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Your Life is Your Story, Issue #241 – The Four Fears of Life Writing October 27, 2026 |
| Greetings "Your past is your story up to now. The future is the story yet to come. The present is where you live with that experience, your hopes and your dreams." 
Your Life is Your Story Newsletter October 27, 2026 Your Life is Your Story, Issue #241 – The Four Fears of Life Writing From Tom Gilbert – Editor and Writer, www.your-life-your-story.com In this Issue: Opening remarks: Annie Gets Your Story Featured Article – Four Fears of Life Writing Featured Resource – Kristen White - Orange Cat Media Opening Remarks: Annie Gets Your StoryAnnie Payne was a remarkable woman. She worked for many years as a nurse which tells you right there that she had a compassionate heart. Annie also had a great desire to work with others and their family histories and life stories. She was a tremendous personal historian and helped countless clients write and publish their stories. She wanted to get at the story, at the heart of the story. Maybe that is why she named her business, History From the Heart. Annie Payne passed away on October 16 of this year. She was a bright light, full of joy, humor and kindness. This sentiment has been echoed by many other personal historians who knew her, many from our days together in the Association of Personal Historians. When I was teaching 5th graders I got Annie to do a live phone conversation with my class one day to talk about Australia and its many unique and interesting features, culture and animal life. Being in New Mexico you can imagine the time difference, but Annie gladly did the conversation and answered the various questions the students asked. She lived in Brisbane and she knew a great deal about life in Australia. That was one of my most cherished memories where my life as a teacher and personal historian intersected. Thank you, Annie Payne, for sharing your good life with your family, friends and the world. Thank you so much for being part of the Your Life Is Your Story community. Thanks to all our subscribers. I hope you enjoy this month’s issue. You are receiving this e-zine because you signed up for it or someone who is subscribed passed it along to you. If a friend DID forward this to you consider subscribing by visiting our signup page . Also, let me know what you’d like to see more of in this newsletter – simply reply to this email e-zine. – Tom Featured Article: Four Fears of Life WritingSharing your life story through a memoir or other form can be scary. You can face your fears and help yourself and others with your life journey.Fear can be an obstacle to your life story writing. But it need not be.Whenever you are afraid it is always helpful to identify just what those fears are and see how much they are based in reality and how many of them turn out to be just your imagination running away with you.
I find it beneficial to remember the acronym F.E.A.R: False Evidence Appearing Real.In this article I explore four common fears of life story writing: 1. The fear of what people will think No matter how riveting your story is, you probably have some concerns about what people will think of it. Writing our life story often means admitting some of our shortcomings, maybe addressing some instances when you’ve been harmed by others, commenting about your relationships with people, work, politics, religion and any number of other hot button issues. You can’t let these concerns overwhelm you to the point that you censor your writing. I recommend you write as honestly as possible. Then in your reviewing and revision stage you can consider what you might want to take out. 2. The fear of facing your demons Perhaps you have some addictions, failings, regrets or other skeletons in your closet that you haven’t fully confronted. Writing about them can be therapeutic. Dealing with some of those things that have bothered you, perhaps since childhood, can help free you from an unhealthy preoccupation. A note of caution: some things need professional therapy. If an issue is particularly troubling you might try some counseling. Nevertheless, there are many things, such as age-old resentments towards family members or institutions or facing certain addictions, for which your life story writing can help you gain perspective. Putting things in writing often brings clarity. There is a saying in recovery circles that is another acronym of F.E.A.R. Face Everything And Recover. 3. The fear of failure This fear is pretty common. Many of us are deterred from writing about our lives because we think we’ve either failed to accomplish much, especially certain dreams and desires. Or we don’t think we can complete our writing. For the latter it helps to simply commit to a regular schedule of writing and keep working on your story. Over time you will make good progress. As for your fear you will never accomplish certain “bucket list items”, consider that completing a life story is a very worthwhile thing and should certainly boost your confidence and self-esteem. 4. The fear of success The flip side of fear of failure is that you will actually be successful with your story and people will take notice. Suddenly you are in the limelight, or at least a spotlight, and that exposure can cause trepidation. You might worry that you can’t handle the attention. Frankly, the chance that you will be famous as a result of writing your story is slim. Sorry to burst any bubbles, but it’s the truth. However, getting recognition and congratulations for telling people about your experiences, values and lessons in life is a true indication of personal success. Part of our fascination with people’s stories is that we identify with their journey. It can be inspiring and motivating. Continue reading this article here. Featured Resource: Kristen White - Orange Cat MediaIt is always valuable to discover people who get it when it comes to digital media marketing and helping authors develop their authority on whatever key ideas or life lessons they have learned. This is true not just for business experts and marketing gurus. It can help memoirists become more noticed and able to successfully promote their book. Kristen White is a former television journalist who now has over twenty years experience in helping others navigate the digital landscape and get booked on podcasts and other media platforms. She was recently interviewed on a podcast and presented her thoughts on how to build your authority through her promotional strategies. Check out the podcast. Closing InformationThat’s it for this month’s issue. Thanks for reading. Here’s to telling your story. Do give it some serious consideration because I just know you’ve got a great story to tell! Be sure to see the Get Started section.Any comments, ideas or feedback is greatly appreciated. Just reply to this ‘zine and tell me what you think! Until next time, – keep your story alive! Tom Gilbert |
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