-
What? There’s a Problem with Memoirs?
A few weeks ago, I posted “Let’s Legitimize Personal Nonfiction.” In this post, I recounted my own experience of negative attitudes toward people who write about their difficult personal experiences and called for a firm recognition that personal nonfiction can be literary, and therefore legitimate, writing. Since then, I’ve been researching to discover some of Read more
-
Guest Blog Alert
What do chef Anne Burrell and journalist Dan Charnas have in common? They are both mentioned in my guest blog “What a Chef Can Teach Us about Writing” at The Heart of the Matter. Please check it out! Read more
-
Writing about Place in Personal Nonfiction
All of our experiences are located; they happen in a physical space. All of our most profound thoughts and deepest wishes, all of our doubts and our convictions, our heartbreaks and triumphs have been influenced by the place in which they occurred. Fiction writers know that creating a palpable setting for their stories is essential Read more
-
Apology to Mature Women Everywhere
Several years ago, I read Abigail Thomas’s memoir Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a Life. A member of my writing group at the time recommended the book, explaining that Thomas offers snapshots from a life in chapters that are often less than a page long and saying that she thought I might like it. I Read more
-
Let’s Legitimize Personal Nonfiction
Several years ago, I attended a week-long writers’ conference on a university campus during which participants were divided into workshop groups based on genre, theme, or focus. I was in the group of memoirists whose workshop was titled Writing through and about Trauma. We were eight women who had survived various kinds of childhood and Read more
-
What to Do When Your Writing Stalls
It happens to me regularly. Maybe it happens to you, too. I’m writing something, and I think the work is going well. Then, after a while, I’m struck by the feeling that what I’m writing is dull and unoriginal, and that it lacks energy. Or I realize that what I’m writing is not the message Read more
Do you write about yourself and your experiences? Do you write about traumatic events in your life? Or, do you struggle to find time and motivation to write?
If so, this blog is for you.
Recent Posts
Person on the Page 