My niece is a stunning adult with a classic style. But, when Osula was a child, she went through a fashion phase I might call, "if-you've-got it, wear-it." The adults in her life held our breath until the stage passed. At four years old, she liked to don a polka dot skirt, paired with a wildly … [Read more...] about Do You Shy Away from Writing Classes?
Creative Writing Tips
Must-Have Memoir Writing Aids: Updated 2018
Some of the most useful, powerful, and perhaps lesser known resources I recommend to my students who are working on memoirs, life stories, and family histories, and use in my own memoir writing are listed below. They include electronic and hard copy resources. Let's continue the tradition of … [Read more...] about Must-Have Memoir Writing Aids: Updated 2018
Calm Down! It’s Just a Draft
I remember myself proudly, even smugly, slipping my draft into a 9” x 13” manila envelope addressed to an editor for her feedback. I expected a few corrected semi-colons. Instead, the editor wrote that my story didn’t go anywhere, and that a word I had used wasn’t even a word. I could send it back … [Read more...] about Calm Down! It’s Just a Draft
Why Was My Writing Rejected?
If a publisher’s ever rejected your writing, you’re probably familiar with the doubt and self-questioning such a rejection can create. Since publishers seldom give their reasons for rejecting our work, we writers have made an (unpaid) industry out of trying to discover the reasons for ourselves. … [Read more...] about Why Was My Writing Rejected?
Claim Your Subject
My sister once asked me, “What writing subject do you claim as your own?” Without hesitating, I answered, “Work.” Although I enjoy writing on a number of subjects, I probably get the most pleasure and satisfaction from writing about work. I’m fascinated by the claims our jobs make on us, the … [Read more...] about Claim Your Subject
It’s a Memoir . . . Apparently
The votes are in. Two writers answered my call about whether or not a book I'm writing about money in my family is a memoir. My dilemma was: Does it qualify as a memoir, since I'm not really the main character in the story? Both these writers said "yes," it's a memoir. The Narrator is … [Read more...] about It’s a Memoir . . . Apparently
Is it Memoir or Family History?
A student in one of my creative writing classes for boomers and seniors asked, "Do you have to be the main character in your memoir?" "Yes," I responded. Then I paused and said, "Let me think about this." I was facing a dilemma that had been skirting around the edges of my creative consciousness … [Read more...] about Is it Memoir or Family History?
Memoir Writing Teaches Us About Ourselves
If you've begun writing a memoir, you might have noticed that the process is revealing aspects of yourself and your past that you failed to recognize before. It's a little like assembling a jigsaw puzzle that you're still seeking all the pieces to and slowly beginning to understand their … [Read more...] about Memoir Writing Teaches Us About Ourselves
How the Warrior Mom Finds Time to Write
Yesterday I introduced the writer, Darah Zeledon, mother of 5 small children. Today we continue our interview with this Warrior Mom, who manages to slip in time nearly every day to work on her memoir or add a post to her blog. What do you do when an idea hits you and you're otherwise engaged? Ideas … [Read more...] about How the Warrior Mom Finds Time to Write