I began my entrepreneurial journey in 2018 when I formed The Write Place, Right Time as an LLC, and began doing contract writing work in the after-hours of my regular 9-5. Six months later in April of 2019, I walked out of my day job and made my passion for writing my full-time living. I haven’t looked back (even if there have been some tough days when I think I’d be better off making sandwiches). Shortly after starting on my path, I knew that I wouldn’t do copywriting or content writing for long. I intuitively knew that I was meant for something more, something I felt was greater and deeper. Helping beautiful humans write their memoirs and give the unique gift of their stories to themselves and the world.
From My Memoir to Book Coaching and Ghostwriting
In 2021, two years after my initial knowing and just a few months after my first memoir, Dear Universe, I Get it Now hit the shelves, I finally started pivoting my business to book coaching and ghostwriting services. These last two years have been incredibly rewarding. Regardless of the genre I’ve helped authors write, I’ve learned a great many things and I’ve found every experience inspiring, insightful, and informative. Each book project has been a rare gem–a unique gift that I cherish.
More than the book themselves, each author and our journey together has been a unique gift as well. It used to be that I thought I should work with books because I loved books. I loved words and stories. Writing has always come naturally and paired with formal study and years of practice, this was a tailor-made match.
What is also true, however, is that I also love people (most of the time)…especially the people who are here to make the world a better place. The thing that is common among every one of my author clients–no matter how different their backgrounds, their skills, their personalities, their experiences, their identities–is that they each want to make a difference in the world and leave it better than how they found it. These are my people.
Impact of Shared Experiences
The way we do that is through sharing our experiences. Our experiences connect us. Writing about the successes, failures, and nuances of our human experience allows us to see how universal these experiences are. When we can relate to someone’s human experience, we not only feel less alone in our own, but we may come to empathize or understand something differently. We might find ourselves relating to someone who is totally unlike us and who we otherwise may overlook or misjudge because we can see the humanity in what we share.
Our stories are unique gifts with the power to heal us and to connect us. When I say “Write the book that will light up your world and ours,” I say it intentionally. When we honor our own stories and write them, we activate our own healing. When we write our stories and share them with others, we activate theirs. The more healed our world, is the better off we all are.
This holiday season as we all go rushing around to find the perfect gift, I want you to think about how your story could be the best gift you could offer someone else. A gift of healing. A gift of hope. A gift of connection. Your story could impact someone you don’t even know in immeasurable and invaluable ways. Your story is love, light, and strength.
So, please. Honor your story. Share it. Write the book you wish to see in the world.
Eliminate the mental garbage: But, I’m not really a writer. But, I’ve never written a book before. But, I’m not sure I have anything valuable to say…These thoughts are fear. They are representatives of the tiny lizard part of your brain trying to keep you safe by focusing on all that could go wrong.
But what about what could go right? What about the people who need what you have to say? Your story could be just what one person needs and one person is enough. Impact one person and impact many. It’s a ripple effect and the world needs more of it.
Let’s also not overlook what you may need to say for yourself. You might need to write your story just for you. You count. You matter most.
Transform Your Pain Into Purpose
If you’ve been tapped to tell your story, tell it. Take that hard, messy, painful, traumatic thing and turn it into art and purpose. Turn it into collateral beauty. Your truth and journey could be someone else’s saving grace or your own. Heaven knows we all need to feel a little safer, a little less alone, a little more seen and heard.
So go for it. Your book (when done right) will change, transform, or empower someone else. Most of all, you.
Through writing memoirs, I’ve seen clients release anger, shed shame, and re-integrate parts of themselves they thought would always be splintered off into fragments, never to be whole again. I’ve watched one client finally get to a point where he felt ready to release his story from within himself and make it others’. When you write your story, you claim agency of your experiences, find meaning in your past, and reframe old narratives.
By the end, you’ll likely feel confident and empowered to share with the rest of the world, focused on reaching one worthy person in need of your words. The truth is you’ll likely reach several. And even if you only commit your stories to paper for your family, it’s still a unique gift to give them that will last forever.
Whether you publish or not, reach one person or several, or only share with your family isn’t the point. What better or more unique gift to yourself or to others could there be than to own one’s story, share it, speak one’s truth, and be set free?
Your Story is a Gift
As the year comes to a close and you consider the story that’s been tapping you on the shoulder asking to be told, I want you to really go deep within yourself. Ask “What do I have to lose?”’ Conversely, “What do I have to gain?”
Your story is a unique gift filled with love, sprinkled with a million tiny magical words that have the power to change us, and wrapped in a beautiful cover. It’s precious and powerful, just as you are. Any one of us would be lucky to receive it. Someone needs it. The world will be better because of it. So, start. It’s time to write your story.
Speaking of gifts…Looking for something unique to give to yourself or a loved one looking to up their bravery game? My award-winning memoir, Dear Universe, I Get it Now and/or The Bravery Box are terrific gifts for the bravery-seeking reader.
Or, ready to put words to your story and discuss your next best step? I’ve got you. Sign up for a free 20-minute Story Stroll where you and I can discuss the story that is whispering your name. It’s a perfect way to begin and getting started is always half the battle.