My friend Sandra Miller spent years writing and revising her forthcoming memoir, Trove. Below she explains what prompted her to write this story, and how the memoir developed. - Lynette Sandra (above) writes: The idea of finding treasure has been with me since I was little and would search … [Read more...] about Writing “Trove,” a Memoir
persistence
Non-Writing Writers
I’ve been trying to figure out where the notion of the writer’s life as glamorous got its start. I know as a kid, I thought being a writer was something special, probably because then as now, I read a great deal. What I read astonished me. I was impressed and enraptured by writers' ability to … [Read more...] about Non-Writing Writers
Another Must-Have Memoir Writing Aid
It’s true that my own essay, “No More Secrets and Silence,” appears in the recently released The Magic of Memoir: Inspiration for the Writing Journey anthology, and that this essay won first prize in the Magic of Memoir contest. But if you write memoir or family history, I’d be urging you to get … [Read more...] about Another Must-Have Memoir Writing Aid
Who Let the Joy Out? Humph, Humph.
You've heard that expression (which always sounded to me like nothing more than an utterly fatuous promise) that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear? I’d returned from the Muse and the Marketplace writers conference held earlier this month, in Boston, feeling first overwhelmed by the … [Read more...] about Who Let the Joy Out? Humph, Humph.
Who Cares If You Write?
I’ve got a quotation over my desk by the novelist Louis Auchincloss. In large font, it reminds me daily, hourly that, “A man can spend his whole existence never learning the simple lesson that he has only one life and that if he fails to do what he wants with it, nobody else really cares.” I've … [Read more...] about Who Cares If You Write?