TellTale Souls - The Story Woman
How to write memoir - Writing Mother Memoir - Keeping Spirits Alive
Some time ago, as tears I thought had dried dissolved into curve of smile, I sprinkled my mother's ashes in my garden under the apricot tree, From which we made amazing jam for many years to come. Touch of cinnamon, of nutmeg, not too sweet... One spring no buds appeared on that pleasing tree. It was old, it died—as creatures do—tears then on gnarled branches. A simple stump remains, marking. Nice to touch, sensing. My mother winks at me, sometimes, from apricot jam on buttered toast.
The following quote from Will Meecham, whose mother memoir I post a few days ago, is one powerful answer to the question, “What’s in it for you to write mother memoir.” “I want to emphasize how huge the impact of writing my mother-memoir turned out to be. Creating that piece provided me the confidence to start my blog, which in turn gave me a forum to work out some longstanding and serious emotional concerns. This soon prompted me to meditate more. As I meditated, the blog helped me make sense of my experiences, until I ultimately began entering improved states of consciousness. These eventually helped me break free of my chronic depression, and soon after I saw that my life's purpose could be to carry this healing paradigm to others. Before long, the idea of acupuncture occurred to me in the 'aha' sense: I knew it was the right idea the moment it came to me. Did the fact that I wrote about my mother really lead to this major healing and redirection of my life? I think
...And then there’s memoir. Is it wiggly? How honest is it? As you may know, memoir is the focus of my blog. Encouraging people to write short, true tales about their mothers or other folks significant in their lives is what The Story Woman blog is all about. Memoir becomes untenable when referred to strictly as nonfiction. It isn’t. Due to the storytelling aspect and the nature of memory, memoir combines elements of both fiction and nonfiction, although many people would have you believe their memoirs are nothing but the truth. Memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies of famous people are often fabricated to some extent due to ulterior motives and egotistical reasons. On the other hand, I believe the ordinary women and men, whom I have worked with for over a decade as they write bio-vignettes about people important to them, do tell their truths as openly and honestly as they can. I know this, because I’m often closely involved with them throughout their memory and writing
... Back to the blurry line between fiction and nonfiction. I enjoyed the comments I received from searchers for truth after posting the first part of this short three part series. The following are a few extracted comments that hit home: I received a Goggle alert announcing my death The reality check has bounced I think humanity has for the most part lost the ability to confront the truth and instead seek escapism in any form Without truth, we’re crossing swaying bridges with no railings Buyer beware has grown into listener beware Tawdry “reality” that surrounds us today becomes the worst sort of lie First of all, I love literary fiction and read it voraciously – more than I read literary nonfiction, actually. I’m wondering if fiction is perhaps one of the most honest forms of writing after all. Fiction writers don’t pretend to tell the truth, but I believe their writing is based on seeking and portraying the truth about human nature. Fiction, by
Oops, due to a busier than usual past couple of months that went by in a blur, I just noticed part 3 was never posted. To make my trilogy make more sense to you, I'll to post parts one, two, and three consecutively: Is fiction the 21st Century’s nonfiction? From many points of reference, it is. We are inundated with the gyrations and hubris of movie stars, politicians, government, sports figures, singers, authors, You Tubers, bites & bits from social networkers, and staged stunts on “reality” shows, most of which/who are anything but legitimate or authentic. This Stuff, lacking in veracity, is pitched to us as nonfiction, and it has moved so far over-the-top that it has become difficult to separate fiction from nonfiction, illusion from truth, and fabrication from fact. The media serves up the lies, air-brushed & siliconed lovelies, cover-ups, and pathetic excuses and insincere apologies for bad behavior, while a whorl of adoring fans and supporters suck up this
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