About Kathee

I must admit that I did not stumble upon life story writing by accident! My delightful mother played a key role in setting an example for me.

Because of the stories she had written during my childhood, she passed on the desire to write. She taught me by example, how to put my heart and soul into words through my own stories. It is now my passion.

I write some of my life stories as I see them develop in my life. Other stories come to mind far after the fact. Most of my stories indicate the approximate age of the people involved, in order to give some semblance of chronological logic! As I gain experience, I may change my methods and become more precise.

Although I may have writer's block for weeks on end, the important thing I do to stay focused on my own writing is to get my thoughts organized.

Feel free to contact me about life story writing via email. No serious inquiry goes unanswered.

LSW for Kids

"Am I in the story Gramma?" That's the first question my grandchildren ask when they see me at the computer, or when I get "Tidbits of Time" out at night to read them a true bedtime story from it.

We all want to be center stage!

If we are read to as a young child, we are more cognizant of the importance of the main character. Especially if we identify with that character. It's great fun to be in Gramma's story, but how much more fun, if the child writes a story in which they are that main character. It gives them that wonderful feeling of being somebody special.

My very first recollection of writing a story was coming back to school after summer vacation and my third grade teacher asked us to write about what we did that summer.

As if it was yesterday I remember I wrote about a week at Camp Comfort, up in the mountains of Ventura County. I'm nearly eighty now, but because I wrote about that event the details are sharp and clear in my mind. I recorded it for posterity. It is forever etched in the recesses of my brain, to be re-called into any time or space. That week gave me a lifelong love for camping, exploring and tasting the great outdoors.

The sights and smells still linger. An open campfire, marshmallow's roasting on a wire clothes-hanger. The smell of coffee brewing in the morning and the sizzle of bacon frying in a big, black iron skillet. These sights and sounds are, for the most part, lost to this generation where we use microwave ovens and Mr. Coffee.

When a child writes about themselves and their family, it gives them great feelings of pride and a sense of value. Their self-esteem goes up. I am important. I am loved. I am cared for. Or I was bad and I was sorry. Or, my dog loved me unconditionally. It's not important what it's about, but that it is about them. It is the story of their life and they are unique.

The simple, unpretentious writing of a child is similar to the teaching in Life Story Writing Classes, in that we write off the top of our heads just to get the story out. We can deal with re-write, spelling and grammar at a later time, but it's important to write the memory while it's tweaking around in our heads.

No matter what age a writer is, a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. That's simple enough for a child to understand and the sooner they begin writing their memories, the longer they will have them.

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