I met Darah Zeledon, the Warrior Mom, through one of the LinkedIn groups for writers that she and I both belong to. She'd posted an essay she'd written; I loved it, so I contacted her to tell her so. Since then, we've become fast online friends. We seem to share a similar high-energy enthusiasm and … [Read more...] about How Does a Mother of 5 Find Time to Write?
Creative Writing Tips
You Don’t Have to Write Every Day to be Successful
There. I've said it. You don't have to write every day! I should know. I published my first articles and essays, and drafted dozens of pages of my memoirs while being employed in one of those jobs in which "full time" meant 60 hours a week. How'd I do it? I certainly didn't write every day. But … [Read more...] about You Don’t Have to Write Every Day to be Successful
Does Your Memoir Cheat Your Readers?
In memoir writing, it’s critical that we invite our readers to relate to our life stories. If we don’t, we are cheating them out of the very reason they bought our books—to share our experiences. Here are some of the memoir and life story writing tips I ask my students to keep on their desks beside … [Read more...] about Does Your Memoir Cheat Your Readers?
Memoir Writing: One Important Element
A critical building block of your memoir should be emotion. This can be particularly difficult for boomers and seniors to incorporate in their life stories. Although many have an urge to tell their stories, they can be hampered by the constraints of privacy and circumspection their generation often … [Read more...] about Memoir Writing: One Important Element
Tell Me a Better Story
As creative writers, we want to create stories—not reports. We know a story when we hear or read one, but sometimes it evades us when we're writing, especially when we're writing nonfiction, like memoir or autobiography. But even if the audience you envision for your memoir or autobiography is your … [Read more...] about Tell Me a Better Story
Tell Me a Story
In a previous post, I wrote that a "memoir is a story." Here's what I meant. When you're writing a memoir, or doing most types of creative writing for that matter, you're not just presenting a collection of facts or opinions. Not if you want anyone to read and relate to what you've written. Not if … [Read more...] about Tell Me a Story
Are You Cut Out to be a Writer?
I want to share another excerpt from my book, Polish and Publish. It's about whether or not you have the temperament—and interests—to be a writer. How many times have you heard someone say, “I’ve always wanted to write?” Maybe you’ve said it yourself. An estimated 80 million Americans want to write … [Read more...] about Are You Cut Out to be a Writer?
Reasons Writing Gets Rejected
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