Finding the River Running Through Your Story

“ WHEN WE START TO LOOK FOR THE UNDERCURRENT THAT CONNECTS ALL PARTS OF OUR STORY, WE BEGIN TO NOTICE THE RIVER RUNNING THROUGH IT.” Mary Carroll Moore, author,artist, teacher ,How to Plan,Write and Develop a Book Sometimes when I sit down to write, I know exactly what I am going to write about but at other times I find myself being led by my story or memory or scene. Memories pop up like plastic balls from a child’s toy until I relent and include them. My point is,it seems like the theme will reveal itself as long as I keep writing and allow myself to be open to the process as it unfolds. In her blog post “Finding Theme” from How to Plan,Write and Develop a Book , author, artist and teacher Mary Carroll Moore claims that...

Posted by on Oct 29, 2010 in character development, elements of story, identifying themes, Lifewriting Craft, memoir-writing | 6 comments

Untangling the Web

” RATHER THAN SIMPLY TELLING A STORY FROM HER LIFE, THE MEMOIRIST BOTH TELLS THE STORY AND MUSES UPON IT,TRYING TO UNRAVEL WHAT IT MEANS IN THE LIGHT OF HER CURRENT KNOWLEDGE.”  Judith Barrington, Writing the Memoir. As a current participant in Linda Joy Meyers’ NAMW Memoir Workshop , I am learning that the key to finding my story is to keep writing. Week after week, we send in stories of our own choosing for others to review and critique. Some stories and scenes gush out of me with such force and clarity that I can hardly type out the words fast enough. I am riding on a wave of crystal-clear recall,unhampered by the years and circumstances that have intervened to change me into the person I am today. Then sometimes I hit a wall that...

Posted by on Oct 3, 2010 in character development, Lifewriting Craft, memoir-writing, Truth in Memoir, Uncategorized | 8 comments

Beating the “Blahs”

” ENJOY THE LITTLE THINGS, FOR ONE DAY YOU MAY LOOK BACK AND REALIZE THEY WERE THE BIG THINGS.” Robert Brault in National Inquirer. I stared at the blank screen and notebook while attempting to start my NAMW Summer Workshop assignment for the week, building  the layers of thoughts,emotions,sensual details about my characters so as to know them better. I didn’t even know who I was going to write about. It seemed that a serious case of the “blahs” had taken up residence in my writer’s head. So I just went to bed and hoped that some inspiration from somewhere would kick the “blahs” out of my head when I awakened..I had work to do. It came in the form of a manuscript emailed this AM from my fellow writer friend...

Posted by on Jul 24, 2010 in character development, elements of story, Lifewriting Craft, memoir-writing | 6 comments

Unearthing Themes

“ EVERY ONE OF US HAS IN HIM A CONTINENT OF UNDISCOVERED CHARACTER. BLESSED IS HE WHO ACTS THE COLUMBUS TO HIS OWN SOUL.” Quoted in Words of Life edited by Charles Wallis Currently ,I am participating with an incredible group of women from all over the country in a summer memoir-writing workshop with Linda Joy Myers. I am amazed  at the depth and richness of the connections we are making through our stories. We review and probe into the stories,asking questions Tell me more about what your character looks like, her hair color, what does she hear,feel, smell, what were her gestures, what were the surroundings? All of these questions are meant to prompt each of us to dig deeper. We are fleshing out the details as we discover our “narrative...

Posted by on Jul 2, 2010 in character development, character POV, identifying themes, memoir-writing | 6 comments