Category Archives: Memoir Writing Tips

Fiction Writing Techniques, Memoir Writing Tips

Google+ Hangout Interview with Mary Gottschalk on Writing a Novel After Writing a Memoir

24 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Mary C Gottschalk/@Marycgottschalk

 

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.  ~Douglas Adams

 

It is my pleasure to feature author Mary C Gottschalk in this Google+ Hangout interview on her journey from memoir to fiction. Mary and I met on Facebook several years ago.  I’ve been a fan of Mary’s writing since reading her memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam, where she took me on a real-life adventure around the world in a sailboat and showed me the real meaning of “stepping out of  your comfort zone.”  Mary will discuss her new novel, A Fitting Place, and how there are many ways to step out of our comfort zones. Hint: It is just as adventuresome!

 

My reviews for Sailing Down the Moonbeam can be found on Amazon, Goodreads.

My reviews for A Fitting Place can be found on Amazon , Goodreads, Shelfari and LibraryThings

 

Welcome, Mary!

 

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Author Mary C Gottschalk

 

 

Writing a Novel After Writing a Memoir

 

 

 

 

KP:  What made you decide to write a novel, A Fitting Place, after writing your memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam?

MG:    I’ve long believed that the potential for personal and/or professional growth is greatest when you are in situations that cause you to re-examine your beliefs and values. In my memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam, I chose to step out of my comfort zone from a professional, geographic and cultural perspective.  It changed my life in some amazing ways.

But most people don’t have the option of quitting their jobs and heading off into the sunset.  I wanted to write a story that could happen to any woman.  In the novel, my protagonist, Lindsey, remains in her hometown surrounded by friends, family and her career, but begins to grow in new ways when she is forced out of her comfort zone.

 

KP: We are all told that as memoir writers we need to use fiction-writing techniques. How did writing a memoir first prepare you for writing a novel?

 

 

MG: Two things

  • Memoir has to read like fiction or it will not engage the reader. It has to have a story arc with appropriate plot points and credible characters. When you already know the story arc and major plot points, you have more energy to learn how to build tension and develop fully-realized characters.That’s a lot harder when you’re making up the key plot points. You can spend a lot of time writing scenes that turn out to be completely irrelevant.  Knowing what it feels like when you get it right makes it easier to keep trudging through the mistakes.
  • A related issue is the creation of interesting and credible characters.  It took many drafts of my memoir before my ex-husband and myself emerged as three-dimensional figures that would be recognized by people who knew us and appreciated by people who didn’t. I could never have done the novel without have some sense of how to go about creating fully-imagined characters.

 

KP: How did you decide on the plot and characters for your novel?

MG: I mentioned before that I wanted to stay with premise that you grow the most when you step outside your comfort zone.  One of those growth periods, for me, came during a rebound relationship after my husband and I separated. The advantages and disadvantages of rebound relationships inspired the overall story arc, but the events are fictional. 

So are the characters.  You know, for example, I have no children. But the characters in the final novel are not the same as the ones in the first draft. Several people got dropped because they did nothing to further the plot, while at least two were added in a later draft because they were necessary keep the tension up and the story moving forward.

 

KP: Since we have already met Lindsey, your main character, through your blog posts, we know she is conflicted and struggling with self-defeating behavior patterns. Can you offer some insights on how you developed her character?

MG:  So many women of my generation grew up with stereotypes about masculinity and femininity. The stereotypes say a lot about people’s expectations, but they don’t tell us much about reality … how any given man or woman wants to be or wants to act.  The self-defeating behaviors came when there is an unresolved conflict. In Lindsey’s case, it is a conflict between what she really wants, and what she does based on what she thinks—often incorrectly—is expected of her.

 

KP:  One of the threads in your novel is the concept of sexual fluidity. What made you decide to incorporate this controversial issue into your story?

MG:  Sexual fluidity describes a situation in which a sexual attraction is based on personal and emotional intimacy rather than gender. It is the subject of an emerging field of academic research, which indicates that sexual attraction for women is often as much personal attraction as gender.  I suspect this perspective appealed to me because I’ve never been sexually interested in a man based on his looks. I was attracted to men who were intelligent and thoughtful, and I could talk to about interesting and challenging ideas

I also think a lot of women who are not lesbian or bisexual find themselves caught up in a rebound relationship with a woman after a heterosexual one has failed. They are searching for emotional comfort, for reassurance that they are still desirable human beings. As is typical of a rebound relationship, Lindsey falls “in love” with the first person who shows a genuine interest in her.

What makes the same sex relationship so important for Lindsey is that it challenges her long held assumptions about gender roles. For example, she consistently subordinated her needs to her husband’s, often feeling that she had no choice but to do what “the man” wanted. But when she finds herself in a subordinate role in a same sex relationship, she can’t blame it on norms about gender roles. She has to look in the mirror.

 

KP: Can you describe your writing process and how long it took you from idea to published book?

MG:   Both my memoir and my novel had three phases. The first was laying out the basic story arc and plot points.  The second was identifying the characters and events that I need to make the story work.  The third was fleshing out the characters to make them fully-realized.

That is not the same as saying each book took three drafts.  Both took many more than that, and in both cases, I put the manuscript aside for several months before attempting a revision.  Both books took about 5 years from start to finish. 

KP: Do you have any writing tips you’d like to share?

MG:   I think the most important thing any writer can do is make abundant use of beta readers and editors.  It’s too easy to fall in love with your own words and your own characters.

In my days as a professional writer, I was always happy to debate the content of an article I wrote, but if someone challenged the way I said it, I knew I had written it poorly.  It’s even more true with creative writing. You do not want anything to cause your reader to step out of the story you are telling.  Only readers can tell you what does or doesn’t work.

 

KP:  That sounds like excellent advice, Mary. Thank you for sharing all the hard work that went into both your memoir and your novel. 

 

***

Author Bio and Contact Information:

Mary has made a career out of changing careers.  She spent nearly thirty years in the financial markets, working as an economist, a banker and a financial consultant to major corporations.  She has worked in New York, New Zealand, Australia, Central America, Europe, and amazingly, Des Moines, Iowa.

Along the way, she dropped out several times.  In the mid-1980’s, Mary embarked on the multi-year sailing voyage that is the subject of her memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam. Twice, she left the world of high finance to work with the nonprofit community, first in New York and later in Des Moines.

In her latest incarnation, she defines herself as a writer.  She published her first novel, writes for The Iowan magazine, and lectures on the subject of personal risk-taking.

Mary is on several non-profit boards, including the Des Moines A.M. Rotary

 

Links to books and social media sites:

http://marycgottschalk.com

www.Sailingdownthemoonbeam.com

http://twitter.com/marycgottschalk

http://www.facebook.com/mary.gottschalk.9

http://www.facebook.com/MaryGottschalkWriter

http://www.linkedin.com/in/marygottschalk/

https://plus.google.com/u/0/105973496280247274228/posts

 

Links to Amazon: amzn.to/Iy5JTJ

 

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Mary has graciously agreed to give away a copy of both her novel, A Fitting Place and her memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam to two commenters whose names will be selected in a random drawing.

 

We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

This Week: 

Saturday, May 24, 2014: I’m over at Marian Beaman’s Plan and Fancy Girl blog with a guest post: “Kathy Pooler and Independence Day: Her Story of Freedom.” Hope you’ll stop by and leave a comment!

 

Next Week:

Monday, May 26,2014:  “Google+ Hangout Interview with Memoir Author Nancy Sharp: Both Sides Now: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Bold Living.”

 

 

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The  30-day Pubslush Crowdfunding Campaign for my memoir, Ever Faithful to His Lead: My Journey Away From Emotional Abuse was launched on May 12. Now in its second week, it is 73% closer to its goal. The campaign ends at midnight on June 11.

 

By making a contribution you will help spread the messages of hope, resilience and courage to those seeking freedom from abuse. Here’s the link to the campaign:

 

http://pubslush.com/books/id/2076.

 

If you are unable to make a contribution, I’d love it if you would share this link with others.

 

Share the hope.

 

Thank you!

 

Memoir, Memoir Writing Tips, Writing to Heal

Introducing Ever Faithful To His Lead: My Journey to Memoir

34 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler

 

My journey to memoir has led me to self-discovery and healing. It has made me look at my life and understand the choices that have led me to the woman I am today. At 67, I look back at the young woman who made many self-defeating life decisions. In writing my story, I have learned to embrace my flaws and setbacks and forgive myself for the path I chose. For it is through this path that I ultimately found the joy and contentment I am experiencing today.

 

EVER FAITHFUL TO HIS LEAD helped me answer my own burning question:

How does a young woman from a loving, stable family make so many wise choices about career, yet so many poor choices about love that she ends up escaping with her children in the middle of the day from a second abusive marriage?

 

Here’s my journey to memoir….

 

Writing a memoir is really hard work. It’s like having a homework assignment every day of your life.

It means showing up and getting in a writing zone where the words flow, or not. It means fighting your inner critic , facing rejection.

It means allowing yourself to be vulnerable and genuine, revisiting painful memories and gleaning the life lessons.

 

One word, one thought at a time. Like a huge jigsaw puzzle. You pour the pieces on the table, then begin sorting them Into a recognizable pattern.

 

But a memoir is not a string of vignettes–delightful and compelling as these stories may be. It’s a story with a takeaway. All those pieces of the puzzle need to be shaped into a narrative arc, with a theme, plot points, scenes, dialogue, sensory detail, dramatic tension, conflict and eventually resolution.

 

 

A story of transformation that will benefit the reader and connect them with their own transformation.

 

When I sent my manuscript to a developmental editor, her response was , “you have more than one memoir here.” I had poured my heart and soul into those pages and now I had to rethink the whole process.

 I had to be the one to find my own story and once I found it, I had to claim it and honor it as the story I needed and wanted to tell. That took another few months to process. I set the manuscript aside and went off on my own to pout, grieve, stew, until one day a friend I hadn’t seen in years visited. She asked me to read the chapter she was in and when I finished, she said, “It reads like a novel” .

 

This, of course, was music to my memoirist’s ears. And I never looked back. I claimed my story and began the next arduous leg of my journey, rewriting, shaping, editing through professional editors and beta readers.

 

After a year of digging deeper, I reached the polishing stage. My publisher offered a final proofread…

 

After five years of writing and rewriting, Ever Faithful to His Lead is getting ready for its debut. It is a story of hope, resilience and courage. My greatest wish is that it will touch the heart of those who need it the most–women who find themselves in the grip of an abusive relationship and are searching for their inner strength and freedom.

 

Please join me I spreading this message through my Pubslush campaign for Ever Faithful to His Lead which went live on May 12 for 30 days.

 

Here’s the link:

 

http://pubslush.com/books/id/2076 

 

Thank you and please let me know your thoughts and questions.

 

I’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below

 

 

This week:

 

Thursday, 5/14:  “Google+Hangout Interview with Memoir Author Cindi McVey: To Live in Paradise: Dreams Found and Lost in Africa”

 

 

Journaling, Memoir, Memoir Writing Tips

Journaling as Seed for Memoir: A Memoir Moment

26 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler

 

“The nicest part is being able to write down all my thoughts and feelings, otherwise I might suffocate.” Anne Frank from The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition.

 

It all started with the pink diary I received for my eleventh birthday. It had a key so I could lock away all my deepest secrets, like what boy I had a crush on in the sixth grade or all the fun I had at the girl scout camping trip even though those half-cooked hot dogs made me yearn for home.

I could write whatever I was thinking and feeling and nobody would ever know.

Now I am writing a memoir and the whole world will know what I am thinking and feeling. I can’t help but ponder how the transition- from guarding my thoughts with a lock and key to sharing my inner and outer story so openly- happened.

For me, it happened through journaling…

I have journaled for years and never realized that all those times I had poured out my feelings onto the pages of my journal , I was planting the seeds for my memoir.

I still have the blue cloth, three-ring notebook that I created for my senior English teacher, Miss Philips back in 1964. The page dividers have pictures depicting the sections: hopes, beliefs, thoughts, ideas with varied colored plastic tabs where the white labels were inserted.

At the time, it seemed like a silly project. What did Miss Philips know? I can still see her, pencil-thin frame, always dressed in some dark-colored–grey, navy blue or black–dowdy dress or suit. Standing so straight by her desk, she never smiled or wore makeup. Her brown hair was pulled back in a tight bun and her wire-rimmed glasses dangled at the end of her nose.

What in the world would I ever do with that silly notebook?

 

My First Journal
My First Journal

 

I packed the journal when I went to nursing school and every once in a while, I’d pull it out to glance through the sections. Sometimes, I’d even jot a few thoughts down. For the most part, it lay dormant.

But, as I began my career and started out on my path to contribute to society as an adult, the pages started beckoning me.

It turned out that I did plenty with Miss Philips’s notebook and if I had the chance, I would thank her for the gift of that handmade journal which provided me with a framework to fill in my life story. What started out as an assumption in my adolescent mind that my out-of-touch teacher was wasting my time became a slowly evolving admiration for a teacher who made a lasting difference in my life…

She planted a seed that has bloomed over and over again as I have worked my way through my life challenges.

Without realizing it at the time, I was planting the seeds for my life story.

 

I have journaled through the heartaches of relationship failures, the searing pain of divorce, the loneliness and exhaustion of being a single parent, the terror of dealing with an alcoholic son, the heart wrenching losses of my maternal grandmother, Nan and my best friend, Judy, my own diagnosis of cancer and the illness and death of my beloved father.

The seed journal has spawned many spiral notebooks and decorative journals to accommodate my evolving thoughts and feelings; to capture my moments of need, longing, passion, creativity, my life…the moments that will matter in my memoir.

The journal tells its own story.

*The pages sit blank and patient just waiting to receive my words. As the words fall on the page, the emotions get sorted out. There is something about labeling a feeling that helps to put it into perspective.

*The feelings that grip and gouge on the inside take on a different shape on the outside.

*Knowledge is power and when one becomes clear with one’s own feelings, there is a sense of empowerment.

*When I journaled my way through my father’s 11-day illness and death, I found clarity and solace in my own words. In sharing my deepest, heartfelt grief, I received support and love in return.

Journaling has become my pathway to healing and hope and has helped me to recall, relive and reflect upon the moments and times of my life that will make up my memoir.

Thank you Miss Philips for helping me plant the seeds that have yielded a garden of stories for my memoir.

 

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Look what is growing in my garden
Photo Credit: Nana

***

Here is a brief journal entry written in response to a writing prompt at a conference. It that has become a part of my first memoir, now in it’s final edits, Ever Faithful to His Lead: My Journey Away From Emotional Abuse:

” The lime green satin dress with the rhinestone design on the bodice slips over my gentle curves as I guide it over my head and wiggle it into place. I pull my stockings up each leg and attach them at the top with metal clasps on the girdle I don’t want to wear. But, it makes me feel grown up. I am twelve years old and getting ready for the cotillion at the end of Madame Helina’s ballroom dancing class. I pull my long,brown hair back into ponytail and slide into my patent leather flats, ready for a practice session into the dancing world of my approaching adolescence.”

***

On Tuesday evenings in May, I will be conducting an online workshop Journaling as Seed for Memoir for The National Association of Memoir Writers (NAMW):

May 6-27 2014, 4 weeks (Tuesdays) 4PST, 5 MST, 6 CST, 7 EST

 

$125 for non-members

 

$110 for members

 

To write a memoir, you need to mine memories and get in touch the significant events in your life that have shaped you into the person you are today. It is a voyage of self-discovery. Journaling can help plant the seeds for the story you need to tell. It can become a pathway to healing and hope and help you to recall, relive and reflect upon the moments and times of your life that become your story.

 

What you will learn

 

  • Journaling as a creative process
  • The physical and psychological benefits of writing and journaling
  • Specific techniques for stimulating creativity
  • Methods for organizing a journaling routine
  • How to identify vignettes that can be turned into a larger story
  • How to identify possible themes of a memoir through your own writing

 

 

How it works-From Kathy

 

We’ll get together for four 60-minute telephone sessions. During each session, I’ll offer a lesson on journaling. Then each of you will have an opportunity to share your own journaling experiences and writing. By exploring your own journal entries, we will build a trusting, mutually supportive atmosphere. Between each session, you will write a brief assignment—a response from a writing prompt- and email them to all the class. Because we will be able to read your pieces on our own, you won’t need to read them aloud. We can use class time to work through issues and offer feedback. At every step during and between classes, I will offer guidance to help you discover the heart of your own story. By the end of the sessions, it is my hope that the vignettes you have gathered through writing prompts may become the seeds for your memoir.

 

You can sign up here.

 

How about you? Does journaling help you find your story?

 

I’d love to hear from you . Please leave your comments below~

 

 

Next Week :

 

Monday, 4/28/14: 

Sue William Silverman will be featured in a WOW!Women on Writing Book Tour and Giveaway for her new memoir, The Pat Boone Fan Club with a review and guest post on “Confessions of a Memoirist: My Serial Personalities.”

 

 

 

Memoir, Memoir Writing Tips, Truth in Memoir

8 Tips for Being Kind and Gentle When Writing Memoir by Ken Myers

21 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Ken Myers/@kenneymyers

 

“Feelings are everywhere–be gentle.” J. Masai

 

It is my pleasure to introduce Ken Myers to you and feature him in this guest post. Ken describes himself as an executive in the care industry–childcare, senior care, pet care–a poet, a Christian as well as a husband, father and entrepreneur. He contacted me to do a guest post and I initially told him I didn’t think his message matched by brand. But when he told me he was working on his own memoir, it was BINGO! I like what he has to say about this universal concern all memoir writers have. I hope you will enjoy it and will share your thoughts.

 

Welcome, Ken!

 

Ken Myers, Entrepreneur
Ken Myers, Entrepreneur

 

Be Gentle and Kind When Writing Memoir

Writing about real people is difficult. Not only is it hard to be accurate, as you can’t fully understand their thinking and motivations, but you have to deal with the backlash of misunderstandings if the person is still alive or if their loved ones are still around. For this reason, it is imperative that you are gentle and kind when writing about real people. That does not mean you can’t be honest or truthful, simply that you should be circumspect and wise in your writing and portrayal of others.

Here are some tips to make your memoir writing gentle and kind:

1.     Know that you will end up offending someone – This first point is a hard one to take, but it is very true. Whenever you write about real people, someone will be offended. Try not to take these things to heart or let their anger dampen your own enthusiasm. While it is important to think about the impact your writing will have on the lives of others, you should not keep yourself from writing out of the fear that you will upset someone. Even writers of fiction upset people over portrayals they feel are not true or accurate. Do not take these attacks personally, and try to keep from letting their offense taint your writing. Your goal should be honesty and truthfulness, not to avoid offending anyone.

 

 

2.     Deal with your anger before you publish – Many people turn to memoir writing after a tragedy or difficult circumstance in their life. With these tragedies and difficulties also comes pain and anger. Anger can make your writing deliberately offensive or hurtful towards someone or something. While it is good to let it out, make sure you have dealt with your anger before you publish your memoirs. Writing it down in the initial draft is fine. Just be sure that you have dealt with your anger in a healthy, productive way by the time the memoir is complete. A memoir is not an opportunity for revenge; it is a chance to share your life with others.

 

 3.     Edit with the help of others – With this same goal in mind, make sure you have a third party to edit your work. Actually, it is best to have at least two editors go over your work after it is complete. The first should be a third party that has nothing to do with the situation – someone who can maintain objectivity and an open mind and is able to cut out the fluff and sharpen up the story. The second should be someone close to the situation, like you, who can offer insight on how your writing will be taken. Do not pick someone who is volatile or easily upset. Try to choose an editor who can give you feedback without becoming overly emotional. By getting both points of view you can more accurately tell what the reaction to your memoir will be and also make sure you were clear and stayed on point.

 

4.     Make sure the writing is clearly from your perspective – It is up to you to write your memoir from a first person or third person perspective. However, it should always be clear to your readers that the things you write about are from your perspective alone. Do not try to give motivations or mental voices to the people around you. Instead, say things like “I thought they were thinking ____” or “To me, it felt like they thought ____.” That way it is clear that everything is skewed by your perspective. This also makes it easier to defend your writing later if someone comments on it. We all see things differently, and what could be obvious to one person is not always obvious to another. Memoir writing is very subjective,so revel in that subjectivity and make it clear you are writing from your own perspective.

 

 5.     Be prepared for people to accuse you of not saying anything earlier –One difficult thing to combat is the accusation that “You didn’t say anything earlier”, meaning, of course, that now you are lying. While it is hard to hear those accusations, you need to remind yourself that you are a different person now. Even just writing down an experience can give you insight that you may not have had before. Just because you now understand or see something you did not previously see does not mean you cannot bring it up because too much time has passed. Be confident in your writing and the honesty of your statements and it will be easier to respond in a kind way: “No, I did not. I was not able to at the time/did not see it that way then/did not feel comfortable or safe bringing it up then.”

 

6.     Have good mental boundaries in place before you publish – Speaking of having confidence, you need to have good mental boundaries in place and a script to work off of when you do have confrontations with others. Maybe there are some things you refuse to go into further detail about. Maybe there are people you left out of your memoirs for a reason. Maybe there are changes you made to further the story or to avoid hurting someone. Those are your choices. Just be sure you are ready to back those choices up. It is much better to be prepared then to have to scramble for an explanation when you are in a bind.

 

7.     Leave out hurtful details that do not add to the story –Memoirs are about sharing your story, but it’s also important to be mindful not to overshare and hurt others. If a certain hurtful fact or point does not move the story along or is not a key step in your journey, leave it out. Something that could be harmful or embarrassing to someone else should always be treated with the utmost caution and thoughtfulness before sharing it. Your memoir is not a gossip rag or a way to get revenge on those that hurt you. Try to keep the Golden Rule in mind: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If you wouldn’t want someone telling something like that about you, then you better think twice before telling it about them.

 

8.     Make the story about you, not anyone else –The biggest defense you have in a memoir is that it is YOUR personal story. As long as you keep it all about you, what can anyone say? Being honest and open is also a great way to avoid scandal and backlash. How can someone threaten you or attack you when you have already revealed everything to the world? Make sure you keep your focus on sharing your story and not on sharing what others have done to you or what you think about other people’s stories. Yes, you can draw connections and include other people and the impact they had on you, but make sure your story stays about you first and foremost.

 

 

Writing memoir can be an uplifting and great way to share your struggles in life.

However, it can also invite in a lot of conflict and strife. Keep all that at a minimum by staying gentle, kind, and honest in your writing.

 

***

Thank you Ken for highlighting the importance of telling our stories with integrity and honesty without intentionally disparaging others who are key to our stories. This is a common obstacle memoir writers face and your points are thought-provoking and insightful.

 

Authors Bio:

Ken Myers is a father, husband, and entrepreneur. He has combined his passion for helping families find in-home care with his experience to build a business. He is working on his own memoir. Learn more about him by visiting at his website: http://www.kenneymyers.com/#about-me and on Twitter @KenneyMyers

 

How about you? How do you handle writing your truth when you know it may offend others? For those who are published memoirists, what repercussions have you had to face?

 

We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

 

Next Week, Monday, 2/24/14: “Reflections on Hands: A Memoir Moment.”

 

Memoir Writing Tips, Writing with Intention

7 Memoir Writing Tips for Writing with Intention

17 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler

 

 

“ Writing with intention will give you a clear sense of purpose your book serves and what you’d like to do with it.”  Paula Margulies, Book Publicity and Promotion Expert from this  Writer’s Edge blog post.

 

 

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Writing with Intention
Photo credit: dreamstimefree

 

 

 

I found my word for 2014!

 

As many others announced the one word that would guide them in the new year, I came up empty.

 

But, the word “intention” has been bubbling inside of me for a while and I have claimed it as my guide for the year.

 

What a relief.  I was beginning to get frustrated with myself for not being able to identify the one word that would capture what I wanted and needed my writing to do as I move forward.

 

As I travel through the various phases of my own memoir writing, the terms intention, purpose, vision, mission keep coming up.

 

To me, intention requires being connected to my purpose for writing my memoir. It has served as my guide and has helped me answer the following questions:

 

 

* Why do I even want to write this book?

 

* Who is this book for?

 

* How will it help those who read it?

 

 

These are all questions any agent or publisher will ask, so I need to ask them for myself and be able to answer then succinctly, no matter which route to publication I take.

 

 

Here are 7 Memoir Writing Tips About Writing with Intention:

 

 

1. I have to find ways to get past my inner critic. You know, the one who says:

 

·         What makes you think anyone will want to read your story?

·         Your story isn’t unique.

·         You can’t write that well anyway.

·         Who cares?

 

I had to put my inner critic in her place. Her name is Gertrude. Here’s how I did it by writing out a dialogue with her.

 

2. I need to show up and write on a schedule.

Sometimes just the act of writing words unlocks the creative juices:

*     Free Write– helps when I’m stuck.  Writing words even if they don’t make sense.

*    Journal– writing thoughts, feelings, and reactions helps me to clarify and focus.

 

 

3.  I need to trust in the process.

 

Sometimes when I start to write, I have no idea how the story will unfold. I may start in the middle and if I let the writing flow, I eventually find the beginning and end.

After I show up, I need to get out the way of the story and let the words flow. I can go back and change later.

 

4. Writing with Intention has helped me to identify the main themes of my story.

 

Writing with intention has helped me find the heart of my story, I’ve been able to identify the themes to shape my story around.

 

This made it easier to stay true to the themes, which became the foundation for the story structure.

 

5. Taking time to pause and think has helped me be clear on my intention.

 

This has helped me to tap into memories and make connections about their meaning from my adult perspective. Sometimes my best ideas flow when I take time to walk in the garden or sit in church.

 

As writers know, we really are working when we’re staring out the window.

 

6. I need to keep my overall intention in mind as I revise.

 

If I am clear on my main message and the audience I am targeting, I can approach suggestions from editors and beta readers with a sense of purpose, staying true to my story while remaining open to constructive feedback.

 

7. Writing with intention has been my guiding light and is helping me get to the finish line:

 

I am taking the time to write it right because I do believe that I have a story to tell and that I am the only one who can tell it.

 

 

As I reflect on the past year, I realize, I have been writing with intention all along. Now I claim it as my focus for 2014 as I get ready to publish and market what I’ve written.

Of course, intention needs to be followed by action but I know being clear on my intentions will speed up the process.

 

 

How about you? Do you feel writing with intention has helped guide you?

 

I’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

2/12: “Crossing the Cultural Divide: From Insanity to Serenity“, a guest post on Janet Given’s blog.

 

 

Next Week: Ken Myers, Memoir Writer, Blogger and Entrepreneur will discuss ” 8 Tips for Being Kind and Gentle When Writing Memoir.”

 

 

 

Memoir Writing Tips, memoir-writing, The editing process

A Milestone in a Memoir Writer’s Journey: Are We There Yet?

22 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler

 

“We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.” Marcel Proust 

 

Life is a journey. Enjoy the ride
Photo Credit: Free Google Images-Life is a journey. Enjoy the ride

 

Are We There Yet?. . .

 

Those six hour car trips to Schenectady, New York to visit my Nana and Grandpa DiCerbo back in the 1950s usually started with my younger brother, Tom, asking, ten minutes into the trip,

 

“Are we there yet?”

 

To a five year old, time has little meaning and that question was repeated more than anyone else in the car cared to hear. Especially Dad who would calmly repeat,

 

“Not yet.”

 

I think of that memory as I wrap up the final edits of my first memoir. The journey has been a long one—four years—filled with potholes, detours, new discoveries and transformation.

 

The goal of publishing has always been a distant dream, probably like the goal of getting to Schenectady must have seemed to my five-year-old brother when we’d hop in the car to head east.

 

I knew I’d be happy to get there but I also knew it would be a long way to go.

 

So, I find myself at this juncture of memoir writer, soon-to-be memoir author and I look ahead with anticipation, excitement and a bit of trepidation. That’s my inner critic, Gertrude as I have decided to call her, trying to worm her way into my psyche.

 

I think I’ll put her in the backseat and leave her off at the next rest stop.

 

I have put my heart and soul into this memoir in hopes that others will feel inspired to learn from their mistakes and grow in new ways. I want to share my hope with others through my story.

 

I believe in my story. I’m connected to its purpose. I’m ready to share it.

 

It has been put through the paces of three rounds of developmental editing, two rounds of beta readers and one round of copy editing,and, as a result, multiple rewrites.

 

It’s still not where I need it to be , but it’s closer than it’s ever been.

 

My hat is off to Dale Griffith Stamos for her deep-cut edits and encouragement in shaping my story;  to Susan Weidener for her in-depth insights and suggestions on my memoir’s takeaways; to Eve Gumpel for her detailed fine-tuning in helping me to polish my story; and for my ten loyal beta readers who offered amazing insights from a reader’s point of view on how to make my story better.

 

And a special thanks to all of YOU for your cheers and support along the way. . .

 

It really does take a village to write a memoir.

 

What started as a pile of vignettes written in Linda Joy Myers’ Spiritual Memoir Teleclasses (NAMW) over a four-year period became a “sh*#$” first draft and many workshops and rewrites later morphed into a story only I can tell. Thanks for showing me the map and putting fuel in my tank, Linda Joy!

 

Literary agent Janet Reid, known for her no-nonsense approach, advises in this post:

 

“Good enough is not the standard you want to aspire to” noting she looks for writers who”sweat every word, sentence, paragraph and page.”

 

In other words, write it until it’s right!

 

So I’ve made it to this point. I’ve started the query process with small publishers.

 

I will keep you posted along the way.

 

And we did make it to Schenectady to enjoy wonderful family visits. The long trip was worth it, though uncomfortable and tedious at times.

 

Pretty much like writing a memoir.

 

 

How about you? How has your (memoir) writer’s journey been?

 

I’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENT: Congratulations, Dorothy Sanders! You are the lucky winner of Marion Witte’s memoir, Little Madhouse on the Prairie.

 

 This Week:

 

Tuesday, 11/5/13: I’m over at Cate Russell Cole’s CommuniCATE  blog with a post on “Releasing the Creative Genius Within.” Hope you’ll stop by there , too!

 

Thursday, 11/7/13: “The Face of Abuse: Shall I Stay or Shall I Go? by Memoir Author Wanda S. Maxey

 

 

 

Memoir Writing Tips, Themes in Memoir

Memoir Writing Tips by Denis Ledoux: Conveying Theme Effectively

3 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Denis Ledoux/@denisledoux

 

“When we start to look for the undercurrent that connects all parts of our story, we begin to see the river running through it.” Mary Carroll Moore, author, artist,teacher from her book,How to Plan,Write and Develop a Book.

 

Please join me in welcoming memoir author, teacher and editor Denis Ledoux back for this fourth and final session of Memoir Writing Tips in preparation of The Memoir Network’s “November is Lifewriting Month.” This week’s topic is Conveying Theme Effectively.

 

Here are the previous sessions: Action, Describing Characters and  Establishing Your Setting.

 

It has been a pleasure to feature you in these four sessions, Denis.

 

Welcome back!

 

Denis Ledoux author profile
Denis Ledoux, Author, Teacher, Editor

 

Underlying all of your stories is its theme. The theme is really a message, the global way in which you understand your story – either in its entirety or in its parts. The theme conveys the essence of the you (or the them) that you want the reader, and history, to know and understand. The theme provides spirit to your piece, the breath of life that individualizes your life story.

 

1) The theme is dependent on your insights. Insights are glimpses of understanding. (“Oh, that’s why – or how – she did that!”) When insights accumulate, as you view your stories over time, and bring them into ever sharper focus, you begin to see larger, broader conclusions about your subject’s life – and even the meaning of life itself. The themes of your stories evolve from, and are synonymous with, these conclusions.

Self-serving excuses should not be confused with insight. For instance, we might write in our life stories that it was because of our parents’ style of raising children or of the strictures of our ethnic group or of the limitations imposed by our socio-economic class that we have not achieved certain goals. Of course, this “insight” fails to account for our failure as adults to create our own opportunities to overcome these very real shortcomings or to turn them into advantages in a creative way. This so-called “insight” then is really a self-serving excuse to avoid doing work on how we live our lives.

 

2) Discover the theme of your story as you proceed. It is all right to begin writing without a specific theme in mind. As you write, and re-write (rewriting is crucial in deepening your sense of the story’s meaning), be attentive to the theme which may gradually reveal itself to you. This process can be an intriguing one if you are open to it. Theme is revealed as you find yourself using certain words and phrases or expressing certain ideas over and over again. Discovering your theme in this way is not only important but it can catch your interest and make your life writing compelling. It will keep you coming back to your writing.

 

3) Let’s look at the shell of the plot to see how theme functions:

Your father was laid off; a difficult time followed for the family; your father received additional training and obtained a different job.

 

Your treatment of this plot will vary according to your theme. Let’s suppose the following is your theme: “events whose consequences we can’t understand happen gratuitously to us in our lives, but we can always make the best of things.” In the elaboration of this particular theme (message), you will find it natural to set your father’s being laid off not only with his reaction at the time but also with its consequences. Because of your positive theme, you will write about the new circumstances that developed for your father and about his psychological growth (character). To develop your theme, you will show how important it was for him to “roll with the punches,” to allow himself to experience being without the identity his job and his role as family provider had furnished, and ultimately to exercise choices that led to new, satisfying pursuits.

 

So much for one plot development. Now imagine that your theme (obviously based on different insights) had been: “life deals each of us gratuitous, unwarranted dirty tricks and my father was no exception.” In this story you would emphasize the role other people played in your father’s being laid off and how no one helped him. You would dwell on the negative elements–how the economic demands made on him by his children left him with few choices, how his insufficient education (due in turn to his parents, his ethnic group, etc.) limited his job options. You would probably undervalue the training that led to a different job and fail to acknowledge the psychological growth that he experienced as a result of training and his new job challenges.

 

Both of these plot developments would be based on the same facts, but the stories themselves would be very different because they are inspired by very different themes. As a writer, you must be aware that your theme (the message you seek to impart) affects the interpretation of every fact in your story.

By conscious use of theme, you can make a story into your own distinct and unique account.

 

Good luck with your writing.

 

***

Thank you Denis for giving us examples of how our insights can help us find themes and how our themes can affect the interpretation of every fact in our story.

This has been an informative and inspirational series on memoir writing. Thank you for sharing your expertise with us!

 

 

Author Bio: Every November, Denis offers November is Lifewriting Month. NILM provides writing prompts via e-mail, free tele-classes on memoir-writing techniques and many surprise memoir gifts. Denis is the author of the classic Turning Memories into Memoirs/A Handbook for Writing Lifestories. Most recently , he completed his mother’s memoir, We Were Not Spoiled, and his uncle’s, Business Boy to Business Man. Denis is currently working on a book about “writing with passion.” Jumpstart materials are also available for writers wishing to be memoir professionals in their communities.

 

How about you? What’s your experience in finding the themes in your stories?

 

Denis has generously offered to give away the Memoir Start-up Package at the end of the series to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.

 

startuppackagemedium
The Memoir Start-up package

We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

 

Next Week:

Monday, 10/28/13: “Overcoming Childhood Abuse and Healing the Spirit: An Interview with Memoir Author Marion Witte” , author of Little Madhouse on the Prairie. Marion has graciously offered to give away a copy of her memoir to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.

Winners of  The GoodbyeYear, Kvetch: A Memoir of Music and Survival and The Memoir Start-up package will be announced on Monday, 10/28.

 

Memoir Writing Tips

An Interview with Memoir Author Karen Leahy: The Summer of Yes

24 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler /@kathypooler with Karen Leahy/@KCLeahy

 

 

“The convent became too tight a container for my life.  I believe that many women have the equivalent of the “convent” in their lives—conditions that limit and diminish them, such as bad marriages or stifling jobs, and from which they must free themselves to live fuller lives.  If my story gives them any sense of possibility that they too can change the course of their lives, can say Yes to their spirit’s cry for survival, I will be happy.”  The Summer of Yes, page 6, Karen Leahy

 

 

I am very happy to feature Memoir Author Karen Leahy in this interview to discuss her recently released memoir, The Summer of Yes: An Ex-Nun’s Story. Karen and I met at the International Women Writer’s Guild (IWWG)’s annual summer conference at Drew University in August, 2013. 

My reviews of her memoir can be found on Amazon and Goodreads.

 

Welcome, Karen!

 

writing photo
Memoir Author Karen Leahy

 

 

KP: The Summer of Yes is a story of self-discovery and transformation as you take us on your journey into then out of the convent. When did you decide to write a memoir about this experience? What is the main message you hope to convey?

 

KL: I had avoided talking or even thinking about my convent years for decades after leaving. About 10 years ago, I wrote a few paragraphs about the convent in a writing workshop, and the floodgates opened. After I wrote the book, I put it away for a few years, unable to decide whether to actually publish it because a memoir leaves you so exposed. I finally decided to make it public because I felt I had a good story as well as a message to others: listen “to your spirit’s cry for survival” and take action.

 

KP: When I read your memoir, I was struck by your ability to convey your struggles in such an honest way. What was it like for you to face these struggles as you wrote your memoir?

 

KL: that It was painful at times, and I wrote some sections through tears, but it was also freeing.  In the book, I tell of the “conspiracy of silence” that held sway in my family’s home and that followed me into the convent.  I couldn’t express my feelings during all those years, and I was doing it in writing. Now I feel like a stronger, more “real” person. I never expected this result from writing the memoir, but am delighted with it.

 

KP: Most memoir writers have to face the fact that their version of the story may not coincide with others’ version of the same story. Did you find this to be an issue and if so, how did you handle it?

 

KL: I recognized that this was inevitably so.  I say in the first chapter that my memory of events that happened decades ago is unreliable.  But it’s MY story, told as honestly as I was able to tell it.

 

KP: We all have stories within to share but not all stories turn into a memoir that appeals to others. I found your memoir to be inspirational and enlightening. How did you turn your life events into a story that engages readers?

 

KL:  I set out only to tell my story but found myself taking plenty of time to reflect on how it might help others. As I wrote, I began to see that the themes of surviving hardship and opening to a whole-hearted affirmation of life were part of the story, and I looked for words and images to convey these themes clearly.

 

KP: What made you decide to self-publish through Create Space?

 

KL: Well, being 71 was a big factor! I don’t have a lot of time to wait around for agents and publishers to choose my book, and then possibly several more years before it would come into print.  A friend who had published through CreateSpace encouraged me, and voila!

 

KP: How do you plan to market your book?

 

KL: For me, writing the book was much easier than marketing.  But I’m reading a lot of advice online, listening to what other writers have done and learning as I go.  I’ll have a table at the Boston Book Festival on October 19 (come say hello to me in “Indie Row”), and I arranged for the Independent Book Publishers Association to represent my book at the Frankfurt (Germany) Book Fair, October 9-13. I’ve had a number of readings/book-signings, including a table at the IWWG conference in August, and plan to arrange more at book stores in major cities in the Northeast.  I’m very grateful for opportunities such as this interview.

 

 

KP: Do you have any memoir writing tips to share?

 

KL: Number 1: START!  Start anywhere, and try to keep your inner critic quiet as you let the first draft flow. Carry a small notebook with you and jot down memories and ideas that you might want to develop later.  Don’t worry about structure at the beginning; you can play with that later.  And be listening all along for what it is you really want to say. Courage!

 ***

Thank you, Karen for sharing your publishing journey with us. I especially appreciate your advice about taking time to reflect upon your story’s meaning to yourself and others and to keep writing past your inner critic.

 

Author Bio and contact information:

Karen Leahy is happy to be alive and publishing her first book at age 72. She is a senior editor at Dunton Publishing, free­lance writer and editor and sometimes poet.

Since leaving the convent after 11 years as a Catholic nun and teacher of English and music, Karen has held positions as activist, speaker, vocalist, music teacher, assistant to prominent religious leaders and event planner.  Though she has co-written short biographies for seniors to leave as legacies for their children and grandchildren, The Summer of Yes is her first full-length book.

An Ohio native, she now lives close enough to New York City to enjoy its arts & culture, food and energy with her cultured, food-loving boyfriend and spirited friends.

Follow Karen on her website/blog, www.karenleahy.com, on Facebook at Karen Leahy, and on Twitter @KCLeahy.

And if you are in Boston for the Boston Book Festival on October 19, 2013, be sure to stop by Karen’s table. She’ll be in front of the John Hancock Tower in a new Festival section for self-published authors called “Indie Row”

Karen-Leahy-The-Summer-Of-Yes COVER
The Summer of Yes Book Cover

The Summer of Yes can be ordered from Amazon or from Karen’s website

 

How about you?  Have you been reluctant to write your story, then found strength as you kept writing?

 

Karen has graciously offered to give away one copy of her memoir to a lucky commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.

 

We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

 

Friday, October 18: Denis Ledoux returns with the third session on Memoir Writing Tips: “Establish Your Setting.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memoir Writing Tips, The Memoir Revolution

The Memoir Revolution: An Interview with Jerry Waxler

23 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler  with Jerry Waxler/@jerrywaxler 

 

 

I am very pleased to feature Memoir Author and Coach Jerry Waxler in this interview about his memoir, Memoir Revolution. In this book, Jerry traces the growth of memoir as a distinct genre worthy of literary recognition. Jerry’s passion for memoir is evident both in this book and in his blog, Memory Writer’s Network where he has offered in-depth analyses of over one hundred memoirs.  My reviews of Memoir Revolution can be found on Amazon and Goodreads.

 

Welcome, Jerry!

 

jerry-head-28
Memoir Author and Teacher Jerry Waxler

 

 

 

KP:  In Memoir Revolution , your premise seems to be that “sharing our stories draws us into a global community and breaks down barriers.” Could you explain what you mean by it?

 

JW: Reading memoirs allows me to see the world through other people’s eyes. Through the magic of reading, I’ve been in combat, political and religious persecution. I’ve experienced being a mother, father, abused child, foster child, caregiver. I’ve experienced the world through the minds of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, yogis, Buddhists, and seekers. I’ve lived in Romania, Liberia, Russia, Belize, England, Iran, Japan, India, and so on. These intimate connections created by their stories reduces the distance between us, and makes me feel like we are all part of the same human community.

 

KP: Storytelling has been with us since ancient times.  Why is this a time of revolution?

 

 

JW: Stories have been important to me since I was old enough to listen to my mother reading me stories. Throughout my school years and throughout much of my adulthood, I read novels and went to movies, influenced by the fictional situations and characters. In the 21st century, I discovered memoirs. These apply the ancient craft of storytelling to help us understand ourselves and each other. Why now? That’s a great question. I devoted a whole chapter to answering it in my book Memoir Revolution. I don’t think I can do it justice in this space.

 

KP:  We’ve all heard that celebrity status is nearly required before your story will be noticed, let alone succeed. How does the memoir revolution change this dynamic?

 

JW: Traditional publishers need a staggering number of sales in order to pay for book designers, editors, marketers, warehouses and distributors. There’s always a chance that your or my memoir might catch on and sell 30,000 copies but if they don’t sell to the mass market the publisher loses money. Traditional publishers reduce the risk of such losses by leaning heavily toward famous people or people whose stories are provocative or notorious, for example having recently been in the news, or involving a major scandal.

However, we live in a remarkable time when there is a new option to publish it ourselves. Given this possibility, we can now imagine our book out there in the world. All we have to do is pour ourselves into the creative challenge of telling our story the best way we know how. Striving toward excellence is one of the most exhilarating things about the whole Memoir Revolution, causing millions of aspiring writers to learn techniques, understand story structure, and in general improve our understanding of how stories work. Then, once we’ve finally achieved this goal, we can use the internet and electronic distribution to find the niche of readers who happen to be interested in our story.

 

KP:  I’ve been told that in order for a memoir to be successful, it has to be bigger than you. How can we turn the everyday stories of our lives into stories that matter— ones that transform and transcend barriers?

 

JW:  “Bigger than you.” I never thought of it quite that way, but now that you mention it I love it. Our actual lives kind of meander from day to day, and include things like brushing your teeth and washing the dishes, running errands, and so on. Memoirs are portrayals of purified versions of ourselves, refined to focus on things like creative passion, emotional survival and the will to heal. So how do you find that deeper more profound story?

I find that searching for the story has been one of the most fascinating of my life. I wake every morning and run to my writing desk to try to put words around central themes. By attempting to give others a story worth reading, I also grow to have a deeper understanding of myself.

 

KP: I’ve been networking with memoir writers, interviewing them, and writing my own memoir, and one thing continues to amaze me. We’re all so willing to put our private lives out into the public. How do you explain that?

 

JW: Until I began to find my writing voice, I hated talking about myself. In fact, talking about myself felt dangerous. However, when I began to write, I looked at the silence that I had always assumed “protected” me in some way and realized that my shyness had isolated me. Privacy started to feel like a cloak of invisibility.

Writing the memoir has allowed me to let go of my secrets, and share my unique, authentic self. Even though I have not yet published it, I have shared it in critique groups and with beta readers, and listening to the way they react helps me see myself through their eyes. And by learning to open up in the pages of my memoir-in-progress I have become more willing to share anecdotes in writing and speaking than I ever thought possible. I’ve come a long way in my attitude about these issues of privacy, shame, and exposure. I credit the Memoir Revolution with this shift in my attitude about my relationship with the world.

 

KP: Any other messages from the Memoir Revolution you want to emphasize?

 

One of the reasons I wrote Memoir Revolution is to help people who are on the fence about whether or not to write a memoir. In addition to considering the benefits of this project, I encourage aspiring writers to avoid getting tangled in the reasons not to do it. I’ve heard all sorts of rules that make memoir writing seem very restrictive and confining. “A memoir shouldn’t be therapy. You shouldn’t do it for yourself.  It shouldn’t be an autobiography. It shouldn’t be about too long a period of your life. It might make someone angry.” All these shouldn’ts make me dizzy.

Instead of answering all the questions before you even start, I suggest you jump in, and go one step at a time. The first step is to research your story. As an investigator and journalist, pull the information, memories and scenes together onto paper. During the second step you become a storyteller. Finding the story can be one of the most invigorating and engaging creative challenges of your life, showing you how to apply the art of Story to your experience. Through this lens, you will understand the dramatic tensions and arc of your own life. When you research your story structure, you will also be reading lots of memoirs, offering you a better appreciation of the stories that other people are living.

Consider publishing your memoir to be a third, separate step. If you keep that aside, you don’t have to worry about hurting anyone. You can take your time to strive for the best structure and voice. And you can learn to share and see yourself through story. Worry about all the additional baggage of publishing when you are really, truly ready.

 

***

Thank you Jerry for sharing your thoughts on writing a memoir and for inspiring us to participate in the “Memoir Revolution.”

 

Author Bio and Contact Information:

Jerry Waxler shares his passion for life story writing on the blog Memory Writers Network which contains 100s of essays, interviews and book reviews. His three books, Memoir Revolution, Learn to Write a Memoir and Four Elements for Writers are available from www.jerrywaxler.com. He teaches nonfiction writing at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is on the board of directors of the Philadelphia Writers Conference, and is an advisor to the National Association of Memoir writers. He has a B.A. in Physics and M.S. in Counseling Psychology.

 

Jerry can be reached on his website: Memory Writer’s Network

Facebook: Jerry Waxler

Google+ Jerry Waxler

Twitter @jerry waxler

 

 

Memoir_Revolution_Front_Cover_Thumbnail
The Memoir Revolution Book Cover

 

The Memoir Revolution can be ordered from Amazon

 

 

How about you? Have you considered joining the “Memoir Revolution”?

 

Jerry has offered to give away a copy of “The Memoir Revolution” to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.

 

We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

 

 

Wednesday, 10/16:  An Interview with Memoir Author and Ex-Nun Karen Leahy: The Summer of Yes. Karen will give away a copy of her memoir to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.

Character description, Memoir Writing Tips

Memoir Writing Tips by Denis LeDoux: Describing Characters in a Memoir Can Be Easy Enough

18 Comments

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Denis LeDoux/@DenisLedoux

 

” I want to move with the character and describe the world in which they are living.” Gay Talese

 

This is a second session of memoir writing tips by Denis LeDoux in preparation for November is Life Writing Month (NILM). Today’s topic is describing characters.  Here is the first session on action.

 

Welcome back, Denis!

 

 

Denis Ledoux author profile
Denis Ledoux, Author, Teacher, Editor

The people in your story are your characters. It is your job to bring vivid literary characters to the attention of your readers. You must use descriptive writing to present believable characters. Without other people, our lives and memoirs risk becoming dull. Although ideas are pivotal for many individuals, relationships are even more commanding. We are intrigued with who other people are and how they function. “Who’s that? What are they doing? Where did they come from?” These are question we want answered. To write a strong story, capitalize on this interest.

 

In lifewriting, you create a strong, vivid sense of people by describing characters in sensual details. (The senses, of course, are: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.) The most effective descriptions of people make use of these.

 

Here are ways you can use sense details to describing characters more vividly:

 

Taste– Let the reader sample foods associated with your past or with the person you are writing about. Perhaps a food image or a metaphor will give a deeper sense of the person’s personality.

 

Many people mistakenly believe that characters in a story have to be well-known to be interesting. When they write their stories, they search their pasts for when they might have crossed paths with the famous. Consequently they write about when they were in the same elevator with some luminary back in 1968. This is not necessarily something that will make your story interesting. A representation of a vivid character is more likely to entice your reader. Describing characters well is about details not about fame.

 

Sight- What did the person you are writing about look like? Describing characters well requires you mention height, weight, color, shape, posture, mannerisms, contours of the face, prominent features. How did that person move, talk, walk, sit? Describe the person’s clothing, sense of style, hairstyles. In what ways ways did that person typically express emotion with body posture?

 

Sound- This includes voice modulation, timbre, and pitch as well as favorite expressions, accents, dialectical usage. Don’t forget throat clearing, foot scraping, or the knocking of a wedding ring against glass as a hand cleared frost from a windshield.

 

Smell-Your text should make references to perfumes, colognes, pipe tobacco, barn odors, the scent of a kitchen, the aroma of a bath, or the smell of a workshop. Smell is one of the most evocative senses in describing a character. A particular herb or soap or cleaning fluid can immediately return us to another time and place. Be sure to use that power in your descriptions.

 

Touch- Help the reader feel how rough your character’s skin was, or how smooth the clothing, how gentle the hands, or how furtive the caress.

 

Remember: describing characters well need not be that hard.

 

Good luck writing!

***

Thank you Denis for showing us all the ways to bring our characters alive on the page by using the five senses.

 

 

 

Author Bio: Every November, Denis offers November is Lifewriting Month. NILM provides writing prompts via e-mail, free tele-classes on memoir-writing techniques and many surprise memoir gifts. Denis is the author of the classic Turning Memories into Memoirs/A Handbook for Writing Lifestories. Most recently , he completed his mother’s memoir, We Were Not Spoiled, and his uncle’s, Business Boy to Business Man. Denis is currently working on a book about “writing with passion.” Jumpstart materials are also available for writers wishing to be memoir professionals in their communities.

 

How about you? What’s your experience in describing characters?

 

Denis has generously offered to give away the Memoir Start-up Package at the end of the series to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.

 

startuppackagemedium
The Memoir Start-up package

We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

 

Next Week:

Monday, 10/14: “Interview with Jerry Waxler on “The Memoir Revolution.”

 

Wednesday, 10/16: “Interview with Memoir Author  and Ex-Nun, Karen Leahy: The Summer of Yes”

 

Friday, 10/18: “Memoir Writing Tips by Denis Ledoux: Establishing Your Setting”