I’ve never been the kind of journalist that can bang out a lead. Sometimes it’s easy to crank out the first paragraph, but more often than not I write the rest of the story and return to the lead afterward, crafting it right on deadline. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that I feel challenged […]
If you read this blog regularly, you know I don’t often simply link to an article or blog post. I believe in creating new content. (Or, in the case of Writers’ Roundup, giving you many links to choose from.) But this Los Angeles Times piece by Dani Shapiro about the making of a memoir was […]
Part of my goal on this blog is to foster conversation between writers, create a community of mutual support. Your thoughts, ideas and advice matter to me — and today we’re getting all three from Ami Spencer, a freelance writer who blogs at Write Out Loud. Ami, I turn it over to you. When Alexis […]
Writers of memoir, unite! Let’s chat on Twitter about some of the specific challenges to writing memoir. When: Wednesday, July 8, an hour-long chat starting at 8 p.m. EST. If there’s enough interest, we’ll consider making this weekly or bi-weekly. UPDATE: Now every other Wednesday. Where: #memoirchat How: If you want to participate but aren’t […]
Little by little, my travel memoir is coming together. I’ve got a big (self-imposed) deadline coming up: I’m trying to finish the first 2/3 of the book — that’s 10 chapters — by Aug. 1. As I connect with more writers of memoir on Twitter, I’m thinking of organizing a #memoirchat. Let me know if […]
I’ll try anything to convince myself that even though I’m writing alone in my office, I’m not really alone. That’s why I love connecting with other writers online, particularly those who are working on memoirs. “Meeting” Rachel Held Evans, whose spiritual memoir will be released in early 2010, was particularly exciting because like me, she […]
Lots of little bits of progress this week. My base daily goal is 1,000 new words on the manuscript (“new” words because in addition to that I often revise already-written scenes), and I’m keeping track of those goals via #writegoal on Twitter. If I tweet it, I will meet it! A handful of cool links […]
Memoir includes elements of both nonfiction and fiction, as I’ve discussed before on this blog. While literary agent Miss Snark calls it a pesky category buster, until today I was ready to call it the forgotten genre. Although literary agents seem eager to represent memoir, most don’t specifically address the genre or its submission guidelines […]
I hate word counts. The numbers mean nothing to me — How much is 10,000 words, anyway? It’s like describing the cost of dinner in Japanese yen, a currency I don’t understand. Word count is so useless to this newspaper journalist that when a magazine editor assigns one to my story, I immediately translate it […]
Happy Friday! This week, amidst family obligations and wrapping up my coaching job, I managed to write a slew of pages, meet with an ever-so-helpful critique group and pick up a few freelancing gigs. Along the way, I collected links for every step of the writing and publishing process: * Before writing your book, follow […]