The following is originally posted here on October 31, 2009. Yet, since I've been adding links to the collection, I'm bringing it up again.
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Yes, I'm currently enthralled (in the the good sense) with this new-found love of memoir.
I recall in my early days of The Way Corps, I desired to 'master' (a word which I rarely and really don't like to use) the art of communication. Words fascinated me. I enjoyed word studies, which is when a person studies one word and its various usages in "The Bible." In junior high school, I loved (yes loved) diagramming sentences. As a hobby, I enjoyed perusing etymologies of words and phrases.
Here I am, decades later, writing and writing and writing and writing. It's a bit of an obsession, huh? *chuckle*
This new-found journey of memoir is, for me, like a treasure chest of precious gems - some that sparkle, others that are less noticeable.
Following are links, some authored by me and some by others, regarding memoir; regarding magic strokes upon the page which take form into landscapes of discovery, re-discovery, and beyond. I'll add to it as I come across and recall some things I've read about writing memoir....
WRITTEN WORD 1 -- First Person by Fred Poole
~Writers are constantly being told to write what they know, but they are often steered away from that they know best, the writer’s own self.
WRITTEN WORD 39 - Writing of a Sort by Fred Poole
~...But something was lacking. At end of what I wrote I was precisely where I had been when I started. There had not been discovery, just a reiteration of matters already known.
WRITTEN WORD 59 - Summation - Play within a Play by Fred Poole
~...Tom, who became my spiritual director, was the person who gave as crucial spiritual advice, "Fuck the begrudgers," and Tom also wrote and spoke of stories as sacred, a person's actual stories, reflections upon stories, stories played off against other stories, stories changing – and guided me as I bluffed the academic affairs people to get credit for writing stories where they normally would require dry research papers.~
Any of the other works in Fred Poole's "WRITTEN WORD" series.
Ice Breaker by Marta Szabo
~Every memoir – every good one – is a self-portrait, and the more blatant and honest it is the better. [...] There are other memoirs that claim to be blatant and honest just because they spatter blood and guts all over the page. I'm not talking about that....
Memoir, Art and What It's Good For by Marta Szabo
~....Writing memoir – discovering and saying distinctly your version of the facts – not through the disguise of metaphor, but in unmistakable scenes and concrete details -- makes you strong. To choose the stories that are important, not have someone tell you what they are. To write without obligation to family, schoolteachers, grammarians, or bestseller lists.
Words on Memoir by Susanna Sonnenberg
~ Thus, the two versions are both true and untrue at the same time. I guess I felt that I needed to make absolutely clear how deeply I revered the form of memoir, what a fascinating, personal expression it is.
Welcome to Memoir as Healing by Linda Joy Myers
~ Painstakingly writing about the darkest times in my life, putting those stories down on paper—bringing them into the light—liberated me from the emotional burdens of a lifetime.
Journey through Memoir: Introduction ...part I of my thoughts on memoir...
~ Both subjective and objective realities are substantial components of what shapes a person's life. Both have value and are 'true' in the sense of how an individual responds. Both leave an imprint, like a deer track through the woods.
Ink Not Dried ....part II of my thoughts on memoir...
~ An entire universe within itself, the depths of which are hidden until one decides to dive. That is memoir, at least a snippet of it..
Do You Type with Eyes Closed? ...part III of my thoughts on memoir...
~ Let the fragments surface. Allow the currents to rise. Let the memories and stories live - to be embraced, not embalmed.
It's Relative ....me again...
~ ...my family of origin isn't separate from my involvement with my various relationships through the years. But yet, in a sense, I have viewed my family as separate and rather nebulous really.
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