Some people like to workshop their stories in formal classes, others do not. I personally hate it, but I do it anyway. Well, I don't hate it, but find it challenging. I’ve just returned from a writing excursion which took me far from my own country and way out of my comfort zone. At night, … Continue reading To Workshop or Not
Tag: FATHERS
Reading for Writers or for One Reader
When I first began teaching, my father told me that if I affected the life of just one child then it was worth it. That's what success was to him. He rarely gave advice. I was surprised he even knew what I was doing, so I nodded in agreement. It turned out that I needed … Continue reading Reading for Writers or for One Reader
Reading your Work – Aloud
I am preparing for a late afternoon soiree. In my own home. The household might have questions, I may feel nervous about giving a public reading, invited guests might feel 'iffy' about what is required of them. Who knows. But, nevertheless, I shall proceed. The reason? I want to develop certain memoir pieces to the … Continue reading Reading your Work – Aloud
What is a Favourite Story – of Yours?
The first of mine that comes to mind is ‘The Turf Club’. I had heard the story of my father drinking at a local pub since I was a girl But I wasn’t present at the event, so I had to rely on my imagination to structure it. I wrote it at Borgo San Fedele … Continue reading What is a Favourite Story – of Yours?
The Intimacy of Memoir
Author Lee Kofman says: ‘Memoirists write directly about what matters to them, whereas fiction writers may sublimate their experiences and passions.’ The first half is certainly true: memoirists are concerned with what matters to them. Whole books are devoted to the second part of Lee's hypothesis. But let’s look at memoir for a moment. Lately … Continue reading The Intimacy of Memoir
Putting the Family in Memoir
Flannery O’Connor writes, ‘ … anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days.’ If you, like me, write about your family – unavoidable in memoir - how do you do that without hurt? One of my brothers, upon hearing that I was writing about … Continue reading Putting the Family in Memoir
The Inciting Incident
What is the inciting incident that sparks a memoir? This question might apply to fiction writers too. It is any turning point in a life. For memoirists, teacher Kaylie Jones says, it's the moment 'the rock came through the window’; the day one's life went ‘careening out of control’. The inciting incident is a great … Continue reading The Inciting Incident
The Right to Write
In a writing workshop, teacher Kaylie Jones encouraged us to give ourselves permission to write. Busting myths, she said, is what the writer must do. The right to write might be more pertinent to the memoirist than it is to the fiction writer, as for us there is less distance between ourselves and the story. … Continue reading The Right to Write
The Eye watching the ‘I’
Among other skills, US teacher Kaylie Jones runs memoir-writing workshops. At the first one I attended, she explained that the good memoirist uses the omniscient Eye to watch over the more personal ‘I’ of the narrator. In seconds flat, she was at the whiteboard drawing an eye in the sky that observed and informed the stick … Continue reading The Eye watching the ‘I’
Finding that Mentor
It’s said that writing can’t be taught. But why not? Tobias Wolff taught George Saunders at Syracuse University, and look where that got George. All the way to the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2017. Saunders speaks admiringly of Tobias, who once warned him: “Don’t lose the magic.” Early in his career, George’s fiction … Continue reading Finding that Mentor
WRITINGS AND MUSINGS OF MARGARET MCCAFFREY 