honesty -

Putting Human-ness into Words

” HIGH SENTIMENTS ALWAYS WIN IN THE END. THE LEADERS WHO OFFER BLOOD,TOIL,TEARS AND SWEAT ALWAYS GET MORE OUT OF THEIR FOLLOWERS THAN THOSE WHO OFFER SAFETY AND A GOOD TIME. WHEN IT COMES TO THE PINCH, HUMAN BEINGS ARE HEROIC.” George Orwell,Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters. It is common knowledge for writers that emotional honesty is the key to eliciting emotional responses and connections with readers, as described in this post “Eliciting Emotion” by KM Weilland. In order to make these connections, the writer needs to risk being vulnerable by conveying the human experience in a flawed, honest and believable way so that the reader will shout out ” that could be ME!” Steve Zousmer offers this suggestion in this...

Posted by krpooler on Oct 20, 2010 in Lifewriting Craft, memoir-writing, Uncategorized | 10 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...