Tapped Out: Memoir Beyond Trauma
Well explained by Debra Monroe
a few moments of gratitude
Unlike seasons in Chicago, San Francisco’s went unrecognized. The change of seasons was subtle for me with only the calendar months marking their transitions. January in San Francisco can be a beautiful weather month for someone from Chicago. It’s chilly but nothing a few layers of clothing or a jacket can’t remedy. Locals would say, “Oh, the rains this time of year. Won’t it ever stop?” But I saw the sun and the sky perennially blue. I would read the Sunday paper while sitting on a bed of green grass [...]
…and so it begins
THE BIRCH TREES I’ll always remember the birches for as long as I live. It’s the silver bark of the birch, the lenticels, and the height they grow to whilst remaining slim . . . but they always remind me of home. James Roy Blair "My tree attraction wasn’t for just any tree. I noticed this one’s ashen white limbs contrasted with its dark-trunked tree mates in stately oak, maple and elm. I had grown to know a particular birch tree in my early years, developing a kinship with [...]
On this day . . .
This day, 28 years ago, was one of the worst days of my then 25 year-old self. I wrote about it in my memoir-in-progress, Under the Birch Tree. The bus ride home from work at lunchtime north on Lake Shore drive was like something out of a Stephen King novel. I was having an out-of-body experience on that ominous gray October day where my body was stiffly planted on a city bus seat while my mind was firing thoughts at the speed of light. I suddenly became tired, unable to [...]
The Noise in Silence
As a writer of memoir, sometimes my mind hurts when recalling not only a particular memory, but also the details within that scene. The hurt part comes when noises within the silence of my thought-invoking process are heard. Sometimes the noise is distracting and not very helpful. Other times it allows me the opportunity to exercise my imagination and create scenes, even though they might have nothing to do with my memoir manuscript. I suggest to writers to allow the silence of thought, and noisy distractions to happen to help [...]
The Architecture of Nonfiction
I particularly like #6 in the total article at "Nieman Storyboard" as it is my fishing rod - to reel me back in to where I started.
The Birch Tree – Child’s POV
A writing prompt from one of my writing groups was to write about a summer day. We were to write a scene, from 2 different POV's - a child and adult, from a childhood memory. I pulled a scene from my memoir (in progress) where I was having my picture taken on my first day of kindergarten. When I completed writing both scenes, I realized I enjoyed writing the scene from a child's voice. The sentences were short, simple and to the point. I found a child's words more interesting [...]
My Pink Book
Taken from a 2000 word essay, this short is the beginning to the unfolding of my spirituality. I heard the call. It wasn’t a whisper or a delicate voice or loud words urging me to transcribe thoughts to paper. The call did sound like an alarm, telling me it was time to awaken a dormant spirit. I was ready to give voice to my ideas, the beginning of my storytelling. When I was fifteen, a pink hardcover book invited me to fill its blank lined pages. A latch was glued [...]