"Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished?"

“Someday, I will die, and all the [books] I dreamed of writing will die with me,” writes Joe Bunting.  

“Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished?”

Christina Rossetti

Sometimes we memoirists get stuck—distracted, uninspired—and we set aside our writing.

Nagging thoughts break through sometimes and remind us we should write, but we stall, we make excuses.

Is that where you are this week?

When you and I get into a slump, first we need to congratulate ourselves on what we have already written!

Next, we need to ask ourselves, Do I want to write my memoir? Do I want to do this for my kids and grandkids and great-grandkids?

If you do, get out one of your rough drafts. Read it aloud. That alone should motivate you to revise for clarity, to add, delete, rearrange, and polish.

Victoria Costello offers this advice for getting un-stuck:

Get off the Internet. Give yourself a time limit for checking email and Facebook and all those other enticing sites.

Post your deadline above your desk. Hold yourself accountable.

Small steps are better than no steps. “… Remember that a memoir is simply a string of personal vignettes. Take small steps and focus on finishing one sentence, one paragraph, and one vignette at a time.”

Borrow juice from other writers. Victoria suggest reading “anthologies of writerly inspiration.” She says, “Reading someone else’s excellent writing inspires the writer in me to get over myself and try some of my own.” (from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing a Memoir, by Victoria Costello)

Joe Bunting asks himself, “…What books must I complete to die satisfied?”

He asks all of us, “What books do you want to write before you die? …”

The clock is ticking.

Focus.

Be intentional.

Be disciplined.

Resolve to make at least a little progress: Set daily or weekly goals.

Persevere.

Pray!

Finish!

Disclaimer: For review purposes, I received a free copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing a Memoir.

Writer’s block? No problem. You can still make progress on your memoir.

Everybody gets stuck from time to time.  

Writer’s block: You want to write. You know how to write. For some reason, however, you can’t write.

Take heart. Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charlie Schultz, and Mark Twain struggled with writer’s block, too.

Does “writer’s block” describe you today?

If so, don’t despair. For one thing, writer’s block is temporary.

And here’s more good news: You can still make progress—valuable progress—on your memoir.

This is your opportunity to spiff up your already-written rough drafts, those vignettes that will someday—soon, we hope!—be stories in your memoir.

I’m talking about editing, tinkering, rearranging—revising.

Revision is not punishment,

says veteran writer Donald M. Murray in The Craft of Revision. 

“Writing evolves from a sequence of drafts,” he says. “Scientists … experiment.… Actors and musicians rehearse. Retailers test markets, politicians take polls, manufacturers try pilot runs. They all revise, and so do writers. Writing is rewriting.”

Even professional writers know the benefits of revision.

If you’re stuck with writer’s block, or just need a summer break, use this time to revise vignettes you’ve already written.

Revision, Murray says, is “re-seeing the entire piece of writing.” So important.

Revision involves checking punctuation, grammar, spelling, diction (word choice), sentence length, focus (meaning), rhythm, cutting (writing tight), organization, and so on.

I suggest you consider each separately as you evaluate a rough draft.

For now, concentrate on clarity.

Start by reading a vignette you haven’t read for a while because distance and time are your friends: They do wonders for objectivity. The fresher the story is in your memory, the harder it will be to catch things you want and need to change.

“Clarity depends … on your ability to put information together so that readers know at every point where they are, where they’ve been, and where they seem to be going,” writes Peter P. Jacobi. 

“When we read, our minds work in linear fashion. We cannot grasp jumps and jerks or even the sudden shifts of scene.…” Jacobi continues. “We have to be moved carefully, smoothly, through the [story].”

Donald Murray encourages a writer to read a rough draft the first time as the maker of that piece, and then read it again as a stranger.

Put yourself in your readers’ shoes. Does your vignette make sense, or does it cause confusion?

Look for gaps: Did you leave out information your readers need to know? Will they grasp your story’s message?

Remember, it’s not in your story until it’s in black and white on your page.

Do another clarity check on lingo and vocabulary. Search for words readers might not understand—abstract words, academic, foreign, technical, or old fashioned words. If you spot any, change them because your reader probably won’t finish reading if he doesn’t understand your words.  

In future posts we’ll look at other aspects of revision but for today, eschew obfuscation. Strive for clarity.

Always remember Donald Murray’s words: Revision is not punishment.

Revision is your opportunity to polish your manuscript and make it shine.

“An unfinished manuscript cannot….”

You’re probably like me: a few choice one-liners have danced around in your mind for years.

Take, for example, Lee Roddy’s “An unfinished manuscript cannot change lives.” Years ago I read it for the first time in Marlene Bagnull’s Write His Answer, and it has always stuck with me.

Here’s Roddy’s entire quote:

“… An unfinished manuscript cannot change lives. Even a finished one cannot minister in a drawer or filing cabinet. Only in published form can a book go where you and I will never go, to people we will never meet. Only in published form can a book make a difference in eternity.”

(Interpret Roddy’s use of the word “published” as “finished and in the hands of your readers.” Today you have dozens of ways to publish your stories, so please don’t assume you have to find an agent and publisher for your memoir. We’ll consider your publishing options on another day.)

Roddy’s words hit close to home since, as you know from Saturday’s post, I’m struggling to write a vignette about Tom Durr. My heart and mind tell me that my kids, grandkids and, in the future, my great-grandkids need to know Tom’s story.

Like Andrew Zahn said, I have this story in me that’s begging to get out.

“Having a story of redemption and deliverance

isn’t enough.

It’s the telling of my story that brings victory.

As I put words to what God has done in my life,

I continue to overcome.

But if I keep it to myself,

God doesn’t get glorified in it

and I don’t move forward.…

We have to put words to our testimony.

You’ve got a story to tell.

Tell it."

by Alece at Grit and Glory blog,

http://www.gritandglory.com/2010/03/02/speak-up

Many thanks to those who left comments and advice for my vignette. I’ve taken every message to heart and you all have encouraged me to continue working on the story.

I’ve also puttered around The Bookshelf Muse blog, especially their Emotional Thesaurus, where I’ve found specific words and phrases to use in my vignette. (You’ll find a link to The Bookshelf Muse toward the bottom right column.)

Since your stories and mine serve as a ministry to our family and other readers, praying for God’s help is a must!

What else is a must for your writing?

I’m stuck. Can you help?

.

I’ve known for decades that I need to write about Tom Durr. He attended my school for only a few weeks, and I don’t recall ever talking with him, but I’ve never forgotten what he taught me.

But it's not a pretty story, and there's the rub. 

A year or so ago I forced myself to write “The Tom Durr Story” on a new blank Word document. I saved it on my computer, but couldn’t write more than that. I was stuck.

A week ago I forced myself to start writing and I got 270 words into it when I got stuck again.

For the past several days I’ve tried to write more, but I’m still stuck.

I’m not sure what my problem is (I have a couple of ideas), but it occurred to me that perhaps some of you will offer suggestions.

Here’s what I’ve written so far in this very rough draft:

I thought that teachers were saintly, set-apart beings, more intelligent and honorable than the average person, and that the rest of us would do well to revere and model our lives after them.

For that reason, I had admired Mrs. C., my sixth grade teacher. She ran a tight classroom but I always followed her rules and the two of us got along fine.

I still remember the day, more than half a century ago, when Mrs. C. extended grace and mercy to me at a time when my parents were struggling financially. My shoe’s sole had torn apart from the leather upper and it flapped every time I took a step. Mrs. C. whispered, “Let me slip this rubber band around your shoe to hold it together.” I’ve always remembered her kindness.

And I admired her fingernails—so much that I filed my nails into sharp points just like hers.

But in the latter half of sixth grade, when Tom Durr joined our class, Mrs. C.’s behavior led me to change my perspective on teachers.

And Tom Durr’s behavior led me to recognize what a genuine saintly, set-apart being looks like, for he was more intelligent and honorable than the average person, and the rest of us would do well to revere and model our lives after Tom rather than our teacher.

Tall, slender, and always well groomed, Tom had moved from Texas, or so I remember, and unlike the rest of us suburban Seattleites, he wore dark blue jeans and a jean jacket every day, always perfectly clean.

When Tom joined our class, I witnessed a different side of Mrs. C. 

This is where I got stuck again—but I want to tell this story, I need to tell this story to my kids and grandkids! I need to find words to describe Mrs. C’s ongoing hate-fueled behavior—in front of our class—and Tom’s noble behavior in response.

What do you think is my problem? What would you do if you were stuck here? What has worked for you in the past?

I welcome your advice. (Also I welcome your critique of the paragraphs I’ve written.)

Thanks for helping me get un-stuck.