yourpassions.tk

Few topics are hotter among aspiring memoir writers than the debate about the value of going public with your story. Most of the debate centers around the issue of upsetting family and friends. That is a valid concern. Far fewer consider the financial cost, and far too many authors end up feeling discouraged and disillusioned as they bathe in red ink. Let’s take a look at the facts. Publishing costs vary from one individual to another, and depend on a combination of your skills and your publishing strategy. For example, for The Albuquerque Years , I had the skills to do my own editing and layout and create a professional looking cover myself. Then I uploaded the files to Lulu.com and have finished books available without investing a single cent. In contrast, I know people who have spent $2000 or more on professional editing and layout services, cover design, and press preparation. Some spent another large chunk of cash on a press run of several hundred or a thousand books and promotio...

Photo credit: A Second Story (Flickr.com) What is the sound of paper? Julia Cameron wrote a book by this title, The Sound of Paper . I began reading it some time back and found it so inspiring that I returned the library copy, determined to order my own. Today I remembered the title and hit the 'net, looking for more information. That search activated a synapse deep inside Google, the cerebral cortex of cyberspace, linking to an essay, “ The Sound of Paper ” , posted on the Moleskinerie blog site by Pinkadelic. The essay lists a dozen sounds of paper, such as It's a note uncrinkling on its own after being passed under bubblegum-painted desks. Do you like me? Circle Yes or No. Yes. Pinkadelic puts the sounds into contexts, as we do when we insert sound into stories, and her results are polished to a sheen. Her post intrigued me in a couple of ways. I admire her craft and her imagination in finding these examples. And it reminds me that awareness of the raw data of sound lies de...

“There is no such thing as an average memoir, but if there were, Karen Walker’s story, Following the Whispers — Creating a life of inner peace and self-acceptance from the depths of despair , would not be among them.” So begins the review of Following the Whispers that I wrote last month after reading this remarkable book that is hot off the press. Rather than going into detail about the book here, I encourage you to click over and read that review. I was especially impressed with Karen's amazing ability to compress a huge chunk of life into a mere 163 pages, and to do it in a way that feels complete, without loose ends. Wanting to know more about how she accomplished this feat, I contacted her and invited her to be the first guest on a new series of podcasts that I am launching to supplement the written content of this blog. As you listen to the fifteen minute interview, you'll discover that we ran far afield of our original topic, covering some interesting territory like the...

You’ve heard the saying “It’s five o’clock somewhere” used to justify an early cocktail hour. Likewise, on any given day, it’s somebody’s birthday. If you happen to read this on your special day, H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y T O Y O U ! I shall use your occasion to talk and write about birthdays and writing about them. Anyone who has a few years on their timeline has some birthdays that they remember more fondly than others. The fond memories may include parties — surprise or otherwise, special gifts, special celebrations. The not-so-fond ones may include passing dreaded milestones, generally ages ending in zeros. These occasions are worth writing about, as essays or stories. One of my best birthdays was the year I turned 18 and my parents turned an ordinary gathering of friends into a really special event with a huge surprise: an ice cream birthday cake from Baskin Robbins. Turning 21 was a real non-event. I had German measles. Besides, I was already married to a grad student, and we...

Today’s post features a guest writer, Herchel “Herm” Newman. I’ve known Herm for many years now, primarily through his writing and YahooGroups postings, though we do e-mail offline now and then. We met on the Lifestory Writing Yahoo Group, perhaps seven or eight years ago. Over the years he’s posted around one hundred stories, and each one has been tantalizing, full of rich love and Truth. A few years ago one of his stories was selected for inclusion in Chicken Soup for the African American Soul . Currently Herm is also a member of the Life Writer’s Forum YahooGroup which I co-host with Jerry Waxler, author of the Memory Writer’s Network blog. Last week a thread of discussion prompted Jerry to request that Herm share some of the resources and strategies that helped him get started writing life stories. Herm’s reply is so rich and helpful that with his permission, I share it with you: One of the first things I did was search the internet for people who were already doing what I wante...

Every now and then threads from different corners of my experience converge and twist together, forming a vortex of intense meaning. This just happened again to remind me that writing Truth takes many forms, and that life writing can include fiction. The first thread: discussions in a couple of online groups about the nature of Truth. A general agreement emerged that there are levels and facets of truth. Factual truth and meaning don't always coincide, and for the purposes of memoir, meaning trumps fact. The second thread: an e-mailed link to a TED video of Isabel Allende's talk, “Tales of Passion.” She leads off with the question, “What is truer than truth?” The answer, according to an old Jewish tale, is the Story. (She has a lot more to say that’s well worth listening to, and she’s funny to boot.) The third thread: reading William Young's bestselling novel, The Shack . This story rang true to me from the beginning. When I read “The Story behind THE SHACK” at the end ...

Lifewriters of the world, rejoice. In response to growing pressure from writers overwhelmed by the economic crisis and other stress sources, leading grammar authorities announced that many basic grammar rules that have plagued people for centuries are being suspended. “These demands came partly from the burgeoning Print-On-Demand and related self-publishing venues. Authors seeking to gain control of their own destinies feel unfairly burdened by the need to have professional editing. This decision will allow them to maintain their integrity and self-respect as they churn out material that would have been considered deplorable even last year,” reports publishing industry expert Sasha Greinhaus. “We hope to make writing fun again for ordinary people," quipped Jack Merrigeld, a critic noted for scalding rebukes of the grammatically inept. "I have seen the light. I've become awakened to the power of personal choice and freedom of expression.” Typical of the rules suspended inc...