National Write Your Story Day

Every year on March 14th, a quiet but meaningful occasion passes by — National Write Your Story Day. It's a day that doesn't get the fanfare of Valentine's Day or the greeting cards of Mother's Day, but for those of us who believe in the power of personal narrative, it might be the most important day of the year.

I've been writing and teaching memoir for many years now, and the question I hear most often is: 'Who would want to read my story?' The answer, every single time, is: the people who love you. Your children. Your grandchildren. The great-grandchildren you may never meet.

Your story doesn't need to be dramatic to matter. It doesn't need a villain or a miracle. It needs only to be honest — to capture the texture of your days, the values you lived by, the moments that shaped you into the person you became.

So today, and every day, I invite you: write one true thing. A memory. A lesson. A moment you've never told anyone. That is where your memoir begins.