I sized up the sock I was knitting. While following a standard pattern—a one size fits all—I realized my almost-completed-sock would not fit my smaller-than-average foot. I thought about how the term sometimes can’t be taken literally, as for clothing, for example, or figuratively, like for a weight-loss program. I was reminded how “one size fits all” didn’t apply [...]
It’s a new year, and I was still toting like old baggage writerly guilt from the last weeks of 2019, hindering any New Year resolution-making. But because I followed an underlying assumption—that resolutions will be broken—I never made promises to myself in the past and I wasn’t about to start of this year with making them. Guilt from breaking any [...]
Memoir writer Alice Tallmadge said it best in an essay, “Your First Book, When the Cheering Stops,” - “But your writing mind is as empty as a flat pocket. You can’t imagine writing another paragraph, ever. You say you are taking a break. And you do. (https://bit.ly/2JzmG7U) And I did. Taking a break from writing seemed to be an excuse, [...]
Since I’ve been a memoir writer and a defender of the genre, I’ve been righting what I believe is an inaccuracy. By definition, memoir focuses on one segment, an event or experience of a writer’s life. But I would argue to widen the lens and say a book can still be called a memoir even if told with multiple events [...]
In 2016, I wrote an essay, I Called You a Memoir, where hope said yes; my completed memoir wasn’t just a vision, but a reality. Working on a memoir was the most labor intensive task I’ve ever attempted as autobiographical timelines covered the surface like a fog that skews a real picture. When I made my way through self-discovery to [...]
There's a lot written about starting a memoir, how to do it, how to organize it, if you have enough reflection and takeaways. And then there’s how to structure your memoir, too. But what happens after you’ve completed your revisions and edits, when you believe you have a finished work ready for the eyes of prospective publishers? Not so fast. Did [...]
The brightness of a sunny spring day and the clarity of a blue sky forced their way into the meeting room's tall windows. Multiple rows of six chairs were lined up like soldiers readying for their commands while a podium stood at the front of it all. The Chicago Writers Conference (CWA) was about to start. This was my first [...]
Instead of writing personal truth and reflection why not tap into my imagination with fiction writing? With no formal education or even self-study of any genre of fiction, I figured a slow and incremental start, dabbling in a few slush-piles of personal essays, would be my best foray into turning them into unexplored fictional ground. My delight wasn’t because of [...]
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Our time is filled with input. We stare at screens of many kinds– desktop computers, laptops, phones, iPads, televisions – being inundated by someone else’s thoughts, a type of pre-programmed programming. We become sedentary in body and in mind where our bodies cease to move through a sensory environment and our minds become [...]
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com I recently had an opportunity with the National Association of Memoir Writers (www.namw.org) to talk about my memoir, Under the Birch Tree and other points about writing my book. During this hour-long virtual book club, the topic was transforming autobiography to memoir. However, so many points to make in so little time, so thought [...]