I had the rare and exciting opportunity last Sunday to hear powerful writing tips from Jason Roberts, author of A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History's Greatest Traveler. He wasn’t there to sell books, although we coaxed him into staying around afterwards so we could purchase A Sense of the World from Book Passage and get his autograph. We have Tanya Egan Gibson, talented writer, author, and program chair for California Writers Club-Marin, to thank for coaxing him out of hiding, where he’s immersed in his next book. While deeply serious about the craft of writing creative narrative for fiction and nonfiction, I’d have to say Roberts is an entertainer in disguise. His compelling tips, “From Silk Thread to Steel Cable,” were comprised of seven points – well, as he went along, he added another, so now there were eight – points he said he wished he’d learned before he discovered them for himself throughout years of writing. I’m sure he has a few more up
Give the Gift of Story
The following is a recent reveiw of my easy-to-follow "how-to" guide to writing memoir that I'd like to share with you, especially for those who would enjoy learning the art of Tapping Memory to Write Memoir. "Lynn, what a wonderful GIFT you're giving writers! I loved your book, and your workshops are terrific! Lynn Cook Henriksen's Give the Gift of Story: TellTale Souls' Essential Guide to Tap Memory & Write Memoir in Five Acts provides a fresh approach to crafting engaging memoirs about significant people in our lives. Writers of any caliber will find this gem of a book useful. Practical advice abounds as Henriksen shows you how to "Think and plan before you write," when to employ literary devices, and innovative scene-building techniques. Then she goes deeper with the clarity that not all memories are smooth sailing, "When we stir memories, we will find some lumps . . . let's examine them . . . as we continue on our journeys." Enticing story examples and a
Is Your Mother Invisible?
INVISIBLE MOTHER may have been all over the internet, as most everything is. But when my sister sent this to me, it was as my first-time reading, and she asked me to post the article on my blog, so I will – I am. As you’re reading Invisible Mother, think about your mother, as well as yourself. Was she invisible – is she still? Or do you see her as individual? Write a mother-memoir that captures her character and spirit to let her know you “see” her. “It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously, not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can
Meta Memoir
I figured what could be better than to start the new year with a guest blog by my great friend and brilliant author, Tanya Egan Gibson. Thank you, Tanya, for helping make 2010 a very interesting year to look forward to. My advice - read my review - then read her book. On Meta-Memoir Halfway into writing an essay about your mother’s carefully crafted thank-you notes--the handwritten and heartfelt kind that seem to have gone the way of the mastodon--you find yourself stuck. Perhaps you're worrying that nobody else in the world could possibly care about this story, or that you won't be able to properly convey the nuances of your mother's motivations. Or perhaps you're finding yourself revealing more emotion or truth than you're really comfortable with--you actually resented the time she took writing those notes when she could have been helping you with your homework/Home Ec project/boy problems. As you ruminate about how difficult it is to tell this story, a thought
Recent Comments