Comments on: Memoir: Chopping Your Story Down to Size

By: marionroach

marionroach — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:03:16 +0000

Hello again, Cheryl. Welcome back to TSP, where we too wrestle with how to be creative in our lives. I do note that you say you are “trying,” and in trying we find our path. How else could we, after all? From many visits to your lovely site I can see how beautifully your “trying” is going: your quilts are exquisite, as well as unique. So try on, sister, and thanks for the kind words about the memoir post. Please come back soon.

By: Cheryl Arkison

Cheryl Arkison — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:48:06 +0000

Lovely post, as heartwrenching as the details to hear and likely share.

My story, currently, is the struggle to give meaning to my creative tendencies in daily life. I saw some guy on Oprah, yes Oprah, once who said to look back to who we were at 6 and that is likely a more authentic representation of who we are then what we do to fill our time currently. Suprising to me, it’s true. I was writing stories and sewing clothes for my dolls. And now I am trying to live a creative and fruitful life as a quilter, writer, and teacher. Note, I said trying.

By: marionroach

marionroach — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:25:23 +0000

Oh, Linda. Welcome to TSP, and thank you for this gorgeous idea that "there are few better ways to learn more about ourselves than to learn more about our sisters." You put it perfectly, and I am so grateful. Memoir requires perspective--specifically, yours--but that does not mean closing one's eyes to the 360-degree view that exists on anything from a pair of earrings that your mother always on holidays (and to which each sister most definitely has a different response), or a single hilarious/sad/traumatic event that everyone witnessed. And while memoir does not require that you fully report each view of each sister, it does require acknowledging that they exist. Otherwise we blindly think there is one truth. Ah, no. Not one single truth. This is a very rich topic and, as you suggest, as we learn more about one another, our story grows. Thank you. And please come back here soon. And if you have not read them, I offer you some assistance here, with the other TSP memoir tips. I think they will help you with your tale.

By: Linda Wagner

Linda Wagner — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:28:34 +0000

As I work on my memoir, I realize more and more that my four older sisters’ recollections of our parents and grandmother, in whose house we lived for my first 12 years, were totally different than mine since our elders were at such different points in their lives when we were children and teens and living with them every day. And hearing their version of events that we shared is always enlightening. It seems there are few better ways to learn more about ourselves than to learn more about our sisters.

By: marionroach

marionroach — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:50:20 +0000

Hiya, Becky. I am so glad. I think we all have a story in us, and I am determined to drag it out of the sisterhood, one woman at a time. Write on, sister.

By: Becky

Becky — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:06:10 +0000

These tips on memoir help me so much to keep from being overwhelmed by my journaling. You show me I can write for others to read.

By: marionroach

marionroach — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:54:38 +0000

Hi, Nancy: Lovely to read you here again. I am honored by your kind words, and hope that all those memoir tips can be of help and that you’ll come back soon and tell us how you are doing with them. And yes: Caroline Knapp. She’s amazing. Write on, sister.

By: nancy nichols

nancy nichols — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:59:48 +0000

Dear Marion – Such a pleasure to read what you write. Your words are so full of vibrant immediacy that I am instantly bouyed and always captivated. Thank you for the valuable information you graciously share with all your sisters. Looking forward to reading Caroline Knapp.
Much love, Nancy J.

By: marionroach

marionroach — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:20:05 +0000

Dear Julie: Welcome to TSP, where we are all sisters in crime. You’re right. Blogging is a great teacher. If you do it right, your post is one one topic, is succinct, and is entertaining and/or informative. It’s a great way to learn to write to the point on deadline. Thanks for reminding us, and thanks for stopping by here. Please come back soon.

By: Julie Lomoe

Julie Lomoe — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:38:32 +0000

Hi Marion. What a great blog! You told us about it when you spoke at the Sisters in Crime meeting last spring, and it’s taken me this long to get here (via Jay Gallagher’s blog, which I read daily).

You’re doing a wonderful thing with your memoir teaching. Last night I attended a Memoir Project event at the Arts Center of the Capital Region, and your name came up several times. (I read a menoir-like poem at one of those events last spring.)

In terms of paring down your memoir topics, I’ve been finding that blogging is a great way to do it. I’ve been blogging since May lst, and I expect to reach 10,000 visitors today! As a writer struggling to break out of anonymity for years, I find that incredible.

Many of my blogs are in fact memoir, and sometimes I get comments like, “That’s fascinating – you should write a book about it.” But I don’t feel the need – a 600-word post is just fine, and it’s great practice for deciding what belongs and what doesn’t.

Julie Lomoe
Julie Lomoe’s Musings Mysterioso