Every March, Plant City, the “Winter Strawberry Capital of the World,” hosts the Florida Strawberry Festival. Living just an hour away, we’ve been several times, always leaving with bushels of beautiful, ripe strawberries, and bellies full of strawberry shortcake.
In addition to serving strawberry shortcake several different ways – on sponge cake or biscuit (I prefer biscuit), you can consume a bevy of fried fair food, see the Strawberry Festival Queen and her Court, peruse quilting and craft shows, and gush over the cute farm animals in the youth livestock competitions.
In 2009, you could also see Taylor Swift, just 19 and only 4 months post release of Fearless, which would later serve as the symbol and moniker for the calculated professional choices that led to her status as one of the most influential artists of the 21st century.
When my husband and I saw that Taylor Swift was would be performing at the 2009 festival, I drove an hour each way while Jordan and Samuel were at school to stand in line and score 4 tickets for us to take Jordan and her friend, Julia, to hear Swift on a Sunday night.
The girls wore puffy coats sat under blankets, smiles plastered across their little faces, red from the blustery wind. Between You Belong With Me, and Love Story, from what would be known as her “Fearless Era,” the girls ate handfuls of cotton candy while Rick and I enjoyed bowls of strawberry shortcake.
Florida still doesn’t know how to serve up quintessential crisp, cool nights without an element of wind. Still, our brief cold spells are a welcome respite from endless sweltering summers. The cold didn’t seem to bother Jordan and Julia, who were living part of their young story, emulating a singer who could’ve been their babysitter before fans titled themselves “Swifties.”
Beyond “breaking the Internet,” whatever that means, Swift’s engagement to Travis Kelce is another chapter in the life of a dynamic woman who has lived her story authentically. Vulnerability and truth, not to mention talent and tenacity, have been her tenets.
Whether you’re a Swiftie or not, or consider the couple commensurate with royalty, one can’t deny that Swift is one of the storytelling queens of the 21st century.
What makes Swift the talk of the world isn’t just her love story with Travis Kelce; it’s the way she says it.
Taylor Swift is more than a pop icon. She’s a master storyteller, a living memoir in motion. Every album is a new chapter, every song a carefully chosen scene, and every lyric a thread that pulls us deeper into her journey. Fans feel like they know her, because she has chosen to let them in.
That’s the power of memoir.
When you write your memoir, you’re not just recording events; you’re shaping your life into narrative. You’re choosing to tell your story before someone else tries to define it for you. And in that way, Taylor Swift becomes a kind of role model for every aspiring author.
Here are three lessons memoirists can take from her playbook:
1. Own Your Narrative
Swift has never waited for permission to tell her side of the story. Whether the press painted her as a heartbreaker or a victim, she reclaimed the narrative through her own words. In memoir, you have the same opportunity. Instead of letting events happen to you, you craft meaning from them. You set the record straight in a way no one else can.
2. Connect Through Vulnerability
Why do millions of people scream the lyrics at her concerts? Because they see themselves in her words. Swift doesn’t shy away from the messy emotions of heartbreak, the sweetness of young love, or the loneliness of being misunderstood. Memoirists often fear being “too much” or “too raw,” but that’s exactly where the connection lies. Specificity and honesty are what turn your personal story into something universal.
3. Honor Your Journey - Every Era of It
Swift has her eras: country sweetheart, pop powerhouse, indie folk poet. Each reinvention reflects where she is in her life, but she never denies where she’s been. She honors every version of herself. Memoir works the same way. Your story isn’t a single snapshot; it’s the weaving together of all your eras. Childhood, marriage, loss, triumph, reinvention, they all matter, and together they form your unique tapestry.
4. Reinvent, But Stay True
Swift doesn’t cling to one identity. She experiments, evolves, and brings her audience along. Yet the thread of “Taylor” is always there. When you write a memoir, you’re not cementing yourself in one identity forever. You’re showing your evolution - the ways you’ve changed, and the core truths that remain.
The truth is you don’t need millions of fans or a sold-out stadium tour to write a story that matters. You just need the courage to start.
Like Swift, your life is a love story, sometimes complicated, sometimes triumphant, always yours. And when you put it into words, you invite readers to join you on that journey.
The story inside your memoir is your concert tour, your love story, your legacy. The world may not chant your lyrics in a stadium but trust me: someone out there is waiting for your story the way Swifties wait for a surprise song.
Honor your story. Believe in its value. You are the absolute best person to tell your unique story. If you’re interested in learning how to write a memoir that matters, from the perspective of someone who’s gone before you, visit my website at www.kerrykriseman.com. Read other blog posts; listen to my podcast Making Memoir Magic; access author writing tools, and learn how I can help you Make Memoir Magic with my online course or 1:1 coaching.
I believe in you and the power of your voice! Keep writing, and embrace your “Writer Era.”