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photo credit: centralasian
Where are you going with your story? Where will you be at the end?
Without an idea of the journey’s end there’s almost no point in starting out. So get that story line locked down now. Your life story will end with the present, but there must be a shape to your story and a natural resolution to the conflicts you have set up.
Of course you can enjoy an unstructured journey, happily roaming about, stopping here and there to look at a view, pick a flower, experience the ambience of a summer’s day. But what then?
It’s nice to be spontaneous and you could equate that to writing that happens off the cuff, suddenly inspired by creative forces that come from who knows where, but at some point that vital energy is going to run out. Just like the unstructured walk in the high country the going at some point will become challenging, and then it’s time to stop and decide, go on or turn back, or just sit down and think about the journey.
A story is like a song, there is a rhythm and there are beats and then natural cadences that tell you that that particular piece of music is coming to an end. Your story must be like that, building up a rhythm and setting up an expectation of resolution.
So when thinking about the shape of your life story first try to identify the natural points of interest, where you will capture your readers and hold them until you are ready to let them go.