The Edit: Writing Your Book Without Losing Your Voice

Why should you tell your story? Not how do you write it. Not where do you begin. But why does your story need to be told in the first place? After three different listeners asked me essentially that same question, I decided it was worth interrupting our current series on writing your story to answer it. Because before you worry about the blank page, remembering every detail, or figuring out how to put your experiences into words, you need to understand why those words might matter. And your s

"I write to discover what I know." — Flannery O'Connor You may know what happened in your life—but do you know what your story is really about? Those aren't always the same thing. A divorce may be what happened, but the story might really be about starting over. Building a business may be what happened, but the story might be about learning to trust yourself. Losing someone you love may be what happened, but the story might be about grief, faith, identity, family, or discovering how to build

If you want to write your story but keep getting stuck on one question—Where do I start?—this episode is for you. One of the biggest misconceptions about writing a personal story, memoir, or nonfiction book is that you have to begin at the chronological beginning. Your childhood. Your family history. The first thing that happened. But the place where you begin writing your story and the place where your finished book begins don't have to be the same. In this episode of The Edit With Holly Tot

Have you ever thought about writing your story and immediately stopped yourself because you don't remember enough? Maybe you remember the big moments, but not the dates. Maybe entire years feel fuzzy. Maybe you remember what happened but can't recall the exact conversation. Or maybe you've compared memories with a sibling and discovered the two of you remember the same event very differently. Here's the good news: You don't have to remember everything to write your story. In this episode of T

"You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step." — Martin Luther King Jr. You know you have a story to tell. You may have carried it with you for years. You've thought about writing it. You may have even told pieces of it to friends or family. But then you sit down in front of a blank page…and nothing comes. In this episode of The Edit, I'm answering a question from listener Jackson, who asked how to begin writing his story when, no matter how hard he tries, he simply ca

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." — Maya Angelou What if the most meaningful part of your vacation wasn't the destination... but the people you met? After returning from Cozumel, Mexico, Holly realized she wasn't thinking about the beaches, the restaurants, or the excursions. She was thinking about the people she met—and the stories they shared. A grandfather whose family grew out of unimaginable loss. A young man whose passion for his hometown reminded her