Getting Inspired to Write Memoir

GETTING INSPIRED TO WRITE memoir is easier for some than for others. My job is to make is easy for all, and I try to do this by providing provocative content on my website, through my own writing, and in all of my classes. And then every once in a while I need some myself, and when I do, I turn to the very best sources in the world.

As I have said, I begin each day reading 30 minutes of The Paris Review interviews with writers. At that rate, I will never run out of copy, since the Paris Review has been running these interviews for more than 60 years. Yeah, I’m good. And so are you, since the interviews are free online.

In other times of need I have turned to the age-old resource of simply opening a book. In need of a jolt I mostly plug into some William Maxwell, Truman Capote or Emily Dickinson. Surely you’ve got your own tried and true writers to whom you can always turn. Those are mine.

And then there is the wonder of television, which is where I ran into Stephen Sondheim the other night, in an HBO documentary entitled Six by Sondheim. Looking for inspiration? Look no further than this.