yourpassions.tk

“I’ve been so busy the last couple of weeks I just didn’t have time to write anything, but I promise I’ll have something next time.” I’ve attended hundreds of writing group sessions, and I almost always hear some version of this explanation. In fact, I admit that rather than writing something new, I’ve recycled old stories more than a couple of times myself. Who doesn’t find it a challenge to carve out writing time, at least now and then? If this is a chronic problem for you, here’s a time tested idea: keep a time log for a week. I know. How can you find more time by spending precious minutes a day doing an OCD thing like that ? Here’s the deal. You can’t control an unknown quantity and this is a specialized instance of the concept that writing makes thinking visible . If you know how you typically spend your time, you can find ways to carve out an extra hour or two. If you really want to. The chart below is a relic I recently found while sorting through files from my previous life in ...

I was stunned when conversation at my book club drifted into comments on memoir in general. I’d just mentioned that I’d been appalled at the proliferation of typos and other errors in a memoir I recently read that was, sure enough, self-published.  “I cringe when I read something like that because it casts all self-publishers in a bad light.” But even so, I’d been mesmerized by the story and seconded the recommendation of a previous reader. I could never have anticipated the ensuing, spontaneous discussion. How I wish I’d had my phone’s recorder running. I did scribble a few notes, summarized below: “I’m more forgiving about sloppy writing and errors in memoir … I’m more interested in hearing their story than how they tell it.” “I can overlook a lot of structural stuff because the story is what counts.” “Memoir is about real people, things that actually happened. Most of them are not professional writers and I don’t expect them to sound like one.” “Flaws make memoir credible. If it’s t...