As we recall and record our lives, we inevitably face a host of dilemmas about what to include and what to keep in our journals.. I cannot say there’s a full proof way to make a decision you won’t later regret, but I have come up with a useful, clarifying question. If anger, disappointment, or…
To tell our stories well and engage readers, we can’t just list one event, person, or place after another. Rather, we must think critically about the narrative we want to tell and ask ourselves whether each element we want to include serves that narrative. It’s up to us as writers to then link the separate strands of our lives so that our readers see patterns and understand how we became the remarkable people we are.