The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Have you ever told stories from your life to someone, and that person said to you, “Wow, you should write a book?” Perhaps writing a book is not the next logical step in your life, but for sure, you have a life story that has filled your days with thought-provoking events and outcomes. These events are not always glamorous; in fact, they might be riddled with drama and trauma.
Our life experiences consist of good, bad, and ugly moments. As a life coach, I know that all three of these types of experiences make for excellent teaching material in our personal life and professional life. As an author and writing coach, I know that these same experiences make for incredible content when writing your life story.
Writing Your Life Story
Everyone should write their life story, whether they ever want to publish it or not. By writing your life story, you will gain a greater understanding of what has transpired in your life. This review will enable you to see where you have healed and take stock of all that you have accomplished. This review will also point out where you still need to improve your life.
There are many different ways to heal your life, and one of the most profound ways is to engage in a conversation with your inner wisdom. By writing your story, you activate your inner wisdom, and you see your traumatic patterns and where profound healing is possible. I experienced this in my writing of my third book, Feast & Famine: Healing Addiction with Grace.
An Author’s Struggle
The first time I wrote Feast & Famine, I was in addiction to obsessive-compulsive food disorder and bulimia. I could see that I had so much to heal, and I went on an extensive self-healing journey. I had to put the manuscript down until I came into recovery. Once firmly in recovery, I wrote the book a second time, seeing the book with an entirely new lens.
Moving beyond my fear, I was able to share my life experiences and the full healing path that worked for me. I had an incredible message to share, and I stopped worrying about being judged by others. From this new place of empowerment, I released the book. Now, I gladly speak about my life story with a knowing that I am serving others.
After my courageous healing journey, I realized how much writing my story enabled my recovery. I became so enthusiastic that I changed the direction of my life coaching business to one of hybrid life and writing coaching. My aspiring writer clients receive the benefit of both my deep experience as a life coach and as an author.
Finding Your Courage
The hardest part about being a writing coach is to get my clients to write! Being able to write your story takes a tremendous amount of courage. The fear of confronting your painful life experiences can be overwhelming. The key is to write your life story for yourself first as a healing tool for your life.
If, after you have written your life story, you feel another level of courage coming on, then it is time to share your story with others. You can accomplish this in many ways in many different styles, from sharing it informally with others, to writing a blog post or an article, to designing a program to coach others. And, yes, you can transform your incredible life story into a book!
The Four Phases of Writing a Book
The writing process consists of four phases:
· Phase I – Share your unique life experiences from your past (your backstory) that make you the ideal person to write this book about the topic of your self-help book.
· Phase 2 – Describe your current life struggles and victories on the self-help topic in a way that will encourage your readers to say, “She (or he) gets me!”
· Phase 3 – Reveal what integrative solutions you discovered on your healing journey that brought you out of struggle and into the ease of grace-filled healing.
· Phase 4 – Design your practical advice and processes for your self-help topic to be relatable to others to help them to have a more positive present and future life.
Let’s Get Started
Check out Robin’s fun and informative group training called Getting Ready to Write or any of her writing program. Robin works with aspiring writers to learn practical and inspirational aspects of becoming a writer. Declare that you are ready to honor your life story and embrace it as a healing tool for yourself and others. Please sign up for a FREE 30-minute discovery call to learn more.
