ALMOST EVERY DAY I get a question from a writer about how to describe something or someone. I work as a writing coach and memoir editor, and I teach many online memoir classes. Every time I'm asked … [Read more...] about How to Write Descriptions That Paint a Vivid Picture For Your Reader
How to Write From the Small Moments of Life
THERE ARE MANY over-used and under-explained phrases in writing instruction. We tell writers to "show, not tell." We tell them to "write what you know," and we tell them that they need to know how to … [Read more...] about How to Write From the Small Moments of Life
Family on its Way? Seven Successful Secrets for Capturing them in Memoir
IT ARRIVES FOUR TIMES EACH YEAR. You think I mean the seasons changing, don't you? Nope. Not that. Or, more to the point, all that plus this one other altogether totemic quarterly moment that happens … [Read more...] about Family on its Way? Seven Successful Secrets for Capturing them in Memoir
Memoir Writing: The Op-ed
SOMETIMES I FORGET to explain things. Like years ago, when a friend was visiting me from Switzerland. I did the all-America thing and took him to his first baseball game. A sportswriter's daughter, I … [Read more...] about Memoir Writing: The Op-ed
Writing About Yourself and Your Dirty Laundry
LAST NIGHT I WENT INTO BATTLE fully armed. I felt most comfortable gearing up because I was eating alone. Suiting up in front of the family invites both ridicule as well as speculation. Solo, I can … [Read more...] about Writing About Yourself and Your Dirty Laundry
Writing Lessons: Writing Memoir in The Present Tense
WRITING MEMOIR IN PRESENT TENSE suits grief in ways that the past tense simply cannot provide. Think about it for a moment and you may agree. Or better yet, read Amy Biancolli on writing her new book, … [Read more...] about Writing Lessons: Writing Memoir in The Present Tense