Some people know me as the author of the picture book The Donkey’s Song,

The Donkey’s Song – A Picture Book
Written by Jacki Kellum
Illustrated by Sydney Hanson
Published by Doubleday for Young Readers at
Penguin Random House

And some people know me as an artist, but a few people also know that I have been writing memoir stories for years.

Churches in the Wildwood

I have begun to compile a book of those memories: Churches in the Wildwood, and I thought that some of you might like to spend the golden days of autumn writing about your own memories, too.

Beginning on October 1, I’ll begin posting a new prompt every day to help you begin to write your own memoir–to Harvest Your Past.

In addition to providing you with a different writing prompt each day, I’ll also offer a few writing tips along the way. Bottom line: I’ll help you comb through your memories to begin to look at your life in a more specific way. I’ll say this over and over:

Learning to Write Is Dependent on a Person’s Ability to Dig Deep and to Be Specific.

At this point, you don’t need to worry about whether you can write or not. I assure you that everyone can be a writer. Know This: You do not need to know what you want to write before you begin writing.  You only need to begin. The words that I want to write come to me AS I write whatever. I say that the Angels wrote my picture book The Donkey’s Song.

My Intuition Actually Wrote My Debut Picture Book, The Donkey’s Song, I Just Typed

I make very few decisions before I begin to write anything. I simply start writing, and my muse–or my angels–or my intuition–takes over and does the rest of the work. Rule Number 1: Get out of your own way, and allow your writing to begin.

We’ll begin writing your memoir together on October 1.