Harvest Time

“WHEN ONE TUGS AT A SINGLE THING IN NATURE,HE FINDS IT ATTACHED TO THE  REST OF THE WORLD.” John Muir Now that the garlic is harvested, I’m back in the garden picking string beans. Since my master gardener husband,Wayne ,does not use pesticides (“No Syn” -synthetics- he calls it) the weeds are bold and intrusive making the task of finding the beans even more challenging. Naturally, as I was combing through the weeds to find the beans, I thought of how this all reminds me of my writing. Some beans are right there shouting to be picked; others are buried under layers as if protected by caring kin ; some are camouflaged by the green weeds; some are not quite ready; some are in bunches as if they are partying while others  are...

Posted by on Jul 17, 2010 in Harvesting Stories, Inner Critic, Lifewriting Craft, memoir-writing | 10 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