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 

 

 

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