Assuring my posthumous longevity
I've decided to cheat at this year's NaNoWriMo. I still am going to pound out 50,000 words or more during the month of November. I still am going to isolate myself in my home office for hours on end while the children wreak havoc on the rest of the house. I still am going to end up with a tale that has a beginning, a middle, and something of an ending.
But this year, instead of writing a novel starring characters that probably bear strong resemblance to family members, I am doing something different. I am writing my memoir, the autobiographical account of my life from birth to the age I am now, thirty nine glorious years old.
I'm writing my life story for a number of reasons. One, I think my story is interesting, just like I think your story is interesting. Two, I feel compelled to make a record of the things only I know, things I may one day forget as age and time take me to a different place in history. Three, I hope my children will one day find my story interesting, too.
To support point number three, I recently came across an article in the October issue of Travel and Leisure: Golf magazine. Written by Jack and John Garrity, it is explained in the preface to the piece that Jack Garrity is John Garrity's dad and that he passed away in 1990. Among the things he left behind was "a typed manuscript of two hundred pages." In his case, "a golfer's memoir." Son John turned an excerpt from the memoir into an article, inserting his own comments in various places. Even though I'm not passionate about golf, I was fascinated by the story behind the piece. What a wonderful legacy for a father to pass to a son.
That's what I'm doing for this year's NaNoWriMo, and to give you an idea of how it's going, I'm at the 8,000 word mark and I've just started elementary school. I don't think I'm going to have any problem getting to 50,000 words.
But this year, instead of writing a novel starring characters that probably bear strong resemblance to family members, I am doing something different. I am writing my memoir, the autobiographical account of my life from birth to the age I am now, thirty nine glorious years old.
I'm writing my life story for a number of reasons. One, I think my story is interesting, just like I think your story is interesting. Two, I feel compelled to make a record of the things only I know, things I may one day forget as age and time take me to a different place in history. Three, I hope my children will one day find my story interesting, too.
To support point number three, I recently came across an article in the October issue of Travel and Leisure: Golf magazine. Written by Jack and John Garrity, it is explained in the preface to the piece that Jack Garrity is John Garrity's dad and that he passed away in 1990. Among the things he left behind was "a typed manuscript of two hundred pages." In his case, "a golfer's memoir." Son John turned an excerpt from the memoir into an article, inserting his own comments in various places. Even though I'm not passionate about golf, I was fascinated by the story behind the piece. What a wonderful legacy for a father to pass to a son.
That's what I'm doing for this year's NaNoWriMo, and to give you an idea of how it's going, I'm at the 8,000 word mark and I've just started elementary school. I don't think I'm going to have any problem getting to 50,000 words.
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