Posts tagged as:

memoir writing

Karr’s ‘Lit,’ One for the Sisters

by margaret on February 17, 2010

PAIGE’S GOOD FRIEND told her that Mary Karr’s Lit was the best non-fiction she’d read in years, that while she couldn’t bear to put it down, the prose was so divine it made her want to stop after each passage just to savor it. This friend is no easy sell when it comes to writing and reading, so OK, said TSP’S Paige: “add that book to my reading list, stat, and here’s why.”

{ 0 comments }

Memoir Tip: Just Say No to the Self-Congratulatory

by margaret on February 4, 2010

SOMETIMES MARION CAN BE SUBTLE. And while no particular incident of that comes to mind right now, she’s sure she occasionally is. Though never when teaching memoir writing, so she knows for certain that she was not a bit subtle in a recent class when she simply declared a total moratorium on the self-congratulatory. Let her explain.

Writing Tip: Angle Your Shots

by margaret on November 8, 2009

smallyellowpad-1THINK IN PROPINQUITIES, says Marion, and yes, she knows: The phrase makes her sound like a librarian. But the wacky word is a reminder to think of your angle shots when you write up a topic like a family holiday. Don’t give us a Polaroid of the day, she says, on your blog or in your journal, but rather some side view that illustrates how you learned a new way to give thanks–like the one she discovered when she brought a New York City cab driver to Thanksgiving dinner. The tale, and the memoir tips.

More Tips for Telling Your Story

by margaret on October 5, 2009

smallyellowpad-1MARION’S BACK where she loves to be, three weeks into teaching a new class on memoir. And it’s a great class: Twenty-one eager writers, all with their own tales, all willing to do the work to get the pieces down. Her favorite problem last week was from one fine young writer who simply admitted, “My story is too big.” Ah. Yes. Too big. Whose isn’t? How to wrestle a big story to the ground.

Movin’ On: Writer’s Block No More

by margaret on August 11, 2009

SmallYellowPad-1STUCK IN CREATIVE NEUTRAL? NO WORRY. Our writing coach in residence, Sister Marion, says phooey to the idea of writer’s block, and proceeds to prove that anyone can barrel through a “block” with this secret weapon: the friendly ear of a sister or sister-friend. Her plan for pushing ahead on your artistic path.

Writing Something? Marion’s Tips

by margaret on June 29, 2009

smallyellowpad-1ARE YOU WRITING SOMETHING? Don’t be shy; everybody is writing something about their lives these days (isn’t that what blogging is?). Though school’s out for the summer where our sister Marion teaches memoir writing, she’s offering up some tactics here to help us sisters get it all down. The first installment is an exercise about finding the story among all those details. You can read it here.