Recently, while reading fellow BC writer Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen's wonderful blog Quips and Tips for Healthy Women, I came across this quotation from Maria Shriver:

""As long as I was trying to anticipate what people wanted from me, as long as I was trying to fulfill other people's expectations, I was in a losing game," said Shriver. "That's what I want to focus on...letting go of other people's expectations of you so you can own your own life, write your own story and live your own legacy."

One of the most important lessons the aspiring memoir writer can learn is that she is writing for herself first and foremost. The only way to live your own legacy and to tell your real story is to first let go of other people's expectations. We never really know what others expect of us anyway, so trying to tell our stories in a way that makes them happy is a fool's game.

When you sit down to write or record your story, keep in mind that your stories are your legacy. Make sure what you leave behind is the truth as you lived it.