How to Share a Favorite Pirate Memory and Storytelling
Pirates are the stuff of legends, and it’s easy to forget that they were once real people. They sailed the seas in search of treasure, adventure, and a good time! The Legacy Storytelling Method is designed to help you tell your family's pirate memories so they can be shared with future generations. Hear about our founder's favorite pirate memory!
What is “52 Weeks of Storytelling”
Every single video is set up so that you can write one page of your story. That is the gist of what 52 weeks of storytelling is. It's giving you an opportunity and allowing you to set aside some time each week to write one page of your story.
The main idea is to have you write one page, each week. That way you can create 52 pages for a book that's never been written before! What an incredible feeling and accomplishment it would be if you did this. Additionally, you can work with someone else to tell their story. Helping someone else tell their story is a rewarding way to get to know someone and spend your time.
If you're feeling like this is too much of an undertaking, don't worry. There's a video for each week and they are all less than ten minutes long. You are not behind!
Legacy Storytelling Method
I would like to walk through the legacy storytelling method. What you'll find in those journals, and in all the videos is the legacy storytelling method, which is how I coach and walk people through and train them, how to have storytelling conversations and how to write their story.
What I found over the years is that when people use a storytelling method, it leads them to write better stories more easily, and it gives them a chance to have meaningful storytelling moments.
The Five W's
The first five questions are the five W's who, what, when, where, and why, in that order.
The Why is where people get a little tripped up. The why for me is what was happening.
- How did you get to this moment?
- What was going on?
- Was it because someone told you to go do something, etc.
You are answering the why of how you got there and how the moment happened.
Digging Deeper
The next few questions have to do with feeling and impact…
- What do you want people to remember about this moment?
- When did this memory happen?
- How do you feel about it now that then maybe there's some distance between you in the memory?
- What impact did it have on your life?
- Did it change the trajectory of what you did?
- And then finally, what do you want people to remember about this moment?
When you answer this last question or when you ask someone else this question, it's pretty amazing the answers you'll get. You'll find that it may lead to other storytelling conversations and other things that you didn't know about the person or that you didn't realize about yourself until you walk through this reading method or storytelling process.
Working with someone else
Following this method of interviewing and storytelling with someone else allows you to build rapport and create a stable connection. This means that your Storyteller will be more likely to share harder, more emotional memories later. This relationship-building takes time and shouldn't be rushed whenever possible. If you are working with a grandparent, parent, or someone else you love, you may be able to skip some of these but I still encourage you to start with the prompts and 52 weeks of storytelling.
Grab the Journal
You didn’t think I would leave you without a map, did you? I’m using the 52 Ways to Write Your Story in a Year With Guided Prompts to guide the prompts every week. You can grab it as a printable PDF from Etsy or head over to Amazon and order a hot off-the-press-bound copy.
Some things that have happened for people as they have been writing and using the journal and could happen for you…
- Become more mindful and aware of your decisions in life
- Learn more about yourself by exploring your family history
- Get to know who you are and what makes you tick
- Get inspired to write a memoir
Intro to the Weekly Writing Prompt – Favorite Pirate Memory
This week is all about sharing your favorite pirate memory and making it into a story. This can be done in many ways, such as becoming the pirate themselves or telling some of their best stories. You could also tell how you came to love pirates etc. Let’s get started! You can find a full list of the prompts for a pirate memory here.
Now, I realize not everyone likes pirates, not everyone will have a favorite pirate memory, and that's okay. This is a guidepost, feel free to use anything else. It can be another fantasy thing. I know pirates actually aren't fantasy, but just you know, pick something, be a little crazy, go off the wall a little bit and write about that. You can check out the Talk Like a Pirate Video below.
Gael’s Story Example of a Favorite Pirate Memory
My favorite private memory is actually in college, I had the opportunity to take an elective, and it was like female pirates in history or something like that, or historical female pirates. Anyways, it was by far one of my favorite classes because it combines a bunch of different things.
I loved it because it combined writing, history and pirates, and women's studies. It was amazing and I adored the class. I learned about things I didn't know and had a memorable experience that had a lasting impact on me.
The textbook and supplemental reading were some of my favorite parts. I also enjoyed learning about new things and the people who came to the class. It was a very strange cross-section of our university. The people I met in the class were awesome as well as the conversations we got to have.
What I want people to remember about my favorite pirate memory
I won't go through the whole walkthrough because it's kind of a weird prompt but you should be able to identify a couple of the pieces that I answered. The biggest part, I'm going to go to that last question, what I want people to remember about this memory, and this moment in my life is that I took a chance on a class that could have been terrible. Took something kind of off the wall, it had nothing to do with my major, I have an engineering major, and in construction, and it was just, it was neat. It was like a little light-hearted thing that I needed in my life at that time.
I want people to remember that it's okay to do something that's light and fun. Even if you're taking a super-serious college course. Find something that's fun. Take the ballroom dancing class (I took that class too), and take the history of jazz class, even if you're not a music major, I also took that class. Just find something that makes you light up and goes, “Oh, that'd be kind of cool, or that's kind of weird. Maybe I should try that.” Don't wait, just go do it.
Keep on Writing
The struggle to keep writing when you're a caregiver, family member or parent can be very real and taxing. There are many reasons you might find it difficult to write. Maybe you have too much on your plate: taking care of children, an elderly person, managing the household tasks and working full-time outside the home. Perhaps your loved one is in a hospital or nursing home – so they're not available for conversation while at work or away from their bedside.
The reality is that people who care for others often neglect themselves in order to take care of those they love; but there's no need to feel guilty about this! I hope these prompts help you keep writing and help you encourage those you care for to keep writing too!