http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog Hundreds of Essays and Interviews to Help You Read and Write Memoirs Tue, 15 May 2012 12:09:55 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 2006-2007 jerrywaxler@yahoo.com (Jerry Waxler) jerrywaxler@yahoo.com (Jerry Waxler) Self-help 1440 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/LearnMemoirCoverFront-small.jpg http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog 144 144 Reading and writing memoirs. Record the Stories of Your Life, tips, how-to, memoir book reviews, by Jerry Waxler memoir, writers, self-help, book-reviews, essays Jerry Waxler Jerry Waxler jerrywaxler@yahoo.com no no http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/hendricks-interview-4/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/hendricks-interview-4/#comments Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:14:16 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=1135 Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/hendricks-interview-4/feed/ 0 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-character-arc/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-character-arc/#comments Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:21:36 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=1043 Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-character-arc/feed/ 0 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-genre/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-genre/#comments Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:13:43 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=587 Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-genre/feed/ 5 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/identity-moves-memoir/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/identity-moves-memoir/#comments Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:38:40 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=222 Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/identity-moves-memoir/feed/ 2 0:06:42 Character Arc creates memorable journey When two doctors go for a year long "retirement" are they retirees, doctors. Identity is a moving target in any memoir. identity, Storytelling Jerry Waxler no no http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/orion-memoir-midlife-crisis/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/orion-memoir-midlife-crisis/#comments Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:42:58 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=193 Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/orion-memoir-midlife-crisis/feed/ 1 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-writing-lessons-from-the-heart/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-writing-lessons-from-the-heart/#comments Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:43:55 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-writing-lessons-from-the-heart/ Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-writing-lessons-from-the-heart/feed/ 9 0:00:01 by Jerry Waxler (This blog is also available as an audio file. See the Podcast player control at the end of this post.) Perry Foster was an ordinary business man until he found himself on the wrong end of a cardiology exam. Now he bears a scar on hi[...] by Jerry Waxler (This blog is also available as an audio file. See the Podcast player control at the end of this post.) Perry Foster was an ordinary business man until he found himself on the wrong end of a cardiology exam. Now he bears a scar on his torso that looks like it was zipped shut, which makes him a member of the zipper club. When he chose to record his experience he was not drawing upon years of training as a writer. He simply wanted to tell his story and his memoir “Hands Upon My Heart: My Journey Through Heart Disease and Into Life” is the result. Whenever I read a memoir, I look for lessons. How did the author put it together? How did his words create the emotions as I was reading? I have found that new authors, in their passion to explain what happened, often provide lessons every bit as good as the ones I learn from the pros. Memoir like a novel One of the most basic lessons in this book is Foster’s knack of telling a story like a novel – that is, he lets me see events for myself. His descriptions are so quintessentially “show don’t tell” that reading the book is like attending a “show don’t tell” seminar. Take for example a stressful scene in a doctor’s office when Foster’s wife pulls out a bottle and takes two aspirin, showing the headache rather than telling it. And precisely because the example is so basic, its lesson is easy to learn. If he had written, “she had a headache,” he would be reporting a fact that was inside her head, not his. A slightly improvement would be dialog. If she had said “I have a headache” at least he would not be reading her mind. But now she becomes the one who is telling. When he shows her taking the two aspirin, readers can see the evidence for themselves. Foster also does a good job staying within a time frame. He immerses himself within each scene, providing sensations that let me lose myself in his world. Since the book starts around the time he learns his heart is failing, I know little about his history until he is sedated for a surgical procedure. In his drug altered state, he describes a picture perfect flashback from his childhood. This ploy supplies background about his family, and the flashback also provides pacing, letting me linger there with him while surgeons are poking at his body. His observations include his own thoughts, feelings, and body reactions. These internally directed observations take me inside his experience. “Does anyone ever wake during surgery?” he asks his surgeon. He notices the taste of perspiration dripping from his upper lip. After this frightening meeting he becomes furious with his wife for trying to relax while she was waiting. “You’re buying a romance novel,” he asked in a restrained voice. “How could she?” he thinks. Edgy characters make me turn pages From the beginning Perry Foster showed me his messy emotions. He was afraid for his heart, angry at the doctors, and edgy with his wife. His thoughts are often judgmental, and paranoid, and I think, “No wonder this guy’s heart is a wreck.” I also wonder how he could be so honest about these feelings. This is a big issue for me, because my instinct is to hide my imperfections. “Hands Upon my Heart” shows me that disclosing authentic feelings, even if edgy and flawed, creates human warmth so palpable I want to pick up the phone and ask him about his health. Perry Foster’s nervous tension serves another purpose. It increases dramatic tension. Consider Shakespeare’s characters Hamlet, and Ophelia, or Romeo, and Juliet. Their edginess creates suspense because you’re never sure what they’ll do next. Foster achieves the same effect. I kept turning the pages to see how he will juggle the pressure of his disturbing emotions. Will he grow? I love character development in a book. By the time I reach the end I’[...] How-to Jerry Waxler no no http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/fame-laughter-and-self-discovery/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/fame-laughter-and-self-discovery/#comments Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:45:44 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/fame-laughter-and-self-discovery/ Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/fame-laughter-and-self-discovery/feed/ 7 0:00:01 by Jerry Waxler (This blog is also available as an audio file. See the Podcast player control at the end of this post.) After the success of Toby Young’s first memoir, “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People” he received a call f[...] by Jerry Waxler (This blog is also available as an audio file. See the Podcast player control at the end of this post.) After the success of Toby Young’s first memoir, “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People” he received a call from a Hollywood producer who was impressed by Young’s knack for transforming a jerk into a lovable character. In a sense, Young was being called to Hollywood. Now all he had to do was write a screenplay, and his attempt to do so forms the basis for his second memoir “The Sound of No Hands Clapping.” Just as the title is a send up of a Zen Koan, Young’s second memoir is a sort of send up of itself. Did I really want to read a memoir about a writer trying to profit from his previous memoir? The tongue in cheek tone reminded me of the way Jerry Seinfeld’s television show was supposed to be “about nothing.” But unlike Seinfeld’s characters, who never grow or learn, Toby Young grows in all sorts of ways. “The Sound of No Hands Clapping” turns out to be more than light entertainment. It provides insights into life and some excellent lessons for memoir writers. For starters, consider the familiar problem expressed by many aspiring memoirists. “How do you tattle on someone without incurring a law suit?” Young provides one solution. Instead of naming the producer who hired him to write the script, supposedly “one of the most powerful men in Hollywood” Young calls him simply “Mr. Hollywood” and states that the facts are altered to hide this person’s identity. You might try a similar technique to avoid the wrath of someone you want to write about. When Young fears his wife’s pregnancy might derail his writing career, he discusses with her the wisdom of having a baby at this time in their lives. These are universal questions ordinary people ask every day. It’s a riot listening to him trying to convince her not to have the baby, and her flipping his logic upside down with the ease of an advanced judo master. By listening in on their discussion, I had a laugh, gained wonderful insights into both the male and female perspectives, and frankly feel wiser about the decision points of this issue than when I started. While Young tried to kick start his own career, his buddy Sean Langan was trodding a parallel path. Langan, now a successful documentary film director, also had recently married and had babies. As the two men approach their domestic responsibilities, I am entertained by a buddy tale while at the same time I’m learning how a young man thinks when deciding to settle down. Young provides more observations about the life of a writer through detailed conversations with another friend, a screenwriter and television producer Rob Long. These conversations with his mentor provide insider glimpses into “The Business,” in an entertaining portrayal, loaded with information for would be screenwriters. It’s typical of Young’s personal connection with his readers that the knowledge falls not from the sky but from a friend. Through the book, the author discusses his observations of three main themes — making it in the movie industry, how to harness celebrity culture to succeed as a writer, and the shift in mentality of growing from a footloose young man to a married father. He develops these topics with the care of an expert essayist, without ever interfering with the power of the story. In fact, I became so intrigued by his observations, I began looking forward to these excursions. The lesson for me is that a good writer can offer lovely compelling observations about life without interfering with the story. To learn how to write a screenplay, Young attended a workshop with story guru Robert McKee, author of a classic tome on writing, called simply “Story.” McKee says that by the end of a successful story the protagonist has psychologically [...] Jerry Waxler no no http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/example-of-character-arc-in-a-celebrity-memoir/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/example-of-character-arc-in-a-celebrity-memoir/#comments Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:24:16 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=13 Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/example-of-character-arc-in-a-celebrity-memoir/feed/ 0