The Memoir Project Blog
Writing Memoir. New You Can Use: February 19, 2012
NEWS YOU CAN USE. Maybe you saw these stories. Maybe you missed them, but these are among the pieces I’ve read recently that might elicit some form of short memoir – an op-ed, or personal essay – from you. Once a week I’ll bring you news pieces I find provocative. Here are some that get me going: [Read more...]
Clever Damage: Writing Memoir About Family Abuse
WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S CLASS was one of the toughest classes I’ve ever taught. Utterly challenging, the evening was filled with pieces that while wonderful, were also emotionally wrenching. Sometimes there are nights like that, and after every one of them I have been suffused with a rare, nameless emotion. Probably some other language has a word for it. English does not. [Read more...]
On the Road With The Memoir Project
I’VE HIT THE ROAD, if only in a cyber way. I’m teaching this week online at She Writes, a fine site where women get together and talk about writing. My topic? Memoir, of course. I’m the guest editor this week. It’s a real honor, and in honor of that honor I’m debuting what I call my Memoir Manifesto. But that’s not all. [Read more...]
Your New Best Friend:
The Deadline Calendar
GO ON, TRY my interactive calendar of emotional high holy days, regular-version high holy days and more. Hover your cursor over a cinnamon-colored date to see what pops up. Use it to start personal essays, radio pieces and op-eds to submit on deadline. How? Look three months out for radio ideas; six to twelve for magazine pieces. Pick it, write it, submit it. You’re a writer. That’s what writers do.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Jan | Mar » | |||||
| 1 | 2February, 2 2012Groundhog DayAh, Punxsutawney Phil. You’ve gotta love him. He’s a true American icon. Have you got a Ground Hog Day story? Remember to think in propinquities. What do I mean by that? See here. | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7February, 7 2012Full Snow MoonIt’s February’s full Moon, known as the Full Snow Moon. We take our names from the Native American tradition. Got a winter full moon story? Remember what memoir is supposed to be, as well as what it’s not. | 8 | 9February, 9 2012All Weather, All the TimeIt was on this day in 1870 that Congress authorized one of those national offices whose information we use every single day, the National Weather Service. Located at www.weather.gov, it’s a fine place to add to your research sites when writing memoir. You do remember that you’ve got to do research when writing memoir, yes? | 10 | 11 | 12February, 12 2012Abe Lincoln BornOn this day in 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born. Do you have a Lincoln story? For dates like this, it’s a good idea to do some research and learn something new. |
| 13 | 14February, 14 2012Valentine’s DayOk, so nearly everyone celebrates this. How to make this story yours, while making it interesting to readers? Follow this, an essential rule of writing memoir. | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29February, 29 2012Leap DayOK. Everyone loves this. Have you got a Leap Day or Leap Year story? How to make it yours, while making it interesting to others? Follow this, an essential rule of memoir. |
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Class Notes: A St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, or Editing Your Memoir
LAST WEEK IN CLASS, the question was raised about how to edit oneself, and suddenly everyone looked at their shoes. It’s a reaction I’ve come to expect as well as adore. And it makes sense. I mean, who wants to murder one’s darlings? [Read more...]
Two Sides to the Same Story? At Least. Here’s My Sister’s Version
LAST WEEK I TOLD You my side of the story. This week, it’s my sister’s turn. It’s what I call the “She Said, She Said” of all sisters. If you have a sister, you know. If not, believe me when I tell you that no two sisters see any family event the same way. Why not? Well, it’s not that we’re different in spite of being raised in the same household. We’re different because we were raised in the same household. What does that look like? Read on. [Read more...]
Writing Memoir. News You Can Use: February 11, 2012
NEWS YOU CAN USE. Maybe you saw these stories. Maybe you missed them, but these are among the pieces I’ve read recently that might elicit some form of short memoir – an op-ed, or personal essay – from you. Once a week I’ll bring you news pieces I find provocative. Here are some that get me going:
- Yet another big cave on birth control
- The FBI had a file on him. And them. And you?
- Empowering girls, one doll at a time
- Downsizing a meal: Everyone said they would not do it, but they did
- The most popular video-on-demand of all time? Really?
Surely you have something to say using one of these as your news peg.
Looking for inspiration or guidance on how to write a personal essay? Look at my categories for NPR essays, parenting essays, and several other topics. All of the pieces there have been published, or have aired on the radio. If those don’t work, see the interactive calendar for more inspiration. And write on.
See a typo, a grammar flub, my (ever-present) overuse of commas? Point it out, and I’ll throw you in the pool for a monthly free book giveaway. Which book? One of mine – your choice – all of which were professionally copy edited, thank goodness.
Book Giveaway & Interview with Jeff Goins
TALKING TO JEFF GOINS, the word “comfortable” frequently comes up. He uses it, and I’m feeling a distinct sense of comfort as we breeze through a recent phone conversation. It’s odd, since the subject is a distinctly uncomfortable one. We’re talking about publishing, a topic that has never been one anyone might find comfortable. Competitive, cut-throat, cold, scary, unknowing, secretive, privileged. Closed. Impossible. Uncaring. Now those are words that come to mind when the subject is publishing. Not when speaking with Jeff, though, and his comfort is contagious. [Read more...]
Memoir: An Adoption Tale
THE CHINESE CONSIDER the owl to be a cateagle: Part cat, part eagle, it is a bird believed to possess vast and enviable qualities. I remember learning about its Chinese heritage sixteen years ago in this season as I awaited the adoption of our daughter. [Read more...]
Knitting + Memoir = New Friends
FEW THINGS BEAT a great conversation. But a great conversation about both writing and knitting, well, that beats all. And that is just what I got to have last week with a new friend named Brian Crimmins, who writes a blog where a few of my favorite things are discussed. Want to listen in? [Read more...]
Two Sides to the Same Story? At Least. What to Do? Write Your Version.
A YOUNG WOMAN is breezing through the kitchen on the way to the refrigerator. Wearing tennis shorts, a T-shirt, her long red hair in a ponytail, she’s bare-foot, 22 years old, and the phone rings. I can do this with this scene—make it third-person—the way we can at any of those moments just before life takes a tilt; that old where were you when thing. [Read more...]