Being overwhelmed is a common feeling when starting to write your life story, after all there are years of experience, anecdotes, and memories packed in there. By talking to lots of people about what has held them back, it seemed to me that knowing where to even start was a huge obstacle.

Well, it doesn't have to be, just put aside an hour of your time in a quiet place with no interruptions. Settle down somewhere comfortable with a large notepad and a pen - and no matter how computer literate you are, this process needs to start with you physically writing stuff down. The Irish novelist Edna O'Brian said that there was an emotional connection between the hand and the heart, and it's your heart that is going to give you all the material you need to start writing your life story.

Don't worry, it is going to be transferred to a computer later and that's when you will be using the more 'business like' side of your brain, but right now you want to access those emotions and feelings in the most elemental way - connecting your hand and your heart through your pen.

The Fast Start Method: This initial stage is all about spontaneity, and what you are going to do is just sit down and brainstorm onto your pad in a random fashion a rough outline of your life so far. Don't worry about it being correct or in order, but start to make notes of the important events in your life by putting each one on a separate line and leaving a couple of lines space between each one.

It will be all over the place, but you can tidy it up later so right now take a look at the list you have made and start to add a line by each one to remind you of that event or time in your life. Just keep the pen flowing over the paper and don't force it, just relax and write down what comes to mind. When you have added a rough note to remind you of the event, it could look like this:

1953 - born St Judes Hospital

1958 = primary school

19?? family emigrated - check Dad for date

1963 - first school in Australia - julie my best friend

1974 - first job at Ashworths - horrible boss!

1966 - sister born - home or hospital?

1959 - found out I was left handed

As you can see, the list can be a random mix of dates, events, and memories, so jot down everything as it comes into your head - you can discard or edit later.

Please, don't worry about missing things out, or the order they are in for the moment. Just write them down as they come to you and when you feel you have 'run dry' then put the pad aside to come back to later.

Even if you are not aware of it, you are now starting to access memories by the very process of starting to think about your life so that you will find yourself recalling things that you thought were long forgotten. When something occurs to you, write it down in a brief note form, on your list if you are near it, or on anything else handy so that you can transfer the memory onto the list on your pad later.

This one hour session gives you the essentials for the 'data bank' you need to access for the actual writing and I suggest you plan to have at least one or two more like it to keep jogging your memory and remembering things you will want to have in your life story. When you feel you really add any more, then put it into a rough time order as near as you can and type it up in your computer or write it out more neatly.

This is your route map through your life story and remember it is not a 'closed document' but something that you can keep adding to all the time you are writing. There are several ways you can use this material for different types of life story - but first, get that list written!