Writing Memoir. News You Can Use: January 9, 2012

NEWS YOU CAN USE. Maybe you saw these stories. Maybe you missed them, but these are among the pieces I’ve read recently that might elicit some form of short memoir – an op-ed, or personal essay – from you. Once or twice a week I’ll bring you news pieces I find provocative.

Here are some that get me going:

• A Great Gatsby movie remake? Really? Did you see the last one?
• Music may have charms to soothe a savage breast, but does it ease pain?
• A Kennedy update. The first of the fourth generation to run
• Our furriest Oscar contenders. Get out that red carpet stain remover
• The first openly gay contestant in a beauty pageant’s 60-year history
• Aha! I thought I was seeing double twice as much
• To Tweet or not to Tweet. That is the question

Surely you have something to say using one of these as your news peg.

Looking for inspiration or guidance on how to write a personal essay? Look at my categories for NPR essays, parenting essays, and several other topics. All of the pieces there have been published, or have aired on the radio. If those don’t work, see the interactive calendar for more inspiration. And write on.