MANY TIMES, STUDENTS in my classes teach me more than I teach them. Such is the case with writer Dan New. In Dan’s case, what I learned was the power of one simple edit, when we agreed as a class what … [Read more...] about Writing Memoir: A Memorial Day Personal Essay
Writing Lessons: On Characterization, With Leanne Shirtliffe
In a new series called Writing Lessons, my first guest teacher is Leanne Shirtliffe, who tackles the topic of characterization. Her book, Don’t Lick The Minivan and Other Things I Never Thought I’d … [Read more...] about Writing Lessons: On Characterization, With Leanne Shirtliffe
Need a Tip on How to Write Memoir? It’s This: Read and Respond
WHILE RECENTLY GIVING A KEYNOTE ADDRESS on the power of memoir, I was introduced to the crowd by a scholar who invited me to repeat something I had forgotten I’d said last time I spoke to his … [Read more...] about Need a Tip on How to Write Memoir? It’s This: Read and Respond
What Makes Bad Memoir? Jimmy Connors Provides a Willing Example
I’VE NEVER LIKED JIMMY CONNORS, considering him among the triumvirate of people who temporarily turned tennis into a game played by bad-tempered men in (very) short pants. And since I spent a lot of … [Read more...] about What Makes Bad Memoir? Jimmy Connors Provides a Willing Example
How to Write Memoir: The Week in Review
MEMOIR WRITERS THINK we've got it made. That is, until we sit down to write, and all those stories seem to scatter away from our fingertips. Why does this happen? Who knows? But how about we fix it? … [Read more...] about How to Write Memoir: The Week in Review
A Guide to Great Memoir Adaptation
MEMOIR ADAPTATION IS TRICKY, indeed, the assignment being nothing less than inhabiting someone else’s life and getting it right. Sometimes they are spot-on perfect, of course. Such is the case with … [Read more...] about A Guide to Great Memoir Adaptation
