It came as a surprise to me years ago to learn that NOT saying something could be considered lying, at least according to my stepmother, whose opinions on things like that mattered when I was in high school. “But I never said I [fill in the blank]!” I’d protest, when
Read MorePosts Tagged Writing From Life
“100 Years in the Life of an American Girl: True Stories 1910 – 2010,” will showcase life through the eyes of young girls from around the country with six or seven stories of girlhood in the words of the girls themselves in each chapter. Collecting these stories by submission and interview
Read MoreJournaling was my first best friend growing up. I didn’t know it with that first hardcover diary with lock and tiny key someone gave me for my 10th birthday, but it wasn’t long before I found out just how good it was to write about what was going on and
Read MoreSome 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 MoreWriting 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 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
Read MoreI met my writing buddy in 1998, in a writing workshop at a summer conference. We were given a writing prompt and 15 minutes to pour words onto a page before reading them around the circle. Besides being a contract writer for Kaiser’s Northern California members newsletter, Susan was a
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