“Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” ~Hamilton: An American Musical
Everyone has stories to tell, but not everyone is a writer. If that’s you—if writing doesn’t bring you joy—then stick with me for the rest of this post.
When Julie Herman and I compose our monthly b.read.crumbs posts, we usually share writing-related thoughts. That is, we tell you some of what we know about plotting or rhyming or submitting or surviving the writing life. We love our writer communities and few things make us happier than exchanging information with other writers.
But THIS post is for the non-writers.
As far as I can tell, I’m the only serious writer within 50 miles of my house, but I’m surrounded by people with amazing, enlightening, inspiring, knee-slapping stories that come out during conversation at the Cashsaver or in the middle of a yoga class or on a hiking trail. Because those folks aren’t writing down their stories, all of that wonder will be lost one day.
You’ve got stories, but if you’re not writing them down…well, the world will be the poorer for it. But look: you don’t have to write a book. There are lots of ways to tell your story.
Here’s an important note: There are lots of ways to preserve your story.
You can:
- write your story in a sentence, a haiku, or a letter to a friend
- paint or draw your story
- scrapbook or junk journal your story
- photograph your story
- dance your story
- act out your story a la Charades
- quilt your story
- sculpt your story
- record your story on your phone
- save your story in any fashion that works for you
If you aren’t a writer, you probably don’t know that November is National Novel Writing Month (don’t panic—there are no novels involved in this post), or NaNoWriMo for short. But here’s the deal: I’m declaring November to be NoWriMo, or Not a Writer Month.
If you are Not a Writer (heck, even if you are a writer), here’s my challenge to you:
1. Look at the Daily Prompt in the right sidebar (or wherever your device puts the sidebar).
2. Complete the sentence.
That’s it. That’s all you have to do. Pat yourself on the back and call it a day.
Or record that sentence somehow, if you’d like. You also have the option to expand on your sentence, go off on a tangent that grows from your sentence without any explanation of connection, or ignore the prompt and record any thought you have in any way that motivates you to preserve your story for sharing with the rest of us.
You have stories that need to be told, stories that will make the rest of us wiser, happier, and kinder. You have stories that only YOU can tell. Please be generous.
ONE FUN, TRUE THING
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You can read previous issues of b.read.crumbs here.
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