Why You Should Write Your Personal Stories
Take the plunge to share your writing
The thought of sharing my story terrifies me.
What would people think?
What if someone hates it or picks it apart?
I’m a private person, so I don’t talk about X.
Tell the truth: you’ve had one of these above thoughts, too, haven’t you? If you’re anything like my students, writing about yourself feels like exposing a part of your inner self that you weren’t planning on exposing. I’m not just talking about a cute anecdote that you’ve told so many times you have it memorized. And I’m not referring to surface-level biographical information about your hobbies and where you’re from.
I’m talking about the personal stuff. The real, raw, truthful stuff that only a few people — or maybe no one — knows about you. Those are the stories you’re holding in, and they are, in most cases, the stories that most desperately need to be told.
Here’s the thing: storytelling is one of the most effective ways to build relationships and form connections with others. This may mean writing a blog post or a short essay. We could also be talking about the ‘About Me” section of your website here. Emails, newsletters, and public speaking events are all occasions to tell a story and build…
