When I looked at the different elements that came into play to breathe new life into my writing life last year, it all boiled down to one thing: community.

Writers can fall into this misconception that if you’re going to write your memoir you’re honor-bound to spare no detail and give everything to your reader. I’ve heard variations on the thought, “But I need to be truthful!” Here’s the real truth, though: If you’re writing for a reader, then you owe them connection, not everything. And you get to decide where the line is.

Vignettes occupy a distinctly different space, sitting squarely between prose and essays. Vignettes are short snapshots of a life that are also intricately connected to one another. You could probably read one independent of the others, but to be fully understood, they must be read in order and in context of the greater narrative.

If you’re here, reading about memoir, nurturing a dream inside about writing your story, I am so proud of you.

Let me say that again:

I am so proud of you.

Writing isn’t just about sitting down at a computer and plopping words onto a page. The writing life is inextricably connected to your regular life, and to succeed in either sphere, you’ll need helpful mindsets that can guide you through frustration and creative blocks. Today I have three mindsets that I’ve observed in and learned from writers just like you.