular that will need explanation before your book gets to the publishing stage.

I know, as an Aussie, we use loads of slang that leaves non-Aussies puzzled!

So read on for some you beaut (excellent) ways to deal with foreign words and expressions in your writing.

Visual writing: Become a visual storyteller with visual writing techniques

Amazing secrets of visual story writing to use in your book

My son recently turned four and was given a new box of Lego.

He loves Lego and can play with it for hours.

With only a few coloured blocks he can create a “firetruck with an in-built helicopter landing pad” or a “police car on a flying train”.

These might be basic, abstract constructions but the point is he doesn’t need many blocks to get his imagination cranking!

Likewise readers use our words to visualise the stories we write about in our autobiography, memoir, biography or life-story project.

We want to transport our audience back in time to understand and ‘see’ our memories.

But how to do this well and without writing a tome?

Today I highlight some key visual writing ideas to keep in mind as you plan, write, polish and publish your book.

Death and dying: How to have hard conversations for your writing

What a doctor knows about discussing life and death

It was a hot and humid afternoon when I got the call from my dad Paul.

I was sitting in the school car park with one child, about to pick up another.

As a general practitioner doctor of 40 plus years he cut straight to the point: one of his major arteries was 95 per cent blocked.

He would have surgery in two weeks.

The risks were high; death before the operation, death during the operation or “worse” waking up from the operation with permanent damage from a stroke.

My brain went fuzzy, emotions pricked my eyes but my journalistic brain kicked in and I asked for the facts.

It was a 10-minute conversation and one of many we would have as my dad underwent multiple high-risk operations that year.

During this time we talked about death and dying, life and survival.

These are hard conversations – sometimes painful, confronting, urgent.

They are also topics we have to face as we write about our own lives or help a loved one write their life story.

In this article I sit down with my dad to discuss what tips he has gleaned over a lifetime of medicine on talking to people about death and dying.

Story detail: Identifying key details in a story to make your autobiography shine

What every memoir writer should know about finding details in a story

First published July 2017: This article has been updated and improved.

If I told you a story about a father helping to deliver his daughter in a hospital car park at night, you might think it an uncommon event.

It I then told you that it was Father’s Day and this dad had to hold the torch for the midwives while the baby was delivered in a matter of minutes, you might think it was pretty interesting.

Now what if I told you that this father was actually himself born on Father’s Day and that his last child was born on Mother’s Day, you might think I was making the whole story up!