Eating an Elephant
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Does the idea of beginning a writing project overwhelm you? Are you still procrastinating? Can you write a word? A sentence? A paragraph? If you can’t see yourself writing the entire story, just get a sentence or two down on the page. Build from that. Maybe you can’t quite imagine how the story will hang together, but you could write that one little scene. What’s the dialogue? How did your mother’s face look when you gave her the bad news that September morning? What was the light in the room during the conversation? What noises were in the background? What smells? As writers, sometimes we don’t know where to begin or how to get started. We flounder and fail. Try again and again and...
Read MoreBe Brave! Be Daring!
I am often asked about how to deal with telling family secrets. What should a writer do when a memoir reveals more information than some relatives might feel comfortable sharing? If you are just beginning to write your story, put that thought on the back burner. Right now, just concentrate on writing the best memoir possible. Learn the craft. Develop your setting. Re-create the characters from your life on paper. Tell a great story. When the time comes to put your story out into the world, you may have a different attitude. Will your sixty-year-old sister really care that you have made her look like a spoiled brat when she was thirteen? Decades later, are we even the same people we were back then? You must be brave! Daring! Write your story. Put it all down on...
Read MoreA Lesson on Imagery
Our brains think in images. If I ask you to imagine a woman, your brain does not spell “woman” in giant letters inside your head. Instead it attempts to think of an actual image of a woman. Your brain races around in confusion. Is this woman tall, short, young, or pretty? If I give you no instruction as to what that woman looks like, you’re frustrated. But if I add this simple statement— think of Sophia Loren, but with long blond hair— you get it. An image pops in your head. Your brain calms. There’s a lesson to be learned for the writer in this explanation of imagery. As readers, we are proficient in creating movies in our heads from the words we see on the page. If we are reading along and can’t follow the images,...
Read MoreReading Aloud
One of the graduation requirements of my MFA program in Boston was a fifteen minute reading of my work. I’m not new to reading in front of a crowd, but there’s something nerve wracking about standing at a podium in front your professors and peers. Before my reading, I practiced. As I rehearsed, I would stop to make small adjustments in the text to clarify who was speaking or to change a word that just didn’t sound quite right. I was reminded of my own best advice — If you aren’t sure about the text of a piece you are working on, speak the words. The clunky parts will magically appear to you, twisting your tongue and tripping you up. Bad dialogue will scream at you for an edit. How do you quiet your nerves before a reading?...
Read MoreGoodbye Boston! Hello Minnesota!
It’s great to be back in Minnesota. My eyes are resting on the green colors, happy for a reprieve from Boston’s cobblestone and concrete. I have just completeld my fifth and final residency at the MFA program of Pine Manor College. After ten days of intensive study of creative nonfiction, I have returned with new ideas I hope to share in the months ahead. In a few short days (Saturday, July 23) I will be teaching at the Loft Literary Center in downtown Minneapolis. The class, which will run from 1-4 p.m, is titled: Beginning Memoir: Finding Your Story. If you know of anyone who is interested in writing life stories, please let them know about this class. They can register by calling the Loft at 612-379-8999. The Loft is the largest literary center in...
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