yourpassions.tk

Patrick has been working on the same story for three months now, rearranging words, adding a few lines, deleting others, and revising descriptions. “I can’t write anything else until this one is perfect,” he explains to his writing group. If you are walking in Patrick’s shoes, remember, it’s super to have a polished, perfect story, but your descendants would rather have piles of drafts than half a dozen jewels. Even if you are working on a piece for publication, there’s a point beyond which you are unlikely to add value by obsessing. Start a new file and move on to escape the Perfection Trap. Maryanne hasn’t written anything at all for several weeks, but keeps coming to group meetings, “Because I know if I don’t come, I’ll never get around to writing again.” Privately, Maryanne admits that when she thinks about sitting down to write, twenty-nine things seem more urgent. She’s beginning to realize that she just doesn’t feel like her stories measure up to her own standards or the work sh...

I believe that writing about life . . . lends richness to life. invokes a profound sense of gratitude. puts the past into focus. lets me see the past from many angles. makes it possible to understand and forgive hurtful acts. increases compassion — for others and myself. allows me to relive precious moments and savor them anew. builds connections between generations. revitalizes dreams. pays tribute to those who have helped me along my way. shares lessons learned with generations to come. gives me a chance to tell my side of the story. gives others a deeper understanding of who I am. keeps my brain active and healthy. is enlightening and often fun. is an intensely personal process to be done my way . can be equally rewarding for others. The statements above do not exhaust my beliefs about life writing, but for the purposes of this post, they are sufficient. The idea for this list came to mind yesterday morning as I listened to seven-year-old Tarak McLain read a list of thirty things h...

One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to broaden the scope of my teaching. I’d already begun moving in that direction, and am forging briskly ahead, not only with new subject matter, but a totally new format. February 13 – March 6 I am scheduled to begin conducting a new four-week teleclass called Make Your Stories Sparkle sponsored by the National Association of Memoir Writers ( NAMW ). The course topic reflects my growing passion for the fine art of description. I say it’s a fine art, but that doesn’t mean writing flowery, over-the-top prose. I’m referring to completeness and accuracy as well as eloquence. Unless you are writing satire or humor, those descriptions that make readers gasp in delight and wonder should be used as sparingly as flakes of cayenne pepper, but they are one of the ways to add serious sizzle your stories. They rarely appear spontaneously, and we’ll look at ways to coax them out of hiding. Quite apart from learning some new tricks for writing descriptions, you...

Over the past couple of years, a number of scandals involving fake memoirs have rocked the literary world. The latest broke right after Christmas 2008. This time the topic was a love story with its roots set at the fence of a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. The author was Herman Rosenblat, a bona fide survivor of Schlieben, according to a report in Salon . These controversies raise a flurry of questions, including many about where memoir writers should draw the line between creative license to convey the essence or personal truth of their memories. They call into question the very nature of memory itself. With these questions in mind, my mind went on full alert when I belatedly thumbed through the October 2008 issue of Writer's Digest and found Jordan Rosenfeld's interview with Isabel Allende, " A Woman of Letters ." One question and answer read: "You've said that in writing memoirs, you work with the truth and then end up lying. Can you explai...

My writing time yesterday and today went into writing web code rather than words, and I just finished building a new toy. Technically I guess it’s called a widget. My very first widget. I’m so excited! The tips change daily, so be sure to come back often to find a new one, and if you have a blog connected with life writing of one sort or another, please be my guest. This is a toy that’s made to be shared. Just follow the link at the bottom, copy the code, and paste it into your sidebar. Hopefully I’ll soon learn what it would take to add it as a gadget to Vista desktops. How cool would that be, to have a Life Writing Tip of the Day right there in your sidebar? This idea sprang to mind a few months ago. I have lots of ideas like that, and it’s rare that I actually bring one to fruition like this, so this is extra cause for celebration. Actually, it’s not unlike all the story ideas floating around that I think about writing, but there’s only so much time. Remember that Flavia card I fou...

HAPPY NEW YEAR! January First is typically thought of as a day of new beginnings. This year and this post also mark the completion of 300! posts in this blog. In the spirit of New Beginnings, I’m expanding the blog's scope. For nearly three years and three hundred posts, I’ve concentrated almost exclusively on writing lifestories. Today, you’ll notice that the title has changed ever so slightly. Now, rather than being The Heart and Craft of Lifestory Writing , one word is missing. It’s simply The Heart and Craft of Life Writing , a small but subtle distinction. Over the course of time, especially the past year, I have become increasingly aware of the various facets of life writing and how they fit together. Some people can stick with a single focus for their entire lives and feel satisfied and happy. I’m not one of those people. I’m an adventurer, a wanderer, an explorer of new perspectives and insight, and eager to try things new ways. I need to follow this impulse to expand for ...