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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Life Stories

David Brooks, one of my favorite columnists, is inviting us over-70 types to send him our life stories. He is desperate for column ideas. He suggests categories, such as career, family, and others, and asks us to grade ourselves on each. Wow!

I have tried writing biographical bits and pieces before. The first time I tried, I got stuck in 1944 and wrote a novelette about it. Well, David, one year down, 73 to go. How much time you got? Even if I had to pick the most memorable years, it's a formidable task. Maybe the most forgettable years? I forgot them. There must be a better way to organize my thinking, other than chronological. How about "The Size Twelve Years?" "The Year of No Dogs?"or "The Year of Five Jobs?"

Once organized, then I simply have to fill in the details. Twenty-five words, or twenty-five pages. Maybe twenty-five chapters? No one would read that, not even me. Certainly not David Brooks, because he's going to get a bunch of these. He plans to write about them. Will he name names? of family and friends?

The really hardest part will be to grade myself in each category. On a curve? Based on my life against that of another, or category against category? I get an "A" in family but a "C-" in self-actualization, maybe. If comparing myself to others, I intend to leave out Mother Theresa and Lindsay Lohan, David.

1 comment:

June said...

David Brooks should do his own homework. I find the concept of "grading" your life story, or any portion thereof, ridiculous.