Happiness is....

Happiness, the pursuit of happiness, I’m happy, you’re happy, we’re all happy! Belly laughs! Oh, I don’t want much for my children, just that they be happy!
 
There is nothing so basic as our search for happiness. Are you ready to find happiness? Here we go.
 
Happiness is a simple equation. “Happy” comes from a word in languages from Greek to Irish that means “lucky.” So, if you feel lucky, then you feel happy. If you feel you were lucky to marry your awesome spouse, then you feel happy. If you feel lucky to retire and travel the world, then happiness is your state. If you encountered no line at Starbucks today, then you know what follows. And if you failed to achieve those things, then you may feel unlucky and unhappy.
 
Controlling luck is why so many people are competitive. They believe besting a friend or foe in some way, by being richer, smarter, fancier, means they are luckier. This is a short term win because over time that activity turns the winner into a loser, by breaking friendships. It’s better to find “luck” on a deeper level that doesn’t require competition with those near and dear.
 
Let’s take a look at memoir readers.
 
Memoir readers want to feel their time spent reading your book was good fortune. That means your book must be one of these:

  1. Your memoir must be beautifully written, so the reader is transported through language and feels lucky to have read your words; or
  2. Your memoir must offer incredible insights, so the reader feels lucky to have walked days with you; or
  3. Your memoir must be a lucky story that turns the Hero’s misfortune into something shimmering with majesty. This is the surest way to connect with readers who are often hoping for some Fairy Godmother or lucky break in their own lives. Many readers subconsciously feel unlucky in life and the only way they know how to change that feeling is through reading a book, so your job is to give them hope that luck is coming on the next page.

Think about the books you have been lucky to read and ask yourself what made the book special and what made it shimmer in your memory. In your bones, you are aching to give the same good fortune to your reader. Your reader wants to get lucky, and your book will bring great happiness. Here’s how.
 
Write for 15 minutes on each of these prompts without stopping and enjoy uncovering your lucky life!
 
The luckiest thing that ever happened to me was…..

I made my luck change by…..

And if you are writing about being in today's long line at Starbucks, why not change the story into your great fortune for having time to talk to a new coffee friend? Luck is how you look at life, and you are very lucky indeed.
 
Sending long distance hugs and good wishes,
Janette
 

 


Starting Your Memoir

While your family may have been poor, rich, loving, wacky, or otherwise exceptional or just plain average, you must bridge the gulf between your world and the reader’s with grounding detail. Every time you jog a reader’s own memory, your book becomes more important and, well, memorable, as it moves past the realm of personal memoir into a collective one

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