“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 [...]
I believe in a lot of things. I believe the sun will rise from the horizon and awaken all that was dormant in darkness. I believe the sparkle in the night skies are stars in the universe. I believe in Christmas. I believe in Santa Claus. I also believe in my memoir and my strength in writing it. I believe [...]
I came across a title of an article today, “The Big Reason Why Agents and Editors Stop Reading,” by Paula Munier, literary agent and content strategist. Ordinarily I would have skipped reading this because my memoir and I are just not agent and/or editor ready. I can’t even say if I will even try to secure an agent but at [...]
I patted the top of the 8 ½ X 11 box with affection to acknowledge its contents. The box was deep enough to cradle 220 pages of my memoir manuscript. But this wasn’t just a manuscript containing double-spaced typed lines. This was my story – edited, rewritten, honed to the best of my ability, ready for . . . another [...]
Oh, that word, "platform." When I hear or read it I inhale with tension and exhale in surrender. What's a memoir writer to do when she can't keep up with platform content and all its connection points? I'm beginning to find myself being distracted, if not, preoccupied to the point of losing sight on the writing itself. I listened to a [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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.
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 [...]