Here at My Saga, we believe that everyone has a life saga to tell. You may have been thinking about writing yours for some time, but it can be a daunting project to begin. Our mission is to help you to capture your life saga, your way. We’ve put together the top tips to consider when writing your very own saga. Remember: we can assist you with any and all of these stages.
Choose your theme
If you’ve come across us, you’ve probably already considered your theme. However, before you begin to write, it helps to solidify your focus. Some people find it useful to narrow their focus to a specific time in their life, or to construct their saga around a significant place. It could be that your career has provided you with interesting insights and experience that you’d like to share. If you’re particularly ambitious and motivated, perhaps you want to write the saga of your whole life. There are no right answers; all that matters is that you choose the saga you really want to tell.
Read (not just non-fiction and biographies)
It’s a good idea to read some sagas before attempting to write your own. There are some links to sagas that we have already published on our website at www.my-saga.com that may help. Most you can purchase via Amazon. This reading will show you some different ways to approach your saga, and provide inspiration for your structure and writing style. Think about what engaged you as a reader; you will want to similarly connect with your readers. It’s also worthwhile reading books that deal with a related topic, period of time, or setting, and this could be fiction or non-fiction. Whatever it is that inspires you in their writing, you can emulate, learn from and apply to your own writing. Writing, in many ways, is a magpie’s art, which takes us neatly onto the next step…
Gather materials
Early on in the process of writing your saga, it’s important to gather together useful material. This could be photographs, researched material and scrapbook or diary entries. Alongside these, now is the time to note down your memories of events and relevant anecdotes. These could be well-rehearsed stories that you’ve told to family and friends, but they could be ones that come to mind as you begin the process of organising your thoughts. Being thorough at this stage can save a lot of pain during the writing process, as can the next stage…
Plan your saga
Planning helps to break up the formidable task of your saga into smaller, more approachable portions. You’ll want your saga to connect events in a coherent and engaging manner. One useful approach is to think of your saga in terms of a timeline, and structuring your book chronologically. Another method is to visualise your saga on one piece of paper with a ‘mind map’: start with the main focus of the saga as the central point, then draw bubbles leading from it with various memories, occasions and events referred to in those bubbles. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can piece your saga together. However, there is no right way to write your saga: it’s wholly your choice. It’s sensible to be flexible with your plans, as even the most prepared writer will be struck with new thoughts when beginning their saga.
Get it down
This part is crucial. No saga flows out effortlessly and flawlessly; not even for the greatest saga-writers. Writing requires discipline. Make sure you dedicate regular time to your writing. Don’t sit waiting for inspiration to strike, or for the perfect sentence to form in your head. Using your gathered materials, flesh out your notes and thoughts, and follow your plan. At this stage, the aim is to get the content down. At this stage, perfection is the enemy of done.
Edit, edit and edit
Now that you have the bulk of your saga written, the hard work begins! Editing is crucial. This is the time to perfectly capture your stories. Here, you can sharpen up your paragraphs and cut out extraneous detail. Having someone to assist with editing is extremely useful, as they’ll be able to read your saga with fresh eyes. At My Saga, we offer top-notch, thorough editorial services. Nevertheless, your voice and your personality are key, and we’ll ensure these aspects remain intact.
Get it published
My Saga will do all of the leg-work to produce your beautiful, personal saga!
I hope you’ve found these seven steps useful. We will be publishing more free tips, ideas and inspiration in further articles, so please do subscribe to our newsletter at https://www.my-saga.com/#mailing-list
I look forward to reading your life saga
Rufus.
My Saga Team
www.my-saga.com