Is That A Glue Gun in Your Pocket or Are You Just Really Not Glad to See Me?
DROP THE GLUE GUN. Back away from the scrapbook. That’s right. Slowly. If you were scrapbooking, you were defaulting to the simplest, most anemic of ways to remember the moments of your life. “Nuh-uh-uh” as we say in my house. No way. Not any more. What’s that you say? Not scrapbooking there, mister? You? You’re the one who is merely telling your tales again at the dinner table, and at work, when you swore that this year you would write them down? No better than a glue-gunner, you’re on notice, as well. C’mon folks: We promised to do better this year. Remember?
You do remember, don’t you?
Let me remind you how to do this.
Back in the first week of the new year we made some changes. In fact, we made resolutions. Do you remember what they are? No? Well, I do. Here they are.
So unplug that glue gun, stop talking and get back to writing. It’s March first. You’ve got work to do.
So what do you think of Pinterest for authors? Just a glorified eScrapbook?
Oh yes. Pretty. Immediate. Something to show your friends after a mere first draft. All things writing was never meant to be.
So a picture is only worth a thousand words when you frame it and take the time to find the precise thousand words that fit in that well-crafted frame?
Pictures are great provocation for memoir, absolutely. Here’s a post I wrote on that, though this also refers to the fact that memoir writers should refer to scrapbooks and yearbooks, as well as phonebooks and all other manners of books, online and otherwise, when they write memoir, since memoir requires both research and fact checking.
Marion, I AM writing my stories of my life in the personnae of my critterlyfolk in my ongoing narrative adultfairytale poetry series, including as part of my Lenten Journey, at http://granbee.wordpress.com Please let everyone know that our life stories do not always have to be written as nonfiction or in the first person speaking voice!
I AM glad to see you, and it wasn’t a glue gun I had in hand. Question: You say in your book– you, are not what your story is about– The story is about….. and You are the illustration. Vivian Gornick says the situation illumines the self in memoir. I”m mulling these two views to see if you are saying the same or different?
HI, Marcia. So glad you weren’t glue-gunning. Whew. What a lovely question. I think we’re saying the same thing, she a bit more elegantly, perhaps. Seems so to me. Please come back for more real soon.