Writing A-Z: C is for Chronicle and Copycat
The website yourdictionary.com defines chronicle as a: record of things that have happened in the order which they happened. Think of a genealogy or a history book. The Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament of the bible shares the entire genealogy of Jesus, all the way back to Adam. The book of 1 Chronicles 2 in the Old Testament traces David’s lineage from Adam.
In both cases, in the context of their lifetimes and mission for their lives, it was vital that both David and Jesus to fulfill scripture and their lineage added to their credibility, giving more impact to their words. In these cases, chronicling a detailed history and timeline was essential.
Typically, we write a book because we have a story to tell, a lesson to impart, or even to simply provide information to our readers. Often when we start to write our own stories, our contention is that we must start with the day we are born and provide details of every event that ever happened along the way!
An obstacle to even beginning a book can be the belief it must be written as a chronicle, in a specific order, regarding specific facts, and it can be daunting — even overwhelming! The very thought of laying out a decades-long recounting of life can put the skids on the most committed and determined writer! It’s seemingly impossible to even know what to include and what to leave out, what matters and what doesn’t, who to include in the story or who to exclude — and how!
The truth is we don’t need to include every detail of our lives! Rather, it’s more effective — and less daunting — to determine a specific event, situation or time period about which to tell our story. Explain the precipitating event or point in time. Provide context. Discuss salient points. Share the journey from “there/then” to current day and the lessons learned on the journey.
While it’s important for our reader or listener to accept our credibility, it’s not necessary to dump on them unrelated facts, details or information. A chronicle is intended to document a point in time. We can redefine the story of our lives by chronicling the cause and effect — as one healed and becoming whole in our journey as an overcomer! Our victory is a balm for those still victims. Our triumph can be a lifeline for someone hanging on by a thread. Our transformation and healing journey offers hope to someone about to lose all hope that anything in their life will change!
While it’s important to be relatable as a writer or speaker, it’s also vital that we are authentic and genuine. It’s perfectly understandable that we may admire others, and it’s okay to emulate them. Where the line is drawn, though, is when we copy their style, their tone, their demeanor and even their body language or vocabulary.
Copying someone else may seem like a good idea! Especially if we perceive they are more accomplished, more intelligent, a better writer or speaker, or farther along in their own journey that we are in ours. But we alienate our own potential audience when we are less that genuine. When we copy others, we diminish our own story and it doesn’t take much for our readers or listeners to realize they’ve “read this/heard this before.”
They may not be aware of where they read something, or who said it, but they will have a vague familiarity that will ultimately disenfranchise and disappoint them. Once our credibility is destroyed, it’s all but impossible to get it back!
Better to do an imperfect, halting, even emotionally fraught presentation, than to prepare a work that is overly rehearsed to resemble someone else and their story.
Writing can be hard. It might be tempting to fall back to what’s easy or to claim a voice that isn’t really our own authentic voice. It’s worth the work to get it right, to dig deep and be honest with ourselves and our readers.
Make your work a chronicle of your life — not the copy of someone else's.
Happy Writing!
You can find Mary at linktr.ee/themarymoss
