Memoirs are deeply personal, no matter the topic. Whether you’re chronicling your journey with a chronic illness, writing about grief and loss, or sharing your experience as an athlete, these personal stories are often harder to write down.
A blank page can be so daunting!
In my experience, the one thing that ensures that your story gets from your head and onto the page is accountability. Accountability is a powerful tool that not only motivates, but also celebrates your milestones. Here are just a few reasons why accountability is so important to your writing process.
Check-Ins Lead to Progress
“How’s that book coming along?”
There is something extra motivating about knowing someone will ask you about your progress. It’s fascinating that we are quick to break our own promise to write 500 words a day, but when we make that same promise to another human, suddenly it comes to fruition!
In a perfect world, we would value the promises that we make to ourselves just as much as those made to another human but, until then, this is one of the most effective ways to keep yourself accountable.
Consider asking a friend or someone you trust to check in on you once a week, and you may just start to make progress!
Opportunity for Feedback
Have you ever stared at a page for so long that the words start to mash together and make no sense at all? Or, on the other hand, everything looks fine and then you read it again the next morning and question how you ever thought that made any sense?
Sometimes, a second set of eyes or even your own eyes the next day is all we need to have a new perspective on our work. Having someone be able to read your work through their perspective opens the doors to all kinds of great suggestions and angles you may choose to investigate.
Being Accountable to Someone Else is the Best Gift you Can Give Yourself
It really is a funny human quirk, how we’ll sometimes work harder and more regularly for someone else than we do for ourselves. I’m sure we could deconstruct why that is and have a field day doing so, but I’m not here to dive into armchair psychology. Instead, I say use this funny little trait to your full advantage. Help yourself by inviting someone else to your team. And the flip side? You’ll be helping them, too! Win-win.
Do You Need Accountability?
I can help!
Not only do I offer private coaching for writers but I also offer my Life Writing for Beginners Group Coaching program. Weekly meetings, writing activities, and great company will get you started and keep you on track in your writing journey.
Whether you wish to see your book on a shelf of a local bookseller or you’d like to create something that you safely tuck away on a shelf in your home for your eyes only, writing about your life experiences is not easy, especially if you lack accountability. My coaching groups are small so that we can take the time to learn about everyone’s individual needs and give them the type of accountability that is most likely to see them through the writing process.
You can write your story and I would love to be a part of this journey as a cheerleader, accountability partner, and editor. Reach out, if you’d like a little accountability on the side of your memoir.
