Write What You Know - part 2

The novelist and short story writer who first said, "write what you know" was Sarah Orne Jewett. She had reumatoid arthritis and part of her therapy was to go on long walks. During these walks, she imagined the stories she would write. It's curious to me that the person who said to write about what you know wasn't a memoirist or a biographer, but a novelist.

I've written many books. All but one sit in the depths of my hard drive waiting to see the light of day. So, are they all about what I "know"? No, they are not. One is about a blind man whose life became so interesting to me, and for whom so much was not know, that I created a life around him, just so I could commit it to my memory. One is a children's chapter book about children who embark on an adventure together, to escape the fate of being split up in foster homes when their mother is gone. I didn't know any of these stories before I began to write them. I know them now. So, I'd say, "Write what you want to know" would be more accurate for me.

I began my memoir, Breaking the Code, without even knowing that is what I was doing. I was writing what my father told me. I was writing questions and queries. I was writing answers too. I knew nothing of what my father had done during the war. But something drove me to WANT to know more. That is what kept me moving forward. After several years, I finally knew what I was writing. If I had sat back and wrote what I knew, my world would have stayed very small, but in allowing myself to wonder and question, I came to know something far more than I could have ever imagined - my father.

What an adventure this has been. What do you want to know?

Write What You Know - part 1

If you've been writing for more than about three seconds, you have heard it said, "Write what you know." It was said by writer, Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909). She was a novelist and short story writer. The quote has been said and quoted so much that it's become cliche'. When I first heard it, I thought it was great. As a memoirist and lover of true stories, it fits perfectly into my beliefs in story telling.

But the problem with cliche's is that they give us permission to turn our brain off. We use the quote without thinking. We write it, we live it, we believe it...without giving it another thought.

Somehow, my brain got switched back on the last time I read this quote. And here's the deal. While it's true that anyone who writes a memoir IS writing what they know, it's also true that as we write, we delve deeper into that which we know. And we learn that we didn't know it at all. Or at least that's the case with me. If we knew it all when we began our memoir, it would read like an encyclopedia, or the more modern, Wikipedia. Boring, right?

So, what do you think, my fine writerly friends? Do you, "write what you know"?

Mini Memoir Monday: The Photo That Got Away

photo: Sri Lankan house spider. Birthdays, Christmas, the first day of school, vacations at the beach; most of us have photos of these special events. For times like these, we pack our camera in the diaper bag, purse, suitcase or act like a tourist and hang it around our neck. But what about those times that we didn't have a camera. We are creatures of habit and sometimes that is not a good thing. It's the ordinary times that we tend not to take photos of. Here are a few examples from my own life;

*Watching Lawrence Welk with my grandparents
*Baton twirling lessons
*The times my grandma tried to teach me to paint
*Walking my kids to school
*Trips to see my sister in Seattle
*The kids riding their bikes in front of our house
*Great adventures in our neighborhood with my best friend

The wonderful thing about memories is that they just sit there, waiting to be tickled so they can share their story. So even if you didn't take photographs of every single moment in your life (and who does?), you can create a picture with your words. In fact, I would venture to say that the picture you paint with words will be even more vivid than a photo taken in the best light.

Assignment: Over the next day or so, jot down things you wish you had photos of. Think of your childhood all the way up to present day. When you've got a list of ten or so, pick one to write about. Give your mini-memoir a beginning, middle, and end. Who was there? What were they doing? How did it feel? Describe the setting as you would to someone who hasn't been there. Use all of your senses to create the feel of the photo in your imagination, then write it on the page.

Care to share? I'd love to hear about it!

Until next time... Write Now - Because it's Later than you Think

Mini-Memoir Monday:Everything AND the Kitchen Sink

As we get further and further from our childhood, we tend to think that we can't really remember much about it. That is so, not true! I think we've all had the experience of smelling something or seeing something at a yard sale or antique store and suddenly a memory floods us.

Assignment #1: Think about a kitchen sink in your childhood - then look around you at the kitchen around it. It could be in the first house you remember as a child, or the one you kissed your first boyfriend in as a teenager. It may be from the home you grew up in or it may be a relatives house, or a best friend's house. What is the first kitchen that entered your mind? Was it your grandmothers; the one with the garden right outside the back door? Was it your cousins - where they always a pitcher of grape Koolaid in the avocado-colored green fridge.

Begin at the kitchen sink; what color is it? Is it smooth or cracked in places? What do the faucets look like? What's in the sink? Now, expand your vision. What does the rest of the kitchen look like? What did it feel like? Where did you sit? Who is standing at the stove? Who is standing in the doorway? Are there windows? What do you see outside? Is there a centerpiece on the table? What does the floor feel like. Are the counters clean and smooth? What sits on the counter? Who cleans this kitchen? Who never cleans it? What smells congregate in this kitchen? Besides cooking and eating, what else is done in this kitchen? Now add yourself to that kitchen. What do you feel there? Does it evoke a memory?

Now, just start writing. Begin with the strongest memory you have. It may be a physical aspect of the kitchen, or it may be something that happened in that kitchen. It may be something that took place on a regular basis or it may be something very specific. There is no wrong way to write your memories. Just write them down.

Congratulations! You've just written your first mini-memoir. I'd be thrilled to have you post it here! Whatever you do with it, don't keep it to yourself. Read it to somebody. Reminisce with someone. Put a date on it and promise me you'll never throw it away, no matter how silly you may think it sounds later. And remember - all assignments can be done in interview fashion with your loved ones. Adapt and make it your own.

See you next Monday with another Mini-Memoir Monday. But in the meantime, I can't wait to hear about the kitchen of your childhood!