Some people worry their life stories won’t translate to the page, that they’ll sound dull (“this happened, then this happened, then this happened”). It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s all in how you shape it. Think of how we live. This happens and then that happens, and then
Read MoreArchive for the Memoir Writing Category
Writing the stories of your life doesn’t happen in a day. It takes more than inspiration, writing when the urge strikes. It takes time and dedication. It wants the details that lift the story off the page, that take a reader there along with you, that share you with them
Read MoreA new writer asked me a good question the other day. She started writing memoir because she wanted to chronicle her life but only expected to write about the events of her life. She was finding out there was a whole lot more to it, namely, she was hearing she
Read MoreWriting memoir is an interesting mix of ingredients. It’s personal story. It’s heartfelt expression. It’s writing in your true voice. But when we want others to read what we’ve written, it has to be all of this and so much more. How do you move a story from the personal
Read MoreJill Bolte Taylor is a neurologist and the renowned author of My Stroke of Insight, which describes her experience and insights gained from a stroke she suffered at age 37. One of her “strokes of insight” is that inner peace is just a thought away. Inner peace is just a
Read MoreI thought I’d never go to Texas, but Austin, here I come! And it isn’t for the music scene. I’m going to Stories from the Heart VI, the 6th National Women’s Memoir Conference, April 13-15, at the Wyndham Hotel in Austin. Not only that, I’m a conference presenter. My workshop,
Read MoreI learned about shame and writing many years ago. I also learned a good lesson about how third person works in memoir — and doesn’t. A memoir student of mine wrote a story about her family living out of a camper by a river in Tennessee during the 1930s, when
Read MoreTruth in memoir is expected, but it’s not always easy to tell. It may be what brought you to the writing desk, but it can also be what scares you away from it. It hurts! Why would you want to put yourself through remembering pain?! There are a few good
Read MoreThree years into teaching memoir I met a woman who never lived the life she wanted. Marge was a regal woman with a commanding presence, a deep, gravelly voice, and neatly swept back silver hair. She was new to the retirement community where I taught memoir Thursday afternoons for the
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