Snippets of Meaning: an introduction to memoir writing

Welcome back to Philadelphia Writing!  In our last column I introduced you to the genre of memoir but I didn’t really explain the nuances of memoir.    Let’s get started.

Memoir writing proves to be a special genre as writers touch readers through shared experiences while providing the audience that none of us ever truly live in isolation.  As a craft, memoir writers enjoy the best of writing by applying fiction and nonfiction writing techniques to their prose.  Even better, a memoir can contain different types of genres such as essays, speeches, poems and even illustrations.   More historical types of vignettes that weave news and period-related events into a life story.

So the rules for writing a memoir are free and flexible so long as you tell a story about a time in your life where you can show readers growth or change.  However, what a memoir is not is a cradle to grave story of your life, that would be an autobiography.

A memoir focuses on a slice of life such as a time period, event, historical connection or life period and then teaches a life lesson or shows a change experienced by the author .   Memoirs serve as snippets of chances taken, adventures had and emotions experienced.   Well-written memoirs touch the reader at their deepest roots and evoke emotional responses such as humor, sorrow, conflict, or suspense.   Memoirs can be uproarishly funny or heartbreakingly sad or somewhere on this spectrum of emotion.    By combining the author’s stories with the elements of fiction, readers become fully engaged and can relish in a meaningful, well-told story.

As you write, your memoir will be able to answer key questions such as:

1. Why an event happened
2. How an event happened
3. What did the event mean or teach you?

Everyone has a story to tell, so before you run from the idea of writing a memoir, think in smaller snippets.  Most memoirists start with vignettes, or small life stories.  As their collection of vignettes grows, then the author starts to consider how or if there is a memoir hidden among the notebooks of little stories

Want to give this a whirl?  Use the following prompt to dig some potential memoir vignettes.

Describe your favorite childhood holiday.  Who was involved, what happened, where did it occur each year, what where the highlighs and lowlights?  How would you change the holiday if you were in charge today?

Our next edition of Phiiadelphia Writing will feature Philadelphia-based memoirist and artist Barbara Hammond.  You can preview Barbara’s work at the Blogstress Network.

For more information on memoir writing, contact Cheryl Stahle at cherylstahle@gmail.com or       Facebook @Your Best WritingGroup.

THE TROUBLE WITH FOOD

What to eat?  What not to eat?  How much to eat?  How little to eat?  Raw?  Cooked quickly over a high flame?  Cooked slowly over very low heat?  Does organic matter?  To juice or not to juice?  To sprout or not to sprout?  And, what pan is safe to cook it in?

Many years ago, a friend sent me a battered old paperback that said the Eskimos were very healthy on a diet of whale and seal.  No fresh fruit or vegetables to speak of.  That ran counter to those who proclaimed we must stay away from saturated fats.  I gave it to a dietician and she couldn't make any sense of it.  Low fat was "in".   Only later, years later, we learned that low fat usually meant high sugar and salt.

And what about those Twinkies of old?  They were always junk food, but at least they were made of real food ingredients.  The downside was that they had only a few days of shelf life.  Compare that to the Twinkies of today that will last, and last, and last.  Did you ever ask yourself why Twinkies last so long?

Diet gurus came and went with opposing theories of the best way to eat.  People tried weird diets, fasted, went liquid, macrobiotic only, and often either got sick, continued to get fat, or yoyoed up and down.   Food morphed into omega 3s and 6s, vitamins and minerals, low or high glycemic, inflammatory or less inflammatory.

Ways to process food multiplied as did the weight of many people.  Our grocery stores got larger, as did the grocery carts to put our groceries in.  Shelves of options multiplied -- with this or that added, with this or that removed, enriched with this or that.  But someone in the know warned to avoid most of all those shelves in the middle of the store and lurk around the edges to get the "real" food.  Reading the ingredients label required a lot of time, a very discerning eye, and a knowledge of nutrition.

I went to two cooking classes within a couple of weeks.  It seemed they were held on different planets.  One chef authoritatively advised no meat, no milk, no milk products, no wheat, no eggs, and definitely no sugar.  Juicing and sprouting were the healthy way to go in that class.  It was the "don't eat anything that had a mother" way to eat.  Teeth weren't required to eat any of the food she prepared.

But we humans do have teeth, and pay a lot of money to straighten them into dainty rows, clean them, fix them, and (sigh!) eventually replace them.   The other chef believed in meat, and even the skin of the meat.  He admitted that much of the nutrition is lost in today's world before we even get the food close to our mouths, but that we should aim for high quality, organic fruit and vegetables -- and making food that tastes good.  He was an "everything in moderation" kind of chef.  It is the extremes of eating that are destructive to our health.

Modeling what people eat in other countries is only somewhat helpful.  Asians eat a lot of polished white steamed rice that has basically no nutritional value at all. They also add lots of MSG while cooking.   The French eat rich food, but keep portions small.  They also smoke a lot.  India extols the virtues of curry to stay healthy.  And corn is a staple in some cultures even though it is one of the foods most likely to be genetically modified.  And who knows what genetically modified food will do to the human metabolism, which basically hasn't changed since humans evolved?

Instead of being a pleasure, eating has turned into an unhealthy confusion of opinions and science.

Suellen Zima

Visit http://www.zimatravels.com and Follow the Senior Hummingbird as she wanders, wonders, and writes.

I Love Indie Authors

I really do love independent authors because I never know what to expect. I'm serious there is a lot of talent and imagination out there. Don't get me wrong I also love reading my favorite authors who are traditionally published as well. It's just that in the last couple of years I've read more indie than non indie authors. 

This may stem from the fact that I'm a poor, but thankfully not starving, indie author myself. I freely admit that I do get free books whenever possible.  I do fully intend to write reviews on all that I have read and will read as soon as I possibly can. That being said, whenever I get a gift card now, instead of going for the more expensive traditionally published authors, I prefer to support my fellow indie authors. 

I've read books by indie authors that have made me laugh, cry, mad, and/or sad in all the right places. There have even been  books where I stayed up almost all night reading. In the process I've learned that there is no really wrong way to tell a story. On the other hand, formatting issues including multiple typos or incorrect word use etc. are very distracting to me as a reader. I'm sure it is true for other readers as well.  So if you, the indie author, discover that you have formatting issues then be kind, fix the issues, and then update it on Smashwords or Amazon.  

Let me tell you what I know about updating on Amazon from experience both as an author and a reader. As an author, when I've updated our book, I make sure to let them know. They send me an e-mail saying that they will review the update. If they deem it major changes, they'll push out updates to all customers who bought the problematic one. Now as a reader, I'll get an e-mail, (maybe) to tell me about the updates. E-mail or not, all I have to do is go to Manage My Kindle and follow the simple instructions for Updates. If you don't know already you can access Manage My Kindle by going to Your Account (under your name) on the upper right hand side when signed into Amazon. 

One more thing I've recently discovered, the Kindle version of our book does have the Tweet that you've read... and Rate... this book. That makes me think that Amazon does that with all the books processed by them. What I don't know is if it goes in their data banks or only on twitter. Many moons ago when I discovered that other books had this option, I began to use it. It serves a three-fold purpose, one to let the author know that I've read their works and how I felt about it. Two, I let others know about a book they may not have known about. Three, I can access it to remember when I finished the books. You know some review places like to know that information. 

Did I mention I love indie authors! Because of this I love to help them too. Hope I've been of help to someone today.

Have a great one!                           

Lynn Hallbrooks
author of the Short Story, Many Is The Dream
co-author of the Call Sign: Wrecking Crew series with David McKoy
co-owner of Call Sign Wrecking Crew LLC

From the Heart of my Heartland

JoAnna O'Keefe
joanna@joannaokeefe.com


"Live the life you've imagined"  -  Thoreau

CREATIVE WRITING TECHNIQUES (Part II): More Pleasure, Less Stress. Relax and Watch.

 

To suffer while writing isn’t something new. Lots of artists have related inspiration to stress, and even to agony. It was the case of Mozart, Kafka, or Rilke. Some say that a bit of stress can help you to be creative. But don’t forget: creativity appears when we are having fun, not when we are suffering. During the creative process, it’s necessary that you protect the joy of writing from your inner editor/censor. Relaxing will let you visualise ideas in a better way.

Lots of writers along the centuries have related writing to suffering, and anxiety to the process of generating and developing ideas. But what are the consequences of the creative anguish? It results in the inability to write the words on the page and in a luck of trust in those words once they have been written down. According to my literature classes at university, Kafka was one of the writers who suffered the most. He really suffered while writing, feeling stressed and anguished, but it was even worse for him to re-read what he had written the previous day, thinking that it was totally unacceptable. Then, he realised that he had been suffering for nothing. Such a lot of effort, stress, and anguish for nothing. Does it sound familiar to you? Have you ever wondered the same? We have all thought at some point that we don’t write well enough.

Writer’s block and deferral affect lots of writers to the point that lots of artists consider anguish as an illness that goes with the job of being a writer. Maybe you are feeling relieved to know that even the great Kafka felt like you. Suffering may even seem a romantic concept to you. But we must admit that feeling anxiety while writing isn’t going to help us. Not at all.

It should be good to distinguish between (1) the fact that anguish leads some artists to write and (2) the fact that writing leads some artists to feeling anguished. Now we know that the anguish we may feel while writing is the result of a wrong approach: the tendency to think that writing is an exceptional act when, in fact, it’s a process. We were in the quiet stage of brewing ideas and, since we have failed to identify it as such, we have felt anxious because we weren’t writing a single word. We have called that moment writer’s block when we should have recognised it as that moment when everything can happen. We tend to look for the right answer to soothe our mental anguish, but the creative personality is characterised by a tolerance to doubt and ambiguity.

It’s impossible to write final drafts when it’s the moment of writing down one thousand and one ideas; it’s the moment of opening different paths. Now we know that it’s the tendency to confuse the revision stage with the creative process that makes us suffer.

Stop fooling yourself! Suffering may seem romantic, but it’s not creative. The word anguish, etymologically, means to press, to suffocate, and to drown. How are we going to create anything if we feel like that? How are we going to produce ideas while feeling under pressure? To create it’s necessary to flow, and that flowing state requires peace of mind, discipline, breathing, self-control, and concentration. There are certain attitudes that lead to creative effectiveness: the right disposition and a persevering mood.

So, what’s the creative technique that I am bringing you today? Visualisation.

Do you know this psychological exercise, which consists of creating the mental image of what you want to get before making it real? Distance runners do it all the time, visualising the finish line, and also chess players, visualising the next moves. Writing is the same. To do that, before you start you must relax: sit down comfortably, put your back straight, close your eyes, and take a deep breath. Watch out for the pauses between inhalating and exhalating. Let thoughts come and go; don’t try to stop and focus on them. Now visualise a character. Watch your character, free of any criticism, with your mental eyes.

Where do you see your character moving? You see John Doe hidden in an attic; spending a day in the beach with his six brothers; attending a funeral in a tiny village; making snowballs in the city; kissing a classmate in the gym when he was ten; getting married to his girlfriend in a big church; or singing a Taylor Swift song at a karaoke bar.

You can even use a key image: an orange, for example. Imagine its colour, its texture, the smell of the blossoming orange tree, the smell of the fruit, its taste… Feel it inside your mouth: the juice, the acidity, the sweetness, its touch, the rugosity of its skin, the sound of your jaws while eating it, the sound of the knife peeling the orange…

You must perceive with your five senses. When you are ready, open yours eyes,… and write!

Copyright © 2013 Cinta García de la Rosa

  

Follow Cinta on Twitter: @CintaGarciaRosa

Cinta García is a Spanish writer, blogger, reviewer, proofreader, editor, and translator who loves the written word. Her biggest dream was to become a published writer, since one of her passions is writing short stories. And she got that dream when she published The Funny Adventures of Little Nani, her debut collection of stories for children and kids at heart. 

She recently published a short story for an adult audience, A Foreigner in London, on Smashwords. 

Enjoy her ramblings in her blog, Cinta's Corner, and her book reviews at I Can't Stop Reading.

 

 

 

Vacation in the Mitten State

Hello Everyone!I’m Lisa Orchard the Young Adult Author of the Super Spies Mystery/Thriller Series and I’m excited because this is the last week of school for my kids! They are ecstatic to get a break from the structure and to be honest so is Mom! 

I’ve got all kinds of ideas for things that we can do this summer, zoo trips, beach days, and of course there are vacations. As a family we love the water and enjoy going “Up North.” For us that means going to the Traverse City area here in Michigan. We’ve vacationed there ever since the boys were born. They love the area and so do my husband and I.

There’s something to be said for the small towns that surround the Traverse City area. There are all kinds of unique stores and a lot of history in these tiny burgs.

One of these small towns is Leelanau. Sitting right on the shores of Lake Michigan it’s a small fishing community. The wind is brisk coming off of the lake, so it’s a great place on a warm day when you can’t get to the beach. It’s fun to go through the tiny stores and galleries in this town. It’s an old town full of history. And when you go down by the water there’s a store that sells fresh fish. We went there when I was pregnant with my first child and needless to say I couldn’t stay in that store very long.  The smell really got to me.

It’d be a great place for the setting of a story. Hmmm…

Another small town that I love to visit is Sutton’s Bay. Again they have some great shops to explore and I can wander for quite some time while my hubby and the boys play in the park. One of the things that I’ve noticed is that both of these towns have a variety of art galleries and it’s great to see the shores where you’ve walked in a painting or photograph.

There are other tiny burgs that deserve to be mentioned like Alden, and Elk Rapids, awesome communities that are right on either Torch Lake or Lake Michigan that sport cute shops and community events. Of course we can’t forget about Traverse City itself! It’s a great place to walk with the kids and see the sights; again, more great stores and art galleries. If you get a chance to be there during the Cherry Festival by all means do it. It can get a bit crowded, but they have the Blue Angels come every other year and they are a sight to see!

If you're a wine drinker you'll love the Traverse City Area. There are wineries everywhere and they're always open for wine tasting. A fun adult thing that we have yet to do! :) Wineries are pretty boring for the kids. :)

If there’s one place you must see it’s Torch Lake. The water is so clear it looks like you’re on a beach in the tropics. The water is also cold so it’s quite refreshing. Everyone gathers at a place called the Sand Bar. People come from all over to park their boats there. And then they get out in the water and play football or Frisbee or just float.  Everyone has a great time. There’s a small shop on Torch River that will even deliver a pizza to your boat. If pizza isn’t your style then there’s a pontoon boat out there with a grill on its deck and they sell burgers and dogs to anyone who wants one.

As you can see Up North is always a great time for us! I can’t wait until the weather turns hot and muggy and we’ll be on our way!

And if you have a tween/teen who needs some awesome beach reads! Check out my Super Spies series! Your teen won’t be able to put the book down! The covers, blurbs, and buylinks are below! And to celebrate my new release the first two books in the series are on sale for $.99!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post! Do you have any special vacation spots that you’d like to share? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!

Lisa Orchard
Find her on:

Facebook, Twitter

Amazon  & Barnes and Noble  

 

  

Transit Station to New Beginnings

Of all the adventures overseas, and I’d been fortunate to experience many, the one adventure my wife and I still laugh at most, is our repatriation.  I had completely forgotten how to live like a normal citizen in the US.  Goodbye asset free lifestyle, hello homeownership and a nonstop sinkhole of things bought for it. The radon was free of charge. No more free calls to have things fixed as we came to grips with atrophied domestic skills.  My toolbox had rusted shut and the lawn equipment, petrified with corrosion.
A container that had been in storage for ten years in Texas, arrived with its seal intact.  It was a cave-like, Indiana Jones time capsule of cobwebs and mummified bundles. Hey honey, you know that cat we thought ran away?   Television had gone satellite with a thousand channels of infomercials and reality shows, all bundled with cell phones so we could endure bad service from one company instead of three.  None of our computers purchased overseas worked very well. The internet service lacked digital fluency in Mandarin, or so the service technician on the phone from Asia informed me after testing start up procedures akin to launching the Space Shuttle. Our new home phone number apparently belonged to at least four other people with credit collectors on their tail.  How many times do I have to tell you my name isn’t Zelda Gerchenstein?  I’d forgotten how pleasurable winter is.  I lived in long johns and a parka as if starring in an episode of Ice Road Truckers. Driving the interstates required more intestinal fortitude than I remembered, with double-trailer semis hugging my rear bumper because I was going only twenty miles over the speed limit. Yes, I was home now, where restaurant food portions could feed a family of four, meat is king, and ketchup is considered a vegetable.
To be truthful, coming home was a bittersweet time of conflicted feelings.  Our girls grew up in Asia, giving them a start in life that shaped them in ways few get the chance to experience.  We became empty nesters the same year we repatriated, both girls starting new adventures out west.  To assuage the emptiness, we restored their bedrooms and closets, complete with pictures and posters in a shrine-like need to keep them close. They are now part of unique society of third-culture kids who never really became a member of the world they lived in, but will never think the same way as their fellow countrymen.
Visiting a foreign country offers a glimpse of how the world spins outside our borders, but is soon relegated to scrapbook pictures and faded memories.  It takes time to disable our personal and emotional barriers before we can see a different place, a different culture.  It’s like a shy child who struggles to engage a new environment, shackled by the known, longing for the familiar, but when acceptance is finally embraced, we are forever changed.  When we do return to the shores of our birth, we can’t help but look back with a dull ache of what and who we left behind.  People shared their lives without caring if we spoke the language and introduced us to tastes that tingled with flavors uncommon here, the lingering scents of exotic places permanently branded in our soul.
Our trip to Nicaragua opened a dusty trunk of reminiscing, and got my wife and I into talking about all the fun we had, and how lucky we’d been.  It had me wondering why I allowed my passport to go unused for so long.  I tell everyone that I’m home from the hill and just happy to be within easy distance to family, but I neglect to mention the times I lay awake at night, dreaming of hawker market chatter, the taste of spicy hot pot, and the chirping song of Taipei’s garbage trucks rounding the corner.
Asia taught me that new beginnings are unplanned and surprising. It was a two-year assignment that lasted ten years. I don’t think of endings anymore, it’s more of a transit station while I wait to connect to the next beginning.  

DT Krippene
dtkrippene@gmail.com                                  

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