writers Archives | Page 5 of 11

Happy Anniversary Magic of Memoir!

One year ago, 38 writers, including me!, shared their stories. This writer's companion includes tips for dealing with the inner critic, strategies to motivate in dark times and lessons learned from mistakes made and overcome. I still refer often to this portable bundle of inspiration and recommend it even if you are not a writer and need your own inspiration [...]

Nancy Chadwick2017-11-02T17:34:32+00:00November 2, 2017|Categories: book publishing, book writing, inspiration for writers, memoir, writers, Writing, writing process|Tags: Memoir, memoir writing, publish, Writer, writing inspiration, writing life|

A birch tree, my source of strength and renewal

A birch grew tall and arabesque in the corner of my front yard of my girlhood home. Through the decades, my birch tree followed me, no matter where I would find myself, signaling home, my place to be. My birch tree became my buddy, shadowing me when I would need to leave yet another resting place. No matter where I found [...]

Nancy Chadwick2017-10-30T20:12:56+00:00October 30, 2017|Categories: book writing, home, inspiration for writers, memoir, memoir writing, spiritual writing, writers|Tags: Memoir, Writer, Writing, writing inspiration, writing life|

My Five Suggestions to Keep You Motivated

Summertime, and the allure of the outdoors beckoning our attention and keeping us from writing. Ordinarily, it's difficult to stay motivated, but even more so, when the distraction of summertime fun is more inviting. So, how can I fit writing time into my day?” I begin it with this question and end it in assessing if, indeed, I did [...]

Nancy Chadwick2017-07-21T13:59:58+00:00July 21, 2017|Categories: inspiration for writers, writers, Writing, writing process|Tags: Writer, writing goals, writing life|

a basic question with a perplexing answer

So why DID I write my memoir? Admittedly, I couldn’t answer the question over 10 years ago when I started writing my memoir. Now I’ve passed a manuscript hurdle, a professional developmental edit, and I’m polishing my book with a copy edit on my way to publishing. But who knew the life of a virginal indie author could be simple [...]

Nancy Chadwick2017-03-22T20:58:30+00:00March 22, 2017|Categories: book publishing, book writing, inspiration for writers, manuscript, memoir, memoir writing, writers, Writing|Tags: home, life story, Memoir, publish, Writer, writing process|

professional-making

The time has come for you to meet your professional-makers. After countless hours of extracting my reflections from your words and declaring takeaways from your pages, I send you off with final blessings. Your copyeditor will make you shine, better than ever.

Nancy Chadwick2017-03-13T19:39:09+00:00March 13, 2017|Categories: book publishing, book writing, manuscript, memoir, writers|Tags: Memoir, publish, Writer, Writing, writing life, writing process|

what I Learned from my first-time interview with a newspaper reporter

This post originally appeared on SheWrites.com. I'm sharing with fellow writers should you and your writing be in a similar situation when embarking on promotional opportunities. I few weeks ago I contacted an editor at Pioneer Press (local publication and sub of Chicago Tribune) to tell him I was a writer and I had something to share with my community [...]

Nancy Chadwick2017-02-10T18:04:31+00:00February 10, 2017|Categories: memoir, memoir writing, writers, Writing|Tags: Memoir, nonfiction writing, publish, Writer, writing life, writing process|

a developmental journey

I doubted the day would come. I had been working on my memoir for over 10 years, admittedly at a more stop than go pace, chronicling the timeline of my youth, coming of age to adult years. I had recorded memories, nestled them in my mind as if contributing to my DNA, creating a map to become the person I [...]

Nancy Chadwick2017-01-31T18:25:54+00:00January 31, 2017|Categories: book writing, home, inspiration for writers, manuscript, memoir, memoir writing, nonfiction writing, writers, Writing, writing process|Tags: Memoir, Writer, writing life|

riding the wave of a writing contest submission

Last fall I won a writing contest for The Magic of Memoir edited by Linda Joy Myer and Brooke Warner of She Writes Press. This was a first time I entered a writing contest and a first win for anything that had to do with my writing. A win at anything says it all, a handshake in welcome, validation that [...]

Nancy Chadwick2017-01-16T21:25:50+00:00January 16, 2017|Categories: inspiration for writers, memoir, memoir writing, nonfiction writing, writers, Writing, writing inspiration, writing process|Tags: Memoir, publish, Writer, writing life|

part II, the problem with memoirs

I can understand Genzlinger’s irritability with the memoir genre becoming over-inflated. Memoirs seem to be riding the wave of too much sharing and providing an over-supply of personal information. In Part I from a previous post, I shared Genzlinger’s guidelines to would-be memoirists from his essay, “The Problem with Memoirs,” published in The New York Times. He felt that three [...]