Recent headlines for book reviews in the Chicago Tribune caught my attention. “Springsteen’s Father Looms Large in Born to Run Autobiography.” A few months later another headline claimed, “Anna Kendrick’s memoir: A simple song, pitch-perfect.” And then a small blurb said Caitlyn Jenner has an upcoming memoir due out in April. I noticed how these books claimed autobiography and memoir [...]
I usually don’t answer calls for writing submissions. That’s not to say I don’t read the calls but knowing that my writing is up against the caliber of professional writers is enough for me to retreat and surrender. My inner critic moves me along to the next call for submission when she reminds me my ho-hum writing may not being [...]
My memoir writing journal unfolded without an analytical thought granted to the actual writing process. I had been a journaler, starting when I was fifteen when my mother showed me a pink book with shiny darker pink letters "My Journal" were engraved on the cover. She handed me the book telling me, "It's yours." I eyed the clasp as I [...]
...an inspiration for the writing journey As one of 38 writers selected to share my essay, "I Called you a Memoir," for this collection, you will find stories of wisdom, tips for managing the inner-critic, strategies, motivation and lessons learned. Now available on Amazon.
I found the lead to this story buried in the last paragraph. But reading through Allison Williams' thought process to get her to that point was a shared experience by most writers.
I recently completed an online survey in answer to a request by one of those writer’s magazines. They wanted to know what I wanted to read in their magazine. It took only minutes to click my answers to their straightforward questions. But when I finished, I screamed, “I just want to write.” The purpose of the survey was to gain [...]
My essay is for all you memoir writers who speak to the conversation in your head as I have done when writing my memoir.
I wrote a memoir – 10 years ago – and then I rewrote it and then rewrote again, yet another rewrite and then wrote more. I acted on 5 professional critiques over those years as impetus for my rewrites. And I use the term “rewrite” loosely. I could easily make these changes – deleting information that has no reason to [...]
“Why do we write memoir?” This question is posed on many writing blogs, writer websites and to writing discussion groups. I am curious to know my fellow writers’ (of personal stories) responses. I read on. They write “. . . . to wring every possible lesson . . . to learn about my own past . . . I wrote [...]