Tuesday Tidbit: If you lack confidence, courage, and discipline to write

“Many beginning writers believe

the writing process requires great confidence

and unfaltering courage.

I’ve learned the writer’s journey requires

the ability to admit we’re not brave

or altogether perfect.

As Christian writers, we fare well

if we possess the wisdom to ask God

for the strength and discipline needed

to buckle down

and type the words He gives us.”

Xochitl Dixon

Tuesday Tidbit: Start off 2017 with writing!

Have you started writing your memoir yet?

Or are you still procrastinating?

Or maybe you started writing your memoir

but got distracted. 

Perhaps, like me, you set aside your WIP

(work in progress)

over the holidays.

Whatever, it's time to write!

Check out Chloe Yelena Miller's 

"Tips to help you get started writing."

Tuesday Tidbit: Do you want to write powerful stuff?

Mick Silva works with inspirational memoirists and novelists to structure, rewrite and refine their books, present to publishers, and establish themselves as writers. He’s a frequent conference speaker, blogger, and co-author with Emily Wieringa of How to Write Inspirational Memoir.

If you missed Mick’s recent guest blog post, click on Good words from Mick Silva, professional writing coach, editor, and encourager.

Tuesday Tidbit: “Catch it before it is gone”

“Can we listen to ourselves

in the silence?

Can we sit and wait

for the whispers of our souls

to come creeping, slowly, falteringly,

letter by letter, through our pens?

Can we allow our truest selves

to tell their stories

through the gateway of broken language…?

Catch it before it is gone,

capture it in a jumble of letters….”

Edith Ó Nualláin

So there you have it, your 15 seconds of inspiration,

your Tuesday Tidbit.

I hope it inspires you to write your memoir—before it’s too late.

Tuesday Tidbit: How you can become a stronger writer

Here’s your 15 seconds of inspiration,

your Tuesday Tidbit:

Matilda Butler at Women’s Memoirs encourages memoir writers to read lots of memoirs, to “read broadly and think deeply.”

She says,

“Even memoirs that aren’t particularly good

can teach lessons.

You can ask yourself:

What do in like in this book?

What is off-putting?

How would I handle the story differently

if I were writing this book?

Is the opening weak?

What ideas do I have

to make the opening stronger?

Thinking about a memoir,

questioning a memoir,

even rewriting a few paragraphs

of a memoir

will make you a stronger writer.”

Thanks to Matilda for these helpful tips.

If you’re not a regular reader of Women’s Memoirs’ blog, do check into it.

Tuesday Tidbit: Folded like a note

Here's your 15 seconds of inspiration,

your Tuesday Tidbit:

"There is something in me maybe someday

to be written; now it is folded, and folded,

and folded, like a note in school."

Sharon Olds

Tuesday Tidbit: “Amazing ordinary things”

Here's your 15 seconds of inspiration,

your Tuesday Tidbit:

Tuesday Tidbit: Writing and rewriting

Here's your 15 seconds of inspiration for this week's Tuesday Tidbit:

I thoroughly enjoy rewriting. Do you? 

Leave a comment below.

"The things that your books make happen"

“Write about what you really care about.…

Write about what truly matters to you—

not just things to catch the eye of the world

but things to touch the quick of the world

the way they have touched you to the quick.…

Write not just with wit and eloquence

and style and relevance

but with passion.

Then the things that your books make happen

will be things worth happening—

things that make the people who read them

a little more passionate themselves for their pains…

a little more alive, a little wiser,

a little more beautiful, a little more understanding,

in short a little more human.…”

Frederick Buechner, from The Clown in the Belfry

(emphasis mine)

What do you want your memoir to do inside your readers?

Sometimes one sentence 

packs more punch than a whole blog post, 

so here’s the message I have for you today:

Do you hear them?

“Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories,” said author Eudora Welty, and that’s good advice, especially this time of year.

At The Writing Well, Anne Wainscott-Sargent* reiterates that advice, encouraging memoir writers to master the art of listening.

She quotes memoirist Brian McDonald:

“I was lucky I had a family of storytellers—police officers and bartenders and such are natural storytellers. I was always a great listener. Those anecdotes I heard from when I was first a child stayed with me, and later on when I decided to do a book about my family, they came to life.”

This holiday season, master the art of listening.

Encourage storytelling at your Christmas or Hanukkah gatherings, and listen.

Why?

Because God used your ancestors, current family, and friends to play key roles, genetic and otherwise, to make you who you are today—

—because their attitudes, influences, and DNA will pulse through your memoir whether you name those people or not,

—because their words, jokes, and stories will echo through your memoir even if their identities hide in shadows in your final draft.

A PRNewswire article, Sharing Family History to Make Holidays More Meaningful,* recommends:

“Pre-plan to create a new storytelling tradition—Tell people in advance you would like them to share family stories during the holiday gathering. Set aside a particular time and place. Encourage them to bring photographs to help tell a story.”

That suggestion is followed by this good advice: “Set expectations—Reassure everyone they won’t miss out on watching the football game on TV or any other activities they enjoy.”

When you sit around the dinner table, listen to what people say.

Ask relatives and friends about those no longer alive.

Inspire them to re-tell stories you heard as a child but might have forgotten.

Raise questions: Where and when was Great-grandpa born? What did he do for a living?

Was Great-grandma a happy-go-lucky type, or a sourpuss? Why did she die so young? How did her death impact her young daughter (your grandmother)? How did Great-grandpa cope after her death?

What kinds of hardships did your ancestors suffer during The Great Depression? How did they celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah during those years?

Were they people of faith? Why or why not?

Listen for intangible legacies your ancestors left. Reflect on how that legacy impacts the youngest generation of your family.

This week Sheila Lagrand wrote about a conversation she had with her father. Because she asked, he answered and, as she listened, his answers surprised her:

“I turned and studied my father as if I’d never seen him before, puzzling to work this new information into my understanding of him… I wondered what else I had wrong.… Since that day … I’ve spent a lot of time sweeping the thick dust of assumptions from my memories of my dad. My understanding of him is a lot different.…” *   

So do what Sheila did: Ask questions and listen for answers.

Hold your stories and memories close, and make time to discover what God has been doing in, through, and for your family throughout the generations.

Listen to God’s still, small voice—within music, sermons, and conversations you overhear in long shopping lines.

Listen for stories while you wrap packages, shovel snow, or plan menus. Notice what comes to mind about holidays past.

A couple of days ago, Linda Joy Meyers* wrote:

“Think of yourself as a listener, a translator. Focus inward and hear the stories that whisper to you in a low key; tune into your desire to capture your grandmothers’ history, your mother’s face, or your father’s character.” *

This holiday season, ask yourself, “What stories would bless my kids, grandkids, family, and friends?”

Jot down a few notes.

Come back after the holidays, when your schedule calms down, and start your rough drafts.

Have you written a story about Christmas for your memoir?

If so, send me your vignette

between now and December 10

and I’ll select one to publish here

the week before Christmas.

See all the details in my November 12 post at this link:

http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/11/send-me-your-christmas-vignettes.html

*Resources and links:

Anne Wainscott-Sargent at The Writing Well,

http://thewritingwellus.blogspot.com/2011/05/advice-on-writing-family-memoir.html

Sharing Family History to Make Holidays More Meaningful ,

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sharing-family-history-to-make-holidays-more-meaningful-134489618.html

Sheila Lagrand’s The Day I Met My Dad,

http://www.godspotting.net/2011/12/day-i-met-my-dad.html

Linda Joy Myers’ blog, Memories and Memoirs,

http://memoriesandmemoirs.com/2011/12/memoir-writing-a-passion-that-blows-by-the-inner-critic