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Who could be more qualified to mete out advice on writing memoir than someone who  holds a Masters Degree in Creative Writing from Stanford, wrote her own award-winning memoir, Don't Call Me Mother , and worked for decades as a clinical psychologist? This legendary person is Linda Joy Myers, who in addition to all the other things she does, is founder and president of the National Association of Memoir Writers (NAMW), and a veteran teacher and coach of aspiring memoir writers.  Linda Joy's latest book, The Power of Memoir: How to Write Your Healing Story , was released in January by Jossy Bass. I'm excited about this book, because it's the book I might have written as a sequel to my own. It provides enough direction for a beginner to start from scratch, and for those who have already piled up a stack of stories, it provides a process for compiling the stories into a professionally polished literary memoir. It especially shines in the chapter on "The Power of Writi...

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. — Mark Twain Did you ever stop to think that the way you visually arrange words and sentences on a page amounts to clothing your stories?  Before you read further, I invite you do to download my free e-book, Make Your Pages Picture Perfect and take a look at eight “before and after” examples of the difference layout can make in attracting readers’ attention and easing the path of their eyes as they dip into the words. Move your mouse over the small pink stars on each page. Each has a formatting tip about that aspect of the page. If you see a page you like, use the tips to copy the settings in Word or OpenOffice.  Those pages have a mixture of simple and sophisticated tips. If you are just getting started, use these basic tips to make your manuscripts look professional and easy to read. Add others as accessories, depending on your interest, level of skill and interest. Single-space, or use 1.5 line spacing . Do...

“When I quit concerning myself with projects and turned my attention to process, my work really took off,” explained internationally acclaimed fiber artist Sandy German in a talk about the work shown in a local exhibition. Sandy leads a group of quilters who meet weekly in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. to  explore quiltmaking as a vehicle for personal growth and creative expression. “Sandy gives us a theme to work on, and when we come back with our finished pieces, no two are alike.” said one group member. "We celebrate the differences in our work." “This group is a marvelous place to learn. I’ve never been told I did something wrong. Everyone looks at my work as an expression of who I am and what I have to say, not as a piece of sewing that has to be perfect in every detail. It’s supportive and exciting,” said another. As group members briefly discussed their experiences with quilting, the group, and the pieces they each had on display, Sandy’s comments formed a thread weaving ...

This morning I awoke in a rosy glow of delight, recalling an amazing dream. In this dream I was able to change a potentially ugly situation into a joyful one. Other dream fragments bubbled to the surface. As I slid out of bed to record these shimmering dream bubbles in my journal, I recalled an event related to these dreams, and then a few others. I jotted all these thoughts in my journal as fast as I could, in highly condensed form. Related thoughts and insights tumbled out. The result is rather like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle scattered on a table, without a cover picture to guide the assembly. I don’t yet know what it all means. I find great value in dreams for uncovering hidden thoughts and beliefs that wouldn’t occur to me other ways, and discerning Truth. Capturing these fragments on paper serves an important purpose. It cements them in my waking reality, and gives me a way to return to ponder them at greater length and find connections among them. This is not the first time I’ve h...

Today is my blogoversary.   How the time has flown. Just four years ago I clicked “Publish” for the very first time on what was then The Heart and Craft of Lifestory Writing . Lots of words have gone into the 380 posts that passed through cyberspace in the intervening1461 days, and I can’t begin to count all the topics. If I printed all the content on trade-sized book pages, they would fill about four volumes, which goes to show that writing a little bit, maybe 1200 words a week, will fill a book in a year or so. So keep on writing, one story at a time. About two years ago I changed the name, removing “story” from the title to emphasize that there is much more to writing about life than writing simple stories. Last July I expanded on this idea with a post about The Life Writing Progression , arranging five forms of life writing on a continuum of complexity, from uncensored rants and journal entries to polished memoir. Each has value for specific purposes. Other posts have covered trut...

The last few days, and presumably the next few, I am exploring journaling as a way to face down fear. I'm scheduled for cataract surgery on my left eye on Monday, and the right one ten days later. In general, cataract surgery is no big deal. In fact, my father claims that he'd rather have cataract surgery than a root canal. It's said to be the most frequently performed surgery in America, and virtually 100% effective, with infection and other complications virtually nil.  It does help to know that, but it isn't that simple in my case. If I were having standard, old-fashioned cataract surgery, that would surely be enough to hold my fears at bay. But today there are choices. Today there are at least three kinds of hi-tech "premium" lens implants available to increase post-surgical range of vision, perhaps to that of a healthy young eye.  My choice is the Crystalens. Some people never need glasses, even for reading, after these lenses settle in. Most need over-t...

How often have you heard the mantra “Your problems are your best friends,” or some variation thereof? I could fill several pages without stopping as I listed all the reasons we should rejoice in our tribulations because they are such valuable learning opportunities and that sort of thing. Indeed, I even believe most of those reasons. A variation of this advice carries over into lifewriting wisdom. Yours Truly joins such notables as Dr. James Pennebaker , Univ. of Texas Psychology Department chair and author of Writing to Heal , and Linda Joy Myers, Founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers and author of The Power of Memoir , in extolling the virtues of using stories about dark moments to give balance to a memoir or collection of vignettes. Experts agree that journaling or writing about traumas and difficulties is helpful for instilling insight, healing pain and anxiety, facilitating forgiveness and transforming lives. Nothing in this post should be construed as negating t...