Most writing fails to get published because of one main reason: The quality of the writing is weak. It’s flat, predictable, and uninteresting. It lacks depth and vitality. It doesn't grab the reader's attention quickly. Or it might be that the story, characters, language, or settings don't show … [Read more...] about Reasons Writing Gets Rejected
Memoir Writing Tips
If you're writing a memoir, or planning to start one, I hope you'll follow this series of articles on memoir writing, and leave a comment about challenges you're facing in your writing, or share updates on your progress. Memoir or Autobiography? Many of the boomers and seniors I teach are working … [Read more...] about Memoir Writing Tips
Teaching Memoir Writing to Boomers and Seniors, Part 2
In Part 1 of this post I wrote that I love teaching creative writing, particularly memoir writing to boomers and seniors, in part because of all I'm learning from my students. In addition to ice storms in the Old West, a nudist in San Diego, and POW life during World War II, a student who recently … [Read more...] about Teaching Memoir Writing to Boomers and Seniors, Part 2
Teaching Memoir Writing to Boomers and Seniors
It was only recently that I realized why I so thoroughly enjoy teaching boomers and seniors creative writing. The main reason is that their lives and perspectives are so incredibly rich and valuable. You can't imagine all I've learned about the past from their first-person accounts. One woman is … [Read more...] about Teaching Memoir Writing to Boomers and Seniors
Writer’s Remorse
Now that I've sent off those first chapters of My Mother's Money to the interested agent (at least she was interested before she saw the manuscript), I wonder if I could have made it better, stronger, more lyrical and compelling. Probably. But writing, revising, rewriting, editing, proofing, and … [Read more...] about Writer’s Remorse
Who’d Read This Book Anyway?
A dying woman wanting her daughter to find money she's hidden in her house. Three people in mid life finding out that their mother has left them money, but who have little idea where it is? And before they can get some of the money they know is waiting to be claimed by them, it mysteriously gets … [Read more...] about Who’d Read This Book Anyway?
My Mother’s Money, a Memoir of Suspense
While my mother was failing in her later years, she indicated that she wanted me to find some money she had hidden her house. I use the word "indicate" because Mom's stroke had rendered her unable to speak. My siblings and I needed the cash, since Mom was too ill to sign checks to cover her care or … [Read more...] about My Mother’s Money, a Memoir of Suspense
The Problem of Time in “My Mother’s Money,” a Memoir
Alexis Grant, (The Traveling Writer), posed a provocative question on Twitter: How were memoir writers "playing with time . . . for the sake of the story arc?" Since this is a problem I've faced—and probably will continue to face—in the memoir I'm writing, it's helpful for me to think consciously … [Read more...] about The Problem of Time in “My Mother’s Money,” a Memoir
Think You’re Too Old—or Too Young—to Start Writing?
No matter how old you are, you can become a writer, if that’s what you really want. One of my students wrote his first poem at the age of 87 and has had his work published numerous times since. Two of my students, who are probably in their eighties, are completing gripping mystery novels. A third, … [Read more...] about Think You’re Too Old—or Too Young—to Start Writing?