As we move into winter and many of us continue a relatively quiet time at home, I encourage our senior members, if you haven’t already, to start writing your own life history or memoir.

You don’t have to be a great writer or a famous person to write something of value to your family and the community! Every memory, every piece of your life is a part of a broader social and community history and is important – we don’t want the past to slip away, forgotten.

It doesn’t have to be a full-length memoir, so don’t let the hugeness of that kind of project stop you from starting! My Dad wrote about 20 pages of memories and these are precious to our family.

As a writer myself, I know the hardest part is often simply starting. So I encourage you to find pen and paper, or computer keyboard, and just write. Write anything. Write something. Start with a memory.Or a family story. Or, if you feel there’s a theme to your life, or a key thing you’ve learned, start with that. You can edit anything except a blank page, so the important thing is to start – the rest will follow.

If you’re interested in more advice about writing memoir or autobiography, I recommend Patti Miller’s book, Writing True Stories: The complete guide to writing autobiography, memoir, personal essay, biography, travel and creative nonfiction. It’s available in paperback and ebook, and Readers’ Companion and other bookshops should be able to order it in for you. The ISBN number is 9781760293086.