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Writing as Therapy

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Writing as Therapy
Product or process—which is your main reason for writing your memoir? Do you dearly want to produce a book that traces your life story for others to read or, rather, are you primarily using your memoir writing project as a therapeutic means of working through problems?
Writing in a recent New York Times Sunday Magazine, Steve Almond argues that the number of writing workshops, writing conferences and university-level creative writing programs has exploded to fill the void previously occupied by traditional “talk therapy” sessions with a counselor. The iconic image of the patient on the couch confiding in a therapist is a picture from the past, Almond maintains. Today, he says, troubled people take prescribed medication to sort of fix their brain chemistry and, while that may make them feel better, it’s not fulfilling.
Therefore what creative writers want, says Almond, who currently leads a writer’s workshop for people in their 50s and 60s, is “permission to articulate feelings that were somehow off limits within the fragile habitat of their families….[Creative writing] almost always involves a direct engagement with [the] inner life, as well as a demand for greater empathy and disclosure. These goals are fundamentally therapeutic.” To any of you who have landed at WriteMyMemoirs in an effort to claim your right to express yourself, sort through the difficult aspects of your life or quiet “the human heart in conflict with itself,” as Almond quotes William Faulkner, please feel very welcome here.

Product or process—which is your main reason for writing your memoir? Do you dearly want to produce a book that traces your life story for others to read or, rather, are you primarily using your memoir writing project as a therapeutic means of working through problems?

Writing in a recent New York Times Sunday Magazine, Steve Almond argues that the number of writing workshops, writing conferences and university-level creative writing programs has exploded to fill the void previously occupied by traditional “talk therapy” sessions with a counselor. The iconic image of the patient on the couch confiding in a therapist is a picture from the past, Almond maintains. Today, he says, troubled people take prescribed medication to sort of fix their brain chemistry and, while that may make them feel better, it’s not fulfilling.

Therefore what creative writers want, says Almond, who currently leads a writer’s workshop for people in their 50s and 60s, is “permission to articulate feelings that were somehow off limits within the fragile habitat of their families….[Creative writing] almost always involves a direct engagement with [the] inner life, as well as a demand for greater empathy and disclosure. These goals are fundamentally therapeutic.” To any of you who have landed at WriteMyMemoirs in an effort to claim your right to express yourself, sort through the difficult aspects of your life or quiet “the human heart in conflict with itself,” as Almond quotes William Faulkner, please feel very welcome here.

No Time to Read? This is For You!

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No Time to Read? This is For You!
If you’re really hunkerin’ down and writing your memoirs, you may think you’re too busy to read books. After all, you’re writing one! But I urge you to keep up with your reading during this time, because other authors’ work inspires you to use language well and to continue until you’ve completed your project—so that you’ll have something for other people to read.
To fit reading into your tight schedule, try this idea from DailyLit.com. When you sign up with DailyLit for free, you can choose a book to have emailed to you in regular installments that each take just a few minutes to read. So while you’re reading your email, you’re also reading a book. You tell DailyLit exactly what time and how often to send you the installments—as the name indicates, a daily email is the norm—and you can always order another installment right away if you have time and can’t put the “book” down.
“We created DailyLit because we spent hours each day on email but could not find the time to read a book,” the website says. “Now the books come to us by email. Problem solved.” Although some books do have a fee attached, many are free because the site is supported by advertising. I especially encourage you to read other people’s memoirs, so click on this DailyLit page and you’ll find some of those. And then you can get back to writing your own memoirs!

If you’re really hunkerin’ down and writing your memoirs, you may think you’re too busy to read books. After all, you’re writing one! But I urge you to keep up with your reading during this time, because other authors’ work inspires you to use language well and to continue until you’ve completed your project—so that you’ll have something for other people to read.

To fit reading into your tight schedule, try this idea from DailyLit.com. When you sign up with DailyLit for free, you can choose a book to have emailed to you in regular installments that each take just a few minutes to read. So while you’re reading your email, you’re also reading a book. You tell DailyLit exactly what time and how often to send you the installments—as the name indicates, a daily email is the norm—and you can always order another installment right away if you have time and can’t put the “book” down.

“We created DailyLit because we spent hours each day on email but could not find the time to read a book,” the website says. “Now the books come to us by email. Problem solved.” Although some books do have a fee attached, many are free because the site is supported by advertising. I especially encourage you to read other people’s memoirs, so click on this DailyLit page and you’ll find some of those. And then you can get back to writing your own memoirs!

Memoir Writers: Go Through Your Stuff!

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Memoir Writers: Go Through Your Stuff!
A recent newspaper story about former Chicago Cultural Affairs Commissioner Lois Weisberg ends with the information that the octegenarian is working on her memoirs. She was quoted in the Chicago Tribune article as saying that to “aspire to write a book at my age is really kind of insane.”
Here at WriteMyMemoirs we certainly would not consider the endeavor “insane.” At 85, Weisberg is still active and able. Until last year she was working full-time, and now she finally can reflect upon her long career and her family life with four children. As part of former Mayor Daley’s inner circle, she very likely has a lot of juicy tidbits to share. But, just like your memoir, Weisberg’s story won’t write itself. She told the reporter that she attacks it every morning for a few hours, writing in longhand on a legal pad.
“Go through your old boxes,” Weisberg advises people in the process of writing a memoir but having trouble coming up with chapters and topics. “You might find something interesting.” I would add this: go through your email. Even if you didn’t keep old letters, the electronic version of mail may provide more of a record than you think—at least for the past five or ten years. Don’t forget to ask friends and family members whether they’ve saved letters and emails, too. You may not have correspondence from the Daleys, but surely you exchanged notes with people who’ve made an impact on your life.

A recent newspaper story about former Chicago Cultural Affairs Commissioner Lois Weisberg ends with the information that the octegenarian is working on her memoirs. She was quoted in the Chicago Tribune article as saying that to “aspire to write a book at my age is really kind of insane.”

Here at WriteMyMemoirs we certainly would not consider the endeavor “insane.” At 85, Weisberg is still active and able. Until last year she was working full-time, and now she finally can reflect upon her long career and her family life with four children. As part of former Mayor Daley’s inner circle, she very likely has a lot of juicy tidbits to share. But, just like your memoir, Weisberg’s story won’t write itself. She told the reporter that she attacks it every morning for a few hours, writing in longhand on a legal pad.

“Go through your old boxes,” Weisberg advises people in the process of writing a memoir but having trouble coming up with chapters and topics. “You might find something interesting.” You may have saved ticket stubs, cheap souvenirs from trips and, of course, letters. Also, go through your email. It may provide more of a record than you think—at least for the past five or ten years. Don’t forget to ask friends and family members whether they’ve saved letters and emails, too. You may not have correspondence from the Daleys, but surely you exchanged notes with people who’ve made an impact on your life.

Checking In: Still Motivated to Write Your Memoir?

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Checking In: Still Motivated to Write Your Memoir?
It’s late January, and your New Year’s Resolution to write that memoir may be melting faster than snow in sunshine. A blogger at zenhabits.net zeroes in on two secrets to staying motivated with any goal: 1) enjoying the task, and 2) answering to outside pressure. Let’s take them one at a time.
To enjoy writing your memoir, first make sure you’re in a comfortable setting. You should be pleased with every aspect—your computer, chair and desk; the temperature in the room; perhaps a view; the level of noise/quiet. Identify the time of day and day(s) of the week you feel creative and you don’t feel guilty for taking time away from other responsibilities. For content, choose the parts of your life you like to remember. If there are painful segments, leave those for later, after you’ve grown accustomed to your writing routine. Bite off little bits so that the project doesn’t overwhelm you. Review your life one anecdote at a time.
The second motivating tool—developing outside pressure—should be easy. Just tell your family and friends that you’re writing a memoir! Give them weekly updates, and have them commit to ask you about it if you forget. As our own memoir writing community, we can be accountable to each other. Leave a comment here about how far you’ve progressed toward your goal, or friend us on Facebook. We’ll start a thread on the Write My Memoirs page for you to leave a comment to motivate yourself as well as everyone!
http://zenhabits.net/the-only-two-secrets-to-motivating-yourself-youll-ever-need/
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It’s late January, and your New Year’s Resolution to write that memoir may be melting faster than snow in sunshine. A blogger at zenhabits.net zeroes in on two secrets to staying motivated with any goal: 1) enjoying the task, and 2) answering to outside pressure. Let’s take them one at a time.

To enjoy writing your memoir, first make sure you’re in a comfortable setting. You should be pleased with every aspect—your computer, chair and desk; the temperature in the room; perhaps a view; the level of noise/quiet. Identify the time of day and day(s) of the week you feel creative and you don’t feel guilty for taking time away from other responsibilities. For content, choose the parts of your life you like to remember. If there are painful segments, leave those for later, after you’ve grown accustomed to your writing routine. Bite off little bits so that the project doesn’t overwhelm you. Review your life one anecdote at a time.

The second motivating tool—developing outside pressure—should be easy. Just tell your family and friends that you’re writing a memoir! Give them weekly updates, and have them commit to asking you about it if you forget. As our own memoir writing community, we can be accountable to each other. Leave a comment here about how far you’ve progressed toward your goal, or friend us on Facebook. We’ll start a thread on the Write My Memoirs page for you to leave a comment to motivate yourself as well as everyone!

Attend a Memoir-Writing Retreat

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Attend a Memoir-Writing Retreat
You might want to consider attending an upcoming Memoir Writing Conference 2012, where you can join people like you who are looking for information and motivation to help them write their life stories. This event takes place Saturday, April 28, in Bethlehem, PA, and costs $225 plus $100 if you choose to attend a Friday night dinner. WriteMyMemoirs has no association with this conference and does not receive anything for publicizing this event, but we like to alert you to any tool or experience that might help you write your memoir.
The full day of inspiration features an impressive roster of presenters, all authors themselves who, as a group, represent a diverse range of expertise that reflects the theme for this year’s conference: getting in touch with your five senses to help you recall and describe events in your life.
The keynote speaker is newspaper columnist, blogger and journalism professor Bill White. I love the reason he was asked to speak, as stated on the website: “Bill became interested in memoirs a few years ago when he wrote a piece about a Ukrainian woman who used her dying days to write about her life growing up in the old country, her hardships during World War II, her emigration to the United States and her life here with her husband and children. Bill was struck by how beautifully she told her story, but even more by how much other families, including his own, would appreciate that kind of memoir from our parents and grandparents to share with future generations.” Click here for details about the conference.
https://memoir2012.com/Presenters.php

You might want to consider attending the upcoming Memoir Writing Conference 2012, where you can join people like you who are looking for information and motivation to help them write their life stories. This event takes place Saturday, April 28, in Bethlehem, PA, and costs $225 plus $100 if you choose to attend a Friday night dinner. WriteMyMemoirs has no association with this conference and does not receive anything for publicizing this event, but we like to alert you to any tool or experience that might help you write your memoir.

The full day of inspiration features an impressive roster of presenters, all authors themselves who, as a group, represent a diverse range of expertise that reflects the theme for this year’s conference: getting in touch with your five senses to help you recall and describe events in your life.

The keynote speaker is newspaper columnist, blogger and journalism professor Bill White. I love the reason he was asked to speak, as stated on the website: “Bill became interested in memoirs a few years ago when he wrote a piece about a Ukrainian woman who used her dying days to write about her life growing up in the old country, her hardships during World War II, her emigration to the United States and her life here with her husband and children. Bill was struck by how beautifully she told her story, but even more by how much other families, including his own, would appreciate that kind of memoir from our parents and grandparents to share with future generations.” Click here for details about the conference.

A Lifetime Can’t be Summed Up in One Letter

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A Lifetime Can’t be Summed Up in One Letter
“As I near age 80, I feel that the story I have carried in my heart since childhood should be written,” begins a letter to the Chicago Tribune published last week. The letter goes on to summarize the writer’s happy childhood, which takes a total of eight paragraphs.
It’s nice that a major newspaper gives people the opportunity to relate their memories, but this also made me sad. The letter-writer is 80 years old and bursting with the desire to share the story she’s has carried in her heart all these years. So why has she waited until age 80? You can never be sure that you will be physically and mentally capable of sharing your story if you wait. Also, why limit your reach to one letter in one newspaper when you can write a book to have forever or list on amazon.com?
One of our WriteMyMemoir authors who asked us to publish his memoir started out last summer with 20 books. He’s already twice asked us to print up 20 more, because people see the book and want a copy for themselves. It’s so special to have a memoir available! As the New Year approaches, think about what you want your life to represent. You can shape the concept people have of you by crafting it in a memoir, and you don’t have to wait until your golden years or limit yourself to eight paragraphs when you have a whole book in you to write!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-vp-1224voicelettersbriefs-20111224,0,5671839.story?page=3

“As I near age 80, I feel that the story I have carried in my heart since childhood should be written,” begins a letter to the Chicago Tribune published last week. The letter goes on to summarize the writer’s happy childhood, which takes a total of eight paragraphs.

It’s nice that a major newspaper gives people the opportunity to relate their memories, but this also made me sad. The letter-writer is 80 years old and bursting with the desire to share the story she has  carried in her heart all these years. So why has she waited until age 80? You can never be sure that you will be physically and mentally capable of sharing your story if you wait. Also, why limit your reach to one letter in one newspaper when you can write a book to have forever or list on amazon.com?

One of our WriteMyMemoir authors who asked us to publish his memoir started out last summer with 20 books. He’s already twice asked us to print up 20 more, because people see the book and want a copy for themselves. It’s so special to have a memoir available! As the New Year approaches, think about what you want your life to represent. You can shape the concept people have of you by crafting it in a memoir, and you don’t have to wait until your golden years or limit yourself to eight paragraphs when you have a whole book in you to write!

Online Research Supplies Memoir Details

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Online Research Supplies Memoir Details
To write your memoirs, you probably rely primarily on your own memory. But no one remembers everything accurately. If you and your sibling compare notes about an anecdote from your early family life, you’ll likely find discrepancies with no way to tell whose description is closer to what actually happened.
But some facts are verifiable. When and where was that uncle born? In what year did that neighbor die? What was the weather like that day? What street did that friend live on? All of these details add texture to your writing even if they’re not essential to the core of your story.
Today, you can locate many of these facts from the comfort of your computer desk. Most ancestral websites—ancestry.com and archives.com are two—require payment to get to the records. But they also tend to offer a free seven-day period to try out the site. You will have to register, but you won’t have to pay. As you write, leave the dates and places in question blank. When you’ve finished the rest of your memoir, make a list of all of the people you need to research, and try to fit that research into the free seven-day period. Weather on a day in history is easy—and free. Try almanac.com, farmersalmanac.com or weather.org. Finding an old address is trickier, and your best bet for that, as well as some birth, death and marriage records, is to go through local resources. Check out the tips at howtoinvestigate.com.

To write your memoirs, you probably rely primarily on your own memory. But no one remembers everything accurately. If you and your sibling compare notes about an anecdote from your early family life, you’ll likely find discrepancies with no way to tell whose description is closer to what actually happened.

But some facts are verifiable. When and where was that uncle born? In what year did that neighbor die? What was the weather like that day? What street did that friend live on? All of these details add texture to your writing even if they’re not essential to the core of your story.

Today, you can locate many of these facts from the comfort of your computer desk. Most ancestral websites—ancestry.com and archives.com are two—require payment to get to the records. But they also tend to offer a free seven-day period to try out the site. You will have to register, but you won’t have to pay. As you write, leave the dates and places in question blank. When you’ve finished the rest of your memoir, make a list of all of the people you need to research, and try to fit that research into the free seven-day period. Weather on a day in history is easy—and free. Try almanac.com, farmersalmanac.com or weather.org. Finding an old address is trickier, and your best bet for that, as well as some birth, death and marriage records, is to go through local resources. Check out the tips at howtoinvestigate.com.

Twitter Watch: What You’re Missing

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Twitter Watch: What You’re Missing
You probably don’t tweet. That doesn’t mean you can’t join the twittersphere at twitter.com and follow other people’s tweets. Eventually you’ll pipe up when you have something to tweet about. Meanwhile, you can find out a lot in a short period of time, since each tweet is limited to 140 characters. WriteMyMemoirs does tweet, and we also follow others. Looking over the latest tweets from those we follow, we thought we’d share.
From GothamWriters, we learn that Anne Tyler once said, “For me, writing something down was the only road out.” TIMECulture recommends Backward Ran Sentences: The Best from Wolcott Gibbs. TheBookMaven supplies a link to an article promoting the universal practice of reading on the potty. BookReviews12 links to a review of Successful Executive’s Handbook. RandomHouse mentions that—who knew?—today is World Pasta Day. To retweet that post: “Holy Ravioli!”
Use Twitter as just another tool to guide you to sources and keep you motivated to write your memoirs. Do a search on twitter.com for “books,” “memoir,” “autobiography,” “life story,” “author” and anything else you think may pull up tweets you can follow for information pertaining to your memoir. Your own tweets can trace your journey of writing your memoir and link to online sources that help you. And don’t forget to follow WriteMyMemoirs on Twitter!
http://twitter.com/#!/writemymemoirs

You probably don’t tweet. That doesn’t mean you can’t join the twittersphere at twitter.com and follow other people’s tweets. Eventually you’ll pipe up when you have something to tweet about. Meanwhile, you can find out a lot in a short period of time, since each tweet is limited to 140 characters. WriteMyMemoirs does tweet—typically to alert people to the latest published or rumored memoir—and we also follow others. Looking over the latest tweets from those we follow, we thought we’d share.

From GothamWriters, we learn that Anne Tyler once said, “For me, writing something down was the only road out.” TIMECulture recommends Backward Ran Sentences: The Best from Wolcott Gibbs. TheBookMaven supplies a link to an article promoting the universal practice of reading on the potty. BookReviews12 links to a review of Successful Executive’s Handbook. RandomHouse mentions that—who knew?—today is World Pasta Day. To retweet that post: “Holy Ravioli!”

Use Twitter as just another tool to guide you to sources and keep you motivated to write your memoirs. Do a search on twitter.com for “books,” “memoir,” “autobiography,” “life story,” “author” and anything else you think may pull up tweets you can follow for information pertaining to your memoir. Your own tweets can trace your journey of writing your memoir and link to online sources that help you. And don’t forget to follow WriteMyMemoirs on Twitter

http://twitter.com/#!/writemymemoirs

Enter Writer’s Digest Competitions for Cash

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Enter Writer’s Digest Competitions for Cash
Since you’re sitting down daily to write your memoirs—you are, right?—you might as well try to score some prize money for your trouble. We like to periodically list legitimate writing contests so you can challenge yourself to keep writing better. To keep you busy throughout the remaining months of 2011, Writer’s Digest offers a variety of competitions targeting different writing styles. They include:
Script. If you want to write a screenplay, here’s your chance to show your creative potential and win not only a monetary prize but also mentoring sessions with a Hollywood screenwriter.
Short story. Writer’s Digest posts a new topic every month; stories must be 750 words or fewer. In a separate short story competition, the limit is 1,500 words.
Your genre of choice—horror, thriller, science fiction, romance, crime or young adult fiction. There’s a contest for each of those.
Poetry. If you’re a poet, you know it!
In November, Writer’s Digest will open two more: its Annual Writing Competition for 2012 and its next International Self-Published Book Awards program. These two competitions comprise many categories and offer multiple prizes. To compete in the Self-Published Book Awards, of course, you need to have published a book. Please check our publishing page for details on how we can help you do that at a very affordable price!
http://www.writersdigest.com/competitions/writing-competitions

Since you’re sitting down daily to write your memoirs—you are, right?—you might as well try to score some prize money for your trouble. We like to periodically list legitimate writing contests so you can challenge yourself to grow and continue to improve your writing. To keep you busy throughout the remaining months of 2011, Writer’s Digest offers a variety of competitions targeting different writing styles. They include:

  • Script. If you want to write a screenplay, here’s your chance to show your creative potential and win not only a monetary prize but also mentoring sessions with a bona fide Hollywood screenwriter.
  • Short story. Writer’s Digest posts a new topic every month; stories must be 750 words or fewer. In a separate short story competition, the limit is 1,500 words.
  • Your genre of choice—horror, thriller, science fiction, romance, crime or young adult fiction. There’s a contest for each of those.
  • Poetry. If you’re a poet, you know it!

In November, Writer’s Digest will open two more: its Annual Writing Competition for 2012 and its next International Self-Published Book Awards program. These two competitions comprise many categories and offer multiple prizes. To compete in the Self-Published Book Awards, of course, you need to have published a book. Please check our “Publish My Book” page for details on how we can help you do that at a very affordable price!

Is "Digital" the New Book?

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Is “Digital??? the New Book?
At Write My Memoirs, we help people publish their autobiographies in the format of the traditional book. Our standard book is an 5.5 x 8.5 paperback, typically with a photograph on the cover. In 2011, our authors still want a hard copy of their hard work, and their families appreciate being able to hold and read a real book about that person’s life. Will that be true five or ten years from now?
In today’s piece lamenting the demise of Borders bookstores, Chicago Tribune columnist John Keilman makes his case for why a bookstore chain may be closing but books themselves will live on. He cites all the reasons you’ve heard before about book lovers enjoying the feel, sight and smell of a book. He mentions theories about cognition that have to do with the way a traditional book is laid out. And I have to say that I disagree with all of it.
I think that ordinary people who write their memoirs will still want to publish hard copies. But new generations growing up in a digital world will have their cognitive responses shaped by digital stimuli. They won’t miss the smell of a new book anymore than the rest of us miss the aroma of fresh sheets drying in the breeze on the clothesline. Devices like the Kindle will improve in just the ways book lovers need them to and, while old books and personal memoirs may still be cherished in hard copy format, I believe that the vast majority of books will be read digitally. What do you think?

At Write My Memoirs, we help people publish their autobiographies in the format of the traditional book. Our standard book is a 5.5 x 8.5 paperback, typically with a photograph on the cover. In 2011, our authors still want a hard copy of their hard work, and their families appreciate being able to hold and read a real book about that person’s life. Will that be true five or ten years from now?

In today’s piece lamenting the demise of Borders bookstores, Chicago Tribune columnist John Keilman makes his case for why a bookstore chain may be closing but books themselves will survive. He cites all the reasons you’ve heard before about book lovers enjoying the feel, sight and smell of a book. He mentions theories about cognition that have to do with the way a traditional book is laid out. And I have to say that I disagree with all of it.

I think that ordinary people who write their memoirs will still want to publish hard copies. But new generations growing up in a digital world will have their cognitive responses shaped by digital stimuli. They won’t miss the smell of a new book anymore than the rest of us miss the aroma of fresh sheets drying in the breeze on the clothesline. Devices like the Kindle will improve in just the ways book lovers need them to and, while old books and personal memoirs may still be cherished in hard copy format, I believe that the vast majority of books will be read digitally. What do you think?

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Then just set up a chapter and start writing your memoir. Don’t worry about rules. There are no rules to writing your memoir; there are only trends. These trends are based on techniques and features identified in current top-selling memoirs. At best, they’re the flavor of the month. If you’re capturing your life in print for your family, for your own gratification or to inspire readers, rather than aiming to set off Hollywood screenplay bidding wars, these trends don’t even apply to you. You’ll write the memoir that suits you best, and it will be timeless, not trend-driven.There are no rules, but there are four steps:

1. Theme/framework
2. Writing
3. Editing/polishing
4. Self-publishing

You’ve researched this, too, and you’ve been shocked at the price for getting help with any one of those steps, much less all four. That’s because most memoir sites promise to commercialize your work. They’ll follow a formula based on current memoir trends, because they want to convince you that they can turn your memoir into a best-seller. These sites overwhelm you with unnecessary information not to help you, the memoir author, but to address Search Engine Optimization (SEO) algorithms so they can sell more.

That’s not what we do at Write My Memoirs. Our small community of coaches, writers and editors are every bit as skilled as any you’ll find, and we charge appropriately for their expertise and the time they’ll spend helping you craft a compelling, enjoyable read. But you won’t pay an upcharge for other websites’ commercialization, the marketing that follows, and the pages of intimidating “advice.” You can sell your book if you like—we have ISBNs available for you—but our organic process of capturing your story takes a noncommercial path.

If you want help with any or all of the four steps above, choose from our services or save money by selecting one of our packages. If you’d like to talk about what’s right for you, schedule a call. One year from now, you can be holding your published memoir in your hand. And at that point, it will be a big deal!

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