Three Reasons Why We Tell Stories
Here is why we tell stories. Stories fascinate us all our lives. As children, we loved to be told fairy tales and to hear, time after time, the tales our parents told us about what we did and said when we were babies, as well as the stories about their own childhoods. As soon as […]
One Reason to Write a Memoir
I wouldn’t suggest that one ought to write for one’s descendants. That is not a good reason to write a memoir. One ought to write for one’ self. Your descendents may or may not benefit. I certainly believe that a function of memoir is to educate/inform but one can only be educated by another when […]
Three Excuses for not Writing Your Memoir Today
Most of us use a certain number of excuses for not writing when we want to avoid our memoir projects. Here are a few favorites. (more…)
Motivation to Complete A Memoir
All writers face the atrophy of motivation to complete a memoir that seems to come with writing a long literary work over months and months and even over a period of years. Let’s face it: writing can be hard and discouraging. The most interesting of topics (more…)
What to Do to Stay in the Memoir-Writing Conversation—And Why it’s Important.
I read professional journals. Poets and Writers from cover to cover. I receive the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance e-newsletter weekly. It’s a membership newsletter and comes chock full of news about what other writers are doing, readings schedules, and announcements of book publications. Do you have… (more…)
Three Causes of “Writer’s Block”
Many writers suffer from writer’s block, yet few understand its possible causes. Memoir writing certainly has its difficulties which can cause writer’s block. (more…)
Showing up for writing—regularly
In the first days of creating a manuscript when we writers sit down to write—or rededicate ourselves to writing—it is often a struggle to find the energy to show up for the task. So many things seems to compete for our attention. We ask ourselves about “the point of all of this” and “who will […]
Three Tips For Creating an Effective Writing Schedule
You’ve already taken several steps in lifewriting. You have begun to write your stories and memories. perhaps the summer got in the way of your perseverance or perhaps it was something else–an illness, a temporary job, travel. Now you need to recommit to memoir writing by creating an effective writing schedule for yourself. (more…)
Get Your Memoir Going Again
Writing a memoir is a long-term project. Like all long-term projects, it has its ups and downs. Get your memoir going again. (more…)