Keeping Memories Alive with Journalling

Keeping Memories Alive with the help of a good book! This book has been reviewed by Ruth Wucherer, Milwaukee, WI.

St. Charles, Illinois author Rosanne Gulisano tells readers how they can write their personal story in a new book titled, “From Intention to Reality: A Guide for Writing Your Own Life Story.” She says that without some form of written personal story, a person’s life will soon be forgotten! She adds, “You will just be a name on the Family Tree with only the dates of your birth and death noted for posterity.” I was able to interview Ms. Gulisano by letter and included her comments in the review. Ms. Gulisano is a senior citizen.

Ms. Gulisano focuses on memoir or life story writing to keep memories alive. She says that there is a difference between journaling and memoir writing. She says that journaling is writing a daily record and further explains, “Memoirs are reflections, reminiscences, experiences or adventures viewed from a long-range perspective of decades. These are random memories rather than a daily log…” (page 4). Ms. Gulisano feels that “her mission is to encourage people of all ages and from all walks of life to write their own life story for future generations.”

How does one get started with memoir writing? Ms. Gulisano said one should have a pocket size notebook, pen, pencil, and poster board for creating a family tree. I asked her what or who would jar a person’s memory? She said talking with living relatives such as grandparents. She added, “Visual aids such as old photos, old letters, scrapbooks, journals or diaries, yearbooks, show programs or dance bids can also help jar the memory.”

As far as grammar and tense, Ms. Gulisano suggests that one write a life story in the first person, past tense. She added that first person is the most common form.

The author recommends that a writer employ her/his senses when writing the life story. She said that the most common five senses are sight, smell, taste, sound and touch. Ms. Gulisano adds another five senses— “pressure, temperature, pain, balance and motion.” I asked her to define pressure and she said that there are two types—physical, and mental or emotional. She gave the example of “how one feels before a big exam” as an example of emotional pressure.

I found the book valuable because Ms. Gulisano provides relevant exercises at the end of some chapters. For example at the end of chapter 4, Ms. Gulisano suggests that one try writing about a certain decade of one’s life. She said one should go into detail and list each year, say from 20 to 29, and list certain things that took place in each year.

Ms. Gulisano suggests three formats a writer might want to use for the completed manuscript. They are ring binder, spiral bound, and self-published book.

Ms. Gulisano is the founder and facilitator of Lifestories: Creating a Memoir, a memoir writing workshop. She has been offering her workshops since 1999. Asked about the workshop cost, she says it depends on if the hiring organization charges for the workshop.

She has taught her workshops to senior’s groups, women’s clubs, and in library and park district programs, and community college classes. Clients have been in both local venues and throughout the Midwest.

Ms. Gulisano stated that some of the groups meet on a regular basis to share the progress on the writing of their life stories. She noted that some groups meet for years. If you are interested in finding out information about the memoir workshop, see the Lifestories web site at LifestoriesCreatingaMemoir.com.

Ms. Gulisano is a contributing writer and Poetry and Literature Editor for the online magazine NoStringsAttachedENews.com.

“From Intention to Reality” is Ms. Gulisano’s first book. She has no academic degrees, but has a “lifelong passion for history and personal stories.”

Ms. Gulisano’s 83-page book is softcover, and was published in 2008. The ISBN is 978-0-615-21416-0. The large print is easy on the eyes. Morris Publishing in Kearney, NE printed the book.

I highly recommend this excellent book!

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