Category Archive for 'Memoir'

My last post got me thinking about different ways to begin a project. When I’m advising new writers on how to begin a memoir, I tell them to think of an event and just sit down and write it as a scene (or in essay form if they aren’t ready yet to write scenes). Then [...]

I’m continually amazed by stories like Tawna Fenske’s who “In the last eight years [has] written nine full manuscripts and six partials.” Whoa! In the last eight years I have written exactly ONE memoir and revised the hell out of it and still haven’t finished it. Sure, I earned an MFA, got married, and had [...]

Today we have a guest post from Rachel Howard, author of the memoir The Lost Night: A Daughter’s Search for the Truth of Her Father’s Murder, described as “enthralling” by the New York Times. Her personal essays have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and O, the Oprah Magazine. Her advice is quoted extensively in [...]

Link Love

Finally, links!
As you’ve probably heard by now, according to Jeff Bezos, e-book sales have surpassed hardcover book sales at Amazon (but I’m curious to know how e-book sales compare to paperback sales).
And from The Nation, the trouble with Amazon.
From my friend Connie Hale over at Sin and Syntax (have you bought her book by [...]

Many people think they never get writer’s block. They see writer’s block as this weird disease that only people like Hemingway got once they had published ten books and had run out of things to say. But almost every writer I know has days when she sits down at her computer and doesn’t want to [...]

My Writing Journey

Some of my earliest memories are of my mom and dad reading books—my dad political fiction and biographies and my mom historical fiction and romance novels. I think my mom spent every minute she wasn’t cooking a meal or cleaning the house lying in bed with a book. At the age of six I remember [...]

Last month, Rachelle Gardner over at Rants & Ramblings wrote a great post on what we give up as writers, which got me thinking about the things I give up every week so I can work on my WIP:
1. Sleep
2. Watching movies
3. Going on dates with my husband
4. Reading more
5. Making more money
6. Spending more [...]

A hallmark of literary fiction and memoir that distinguishes them from genre fiction is figurative language. While genre fiction (mystery, sci-fi, chick lit, fantasy) focuses mostly on plot and narrative, literary fiction focuses more on character and style, and style is often achieved through the use of fancypants language like metaphors and similes. I am [...]

Self-Sabotage

Today I have some homework for you. You probably didn’t know when you joined this blog (You did join, didn’t you? Over there in the sidebar?) that there would be homework, but don’t worry, on my blog everyone gets As.
My homework for you is to record, for the next week, all the times you [...]

When I was in my MFA program taking my first creative nonfiction writing workshop, my professor commented on the difference between the author, the narrator, and the character of a book and then rattled off the difference between the three. “Huh?” I said. And she rattled it off again. “Huh?” I don’t know if she [...]