by Marilyn | Dec 10, 2014 | Conscious writing, craft, Memoir, Reflective Voice, Uncategorized, Voice
In writing memoir, the trick, it seems to me, is to establish a double perspective, that will allow the reader to participate vicariously in the experience as it was lived (the confusions and misapprehensions of the child one was, say), while conveying the...
by Marilyn | Oct 2, 2014 | craft, Memoir, Uncategorized
“What ALL do we see then, when we look at the body anew? Particularly those parts that have been fetishized and plasticized, deified and desired, such as the female breast. For the literary essayist, a breast is rarely just a breast.” Barrie Jean Borich ...
by Marilyn | Sep 3, 2014 | craft, Memoir, Voice, writing process
“I am the only one who can tell the story of my life and say what it means.” Dorothy Allison “So, what?” I can still hear my writing friend Jon Kerstetter asking that question about the first packet of writing I submitted to our first creative nonfiction...
by Marilyn | Mar 2, 2013 | craft, Obsession notebook, theme, Truth
Did you fill your obsession notebook in a week? Ten days? Two weeks? By what day were you obsessed with your writing, your thoughts, your mind? Me, I was hooked on day one. It’s been a few years since I’ve kept a compulsive diary, and my obsession notebook...
by Marilyn | Feb 13, 2013 | craft, Writing Time
A common regret I hear from women writers is that they don’t have time to write. Not writing, or not writing enough to satisfy their writing need, leaves them feeling empty and hollow, without a center. I nod when I hear these regrets. If I miss my writing time for as...
by Marilyn | Jan 25, 2013 | craft, graphic memoir, structure
I am currently working on a short memoir essay titled “Blue Lollipop” about my first trip to a hair salon at age six, and the ensuing haircut, which was my mom’s idea, not mine. But the essay’s deeper truth charts the arc of a self—the “emotional” arc—by juxtaposing...
