What’s Unique About Your Story?

Filed in Ask the Editor, Writing Tips by on May 19, 2015 0 Comments

Each of us has a unique story; a story we may not think is special, but to some it may be the encouragement they need to make sense of their lives.

Maybe you have been feeling the tug of God on your heart to write your testimonial down on paper, yet you keep asking yourself, “Who would want to read my story?”

The answer is everyone, but it’s important to locate what is distinctive about your story that might create a positive influence among readers.

As May is the month devoted to celebrating testimonials, let’s try to generate ideas to discover what makes your testimonial stand out from the rest.

Start with taking a moment to think about your life (from childhood to present day). Can you recall an area of your life that has defined you most, or a turning point where you stepped away from the wrong path and onto the right one?

Narrowing down this main objective first will help you determine if your testimonial will be one of advice to others, recognition of blessings or realization of your true potential.

Write down significant events that occurred during that defining time in your life, the main objective of your book, so you can get a sense of the direction you want to take. Life lessons you acquired will start to emerge through this list, as you begin to establish your book’s outline and organize your thoughts into understandable chapters for readers.

What if you feel there is more sadness than blessings in your life story? Even if you had a rough beginning or patches in your life, but are now made whole through faith, you could use this as a guiding force to educate readers on the power of God and belief of greater purposes for everyone. The goal is for your readers to come away from reading your testimonial with a sense of hopefulness that things can change.

Renewed hopefulness may also be reignited in your heart as well, as you uncover the exceptional characteristics of your life, which is always the goal of God: to direct our paths in ways to re-affirm His grace and love for us, while prompting our desires to be blessings to the world.

God has asked many of us to summon the courage necessary for putting pen to paper and publishing a unique story. Now is the time to answer God’s call to publish your testimony for readers around the world, those readers that may also think they are nothing special—but will soon see exactly how special they are in God’s eyes, through your story.

Philippians 1:20 (NIV) — “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”

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About the Author ()

Blair Townley joined the Xulon Press family as a Staff Editor in May 2013, helping first-time authors prepare their treasured manuscripts for publication. Prior to Xulon Press, she previously worked as a staff writer/editor for several Central Florida-based magazines over the past decade. What Blair enjoys most about writing and editing is getting to help others share their stories, helping others see themselves as the unique individuals God created them to be.

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