Writing
All things about writing
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What Inspires Me #4
As I’ve mentioned, I am working on a memoir. I’ve been working on it for three years, to be fair. Recently, however, I have felt like it is getting somewhere. I have a structure I like, a premise I feel strongly about, and 75K words plus that feel like me. I refuse to give this one up. Refuse is a big word because I had given up on this one, knowing I would go back to it at some point. Will it be a best seller? Odds are against it. Will I finish it? Yes. Will I put it aside at some point because there is laundry to do?…
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The Memoir Writing Process
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What Inspires Me #3
I’ll just leave this one here.
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The Memoir Writing Process
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What Inspires Me #2
I recently did the Neil Gaiman Masterclass. Although a lot of what he spoke about didn’t help with personal essays or even memoirs, I did take several lessons away for writing, and life, in general. Tell readers something you hope will stay with them. Dragons can be defeated. Being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared. It means you do it anyway even though it is scary. Be honest. Care about characters and make them real for everyone. Give yourself the license to ask questions. “The moment that you feel, just possibly, you are walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind, and what exists on…
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The Memoir Writing Process
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A Review: The Getaway Car
Working on my current manuscript, I have been reading a lot! Writing is reading. You can’t do one without the other. Although I have enjoyed plenty of fiction, I have also been researching with some great reads on writing. I have a pile of books on the topic that will be absorbed at some point, but for now I’ll talk about the ones I have completed since isolation. First is: The Getaway Car, Ann Patchett You will not find it on Ann Patchett’s website, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble. But you can download it here for free. It is a 75-page essay on her biggest lessons in writing. I can…
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Book Review: Hench
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What Inspires Me #1
It can be lonely work being a writer. “And your taste is why your work disappoints you,” really resonates from the Ira Glass quote above. I keep plugging at it, sometimes with the pace of a molasses marathon, other times with the intensity of a teenage boy who just discovers porn. I have been writing regularly for six years now, with a blog and four unfinished manuscripts to show for it. Since being in isolation, I think I finally understand what has been stopping me from finishing any of these projects. It isn’t a lack of interest, ideas, worth, or motivation. It is the fear of being vulnerable. Being exposed…
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The Memoir Writing Process