Archive for January, 2009

Short and sweet - my blog today.
I stumbled upon a sweet site in the wee hours of this new day, and it is a winner.

But Copyblogger spells trouble.  Be careful, you can get lost in it for hours exploring, gleaning, and learning.
If you ever put pencil to paper or finger tips on keyboard, this is a site chock full of irresistible information.

I love giving you the link to this site, especially after posting Seven Resolutions, yesterday. Feels like good follow-up. Let me know what you think.

Yesterday, at the California Writers Club, we had the good fortune to hear Kevin Smokler, founder of BookTour.com – Where Authors and Audiences Meet, give us industry news, predictions of drastic change in the literary community, and seven reasons to keep on keepin’ on. The following is the gist of Kevin’s presentation. 

To put it mildly, it wasn’t easy to sell books last year, but at least there was a sense that Rome was not burning around our ears. Publishers Weekly is calling this (2009) “the worst year for publishing in decades.”

And the prediction for aspiring writers and authors is just as dire. There is a steady reliance by publishers on blockbusters. Either you have a name and a track record, or forget it. Big names like Amy Tan, Isabel Allende, John Grisham, and J. K. Rowling will have to write a book a month to please the publishers! 

While the book business, in general, is facing considerable challenge, and aspiring writers are feeling unseen, unheard, unsung, interesting things happen. People are looking for answers, change, and will look at anything new. 

Today, my friends, we will discuss appropriate actions for our writings in times such as these, in times when the work is great, the day is short, and odds do not seem in our favor.

What to do?  We should feel empowered, wipe the slate clean. Reinvent ourselves and what we do, if that’s
what it takes. We will work together, help each other – it’s no time to be selfish. Economic downtimes bring about good because people aren’t comfortable, they are not afraid of change, and they’re looking for answers. Looking to move on and begin anew. 

SEVEN RESOLUTIONS

1.  Work must come first
          The regularity of work is a comfort, but don’t get complacent

2.  Time to experiment
          If you write nonfiction, try your hand at poetry or a novel

3.  Get educated
          Read more books, new authors, seek out a mentor

4.  Express gratitude
          Write letters and handwritten notes of thankfulness

5.  Give back
          Not the time to be selfish; volunteer, support others

6.  Envision the world you want
          Make it happen, act as if you already have what you want

7.  Be courageous
          Do not complain, imagine better times and act the part, be the positive example

It’s crucial that we work together.

1. Honor someone other than ourselves. Isn’t it time to go beyond today’s cult of self-absorption by chronicling the spirit of others? 

2. Keep our mothers’ spirits alive. There is nothing like paying tribute to a loved one with a simple written record. A photograph captures a look at best, whereas a bio-vignette captures character and spirit. 

3. Discover the secrets of women from different walks of life. Possibilities for embracing life unfold before us when we read true stories about mothers different from our own. It compels compassion, understanding, and unity. 

4. Create catharsis. The outcome of writing a short, true story about one’s mother results in emotional or psychological healing, when the relationship between the mother and daughter/son was sometimes difficult or rocky. 

5. Become richer from the experience of actually writing a bio-vignette. Those of us who have embarked on this journey reach the other side more thoughtful, more knowing, and more satisfied.

A woman said in one of my classes, “I got so deeply in touch with dormant memories through telling the story that it made me finally understand why my mother couldn’t teach me the mysteries she knew and lived. What it came down to was an actual gelling of self-realization. This was a marvelous, unexpected gift.”

Inspiring Mini “Mother Memoir” Online Writing Class Now

Once again, that stimulating question, “If you could tell just one story capturing your mother’s character to keep her spirit alive, what would it be?”

 If you need help answering this provocative question, sign up for my next 5-week online inspirational memoir writing class by going to my Classes page.

Next class begins Wednesday, February 4, 2009. Register by February 2nd.

• Learn how to turn just one memory of your mother into an unforgettable story.
• Learn to capture the character of your mother in story as no photograph could ever do.

·         Learn by immersing yourself in the story woman™ memoir writing method that I’ve developed over the past decade.

If you’re anyone who’s ever had a mother – read on . . .
By portraying the essence of her character in a short, distinct memoir, you’ll learn and earn the joy of Keeping Her Spirit Alive. And “mother” can be any woman who came near to filling that role for you.

You can do it! And you’re the only one who can. No one else sees her just as you do. Write that unique story now, and I will glad to assist you in that oh so poignant journey just as I’ve done with so many others before you.

If you don’t write it down, it will be lost . . . wouldn’t that be a shame?

ONLINE LESSONS: Five-weeks, and as Easy as One, Two, Three!

1. Complete your weekly assignment. Every week I’ll email a lesson to you on how you can Tap Memory & Write Memoir. The lessons will stimulate your innate creativity, help you discover your voice, and keep you on track.
2.  Return your finished assignment within 5 days to ensure time for feedback. You’ll work hard with a purpose that you’re guaranteed to find more than simply rewarding.
3. Receive feedback from me on your specific assignment through constructive comments & suggestions on each lesson you return in a timely fashion.
Note: All of our communications are strictly private, unless you choose to share your work with others.

I’ll give you Tips & Tools for:

• Delving into Memories with Ease
• Triggering Creativity
• Polishing your Prose
• Energizing your Writing via the Senses
• Trusting the Message & the Messenger
• Discovering your Voice
• Creating Essential Energy
• Finishing with a Flair
• Reflecting on your Journey

I look forward to giving you the tools to write a true, short story that will capture your mother’s character and keep her spirit alive as no photograph could ever do. It will be a rewarding journey we’ll take together – you, your mother, me.

Register by scrolling to the bottom of the Classes page.

The Five Reasons to Give the Gift of Story will appear next time. Thanks for waiting.

I asked them all a question. A provocative question for anyone who’d listen, and I got answers in the form of captivating bio-vignettes or mini memoirs. I put a good number of them into a book called TellTale Souls: Keeping Spirits Alive One Story at Time. The question went something like this, “If you could tell just one small story that reveals your mother’s character and would keep her spirit alive, what would it be?”

The journey I began over a decade ago into writing Mother Memoir started this way:

My mother died, but she’s not gone. Her ashes are scattered in my garden. I see her in my flowers and taste her in my fruit, and I laugh and I cry with her and know who I am…and sometimes who I am not. I love to hear and tell stories about her, and I know that my children and grandchildren will discover her soul shimmering between the lines of those savory stories.

My mother was born Margaret Althea Cook. She wasn’t a saint and she wasn’t famous or wealthy. By most standards, she was just your ordinary, garden-variety mother…and isn’t that grand? I think so, but then I think the vibrancy and earthiness of a wild flower is beyond compare—and, yes, she taught me to appreciate those ordinary things in life.

The gathering of the bio-vignettes started after my mother’s death in September of 1995. At that time, I sent a note to close female friends and relatives asking them to send memories or stories about their own loved ones. Below is the letter I sent back then, which precipitated the release that was just the beginning of the remarkable chorus of voices that comprise TellTale Souls.

“Dear_______,

My mother’s death last fall prompted a plethora of remembrances. Through the tears of sorrow, bright rays of sunlight streaked as my sister and I talked of things recalled—great memories we enjoyed and hope to keep alive within our family.

Invariably, when I spoke to friends or relatives at that time, their memories too were jogged. And they’d tell little stories. Sometimes about my mother, but more often than not, their stories were about their mothers.

I found each story interesting. They ran the gamut from hilarious, passionate, bitter-sweet or sad, to amazing. Some were educational, others full of wisdom. These were stories to remember, but I soon forgot most of them.

So I’m hoping to coax these stories out of you now. Tell me a story. A tidbit. A trifle. What unique anecdote do you want remembered about your mother (aunt, godmother, grandmother, sister)?

A vignette—a lesson, superstition, some wisdom, recipes for life (or the stomach), witchcraft, poetry, letters, instructions, ancient feminine echoes, a family ritual, herbs for what ails, maybe something you take for granted that would delight me. It doesn’t need to be profound or lengthy, just an original tale of a page or two. Thank you, and have fun remembering…”

Tune in next time for Five Reasons to Give the Gift of Story. . . .

Simply email your questions to answers@thestorywoman.com. (Your question to us means you agree to our posting it on our blog – we need your name and where you’re from. Note: Your email address will not be posted without your permission, we respect your privacy.)

Your questions along with our answers to all appropriate questions will be posted on the blog as time permits.

We’d appreciate questions on non-fiction topics relating to:

• Writing non-fiction
• Memoir
• Short stories
• Bio-vignettes
• Inspiration
• How-to Write
• Catharsis
• Mother/daughter/son relationships
• Something clever from you

Everyone has so many questions about writing, or they have reservations about whether or not they can write. You do have what it takes to write. If you want to begin, I’ll help you when your send your question to me or you can start here.

My first Blog – the maiden voyage.  And, yes, I feel just like those of you who are writing your first bio-vignette by answering the question, “If you could tell just one small story capturing your mother’s character to keep her spirit alive, what would it be?”

And take my lead on this – I’ve gleaned from the wise webbers that a blog should  be written like you’re talking to a friend. Don’t get too wound up in writing the perfect sentence; it isn’t a novel, and neither is the true short story you’ll write about your mother. So please give yourself permission to write just like you’re telling someone the story.

Thanks for finding TellTale Souls in this vast arena of cyberspace. It’s my goal to give you interesting information and ideas to make your time with me exactly where you want to be, since you have more choices than the national debt – but we aren’t going there.

It’s a lot more fun Keeping Spirits Alive One Story at a Time. We’ll explore – could it be expose?  – relationships with our mothers or a significant mother figure. When you dig and you delve, making memories rise to the surface of your consciousness, it can be exhilarating, unnerving, cathartic, often a combination of everything. I promise you you’ll laugh and you’ll cry and you’ll be glad you made the journey.

We’ll also take a look at what other interesting folks are doing on the internet in some artistic form or another. From actor to author, designer to dramaturge, poet to painter, writer to weaver, I plan to interview many.

With a big smile on my face, I just told my husband that I’m writing my first blog. He said the “trick” to it is to write something every day. Well, I don’t think I can do that and keep my sanity, so I’m planning on a couple of times a week to blog. Who said, “The best laid plans of mice & men sometimes go awry,” anyway?