http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog 200 Essays and Interviews to Help You Read and Write Memoirs Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:01:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 2006-2007 jerrywaxler@yahoo.com (Jerry Waxler) jerrywaxler@yahoo.com (Jerry Waxler) Self-help 1440 memoir, writers, self-help, book-reviews, essays Reading and writing memoirs. Record the Stories of Your Life, tips, how-to, memoir book reviews, by Jerry Waxler Jerry Waxler Jerry Waxler jerrywaxler@yahoo.com No no http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/LearnMemoirCoverFront-small.jpg http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog 144 144 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/philadelphia-courage/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/philadelphia-courage/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:17:52 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=641 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/philadelphia-courage/feed/ 1 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-sexual-abuse/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-sexual-abuse/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:18:34 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=564 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-sexual-abuse/feed/ 3 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/senior-adult-storyteller/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/senior-adult-storyteller/#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:10:10 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=466 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/senior-adult-storyteller/feed/ 8 7:08 by Jerry Waxler When I see wrinkles, around my own eyes or someone else's, I think of all the experiences hidden behind them, decades of life ... by Jerry Waxler When I see wrinkles, around my own eyes or someone else's, I think of all the experiences hidden behind them, decades of life now strewn throughout the vast tundra of the mind. If only I could know those memories, they might teach me important lessons and they certainly would bring deeper appreciation for the journey. What had those eyes seen? But memories are unknowable in their scattered and disorganized state, and until recently, I was one of the multitudes who had no inkling of how to convert a lifetime of memories into a story. Now, as I scan my life, I think I see the reason. During my childhood, every Wednesday my dad came home from his drugstore to join us for dinner. Using the table as a pulpit, Dad's voice swelled with excitement. "This guy walked in and showed me a half empty tube of ointment. He said it wasn't working." Then Dad laughed. "He wanted to return it. Can you believe it?" He slapped the table. My mother, sister, and I ate quietly, and when Dad paused we said "Umm," giving him the desired reassurance that it was the other guy who was crazy. Then he plowed on to another story and another. I barely thought about those dinners for most of my life. But now that I'm writing a memoir, I replay the scenes, and learn about my family and myself. If Dad had been a real storyteller, he would have been attentive to his audience's reaction, providing us with enough information to enter the scene. As a storyteller Dad would have been tuning into our response, watching our body language, and steering his story in a way that would capture and move our imagination. But Dad's anecdotes lacked detail. And even more important, he dominated the room with his feelings, rather than giving us the psychic space to get in touch with our own. The narratives had a few elements of storytelling, but not enough to be entertaining. Of course, I can't just blame Dad. Storytelling is not taken very seriously in our culture, and I doubt he was taught much about it. I know I wasn't. After 18 years of education, I can't remember a single course about how to shape a story of myself. As a result, whenever I tried to tell about my experiences, memories tumbled and tangled and I grew accustomed to evading the subject altogether. In my forties, I began to wish I had grown up learning this skill. At first, it was just a sadness, a gripe. I complained to the Fates, "Why didn't I learn?" And then, when no good answer followed, I shrugged, unable to see a path beyond my limited ability. An adult can learn to tell stories Finally, after years of whining about not being a born story teller, I began to read books about it. For example, I read Robert McKee's book called "Story," and Chris Vogler's book, "The Writer's Journey." Gradually I gained confidence that storytelling can be learned, and like Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, I was prepared to demand it as my inalienable right. But I found a new problem. Trying to improve my ability to construct a story made me feel vulnerable. What if my initial attempts were laughable, amateurish, and made me look stupid? The thought of being criticized actually frightened me. Fortunately, I had already experienced and conquered a similar fear. A few years earlier, I wanted to speak in public. My initial attempts indeed made me feel stupid, moronic, and incompetent. I kept pushing. I joined Toastmasters International, attended their meetings and followed their system. After a couple of years, I was no longer afraid, and could speak in front of an audience. I wanted to repeat this learning process, finding groups to help me overcome my fear of writing. Writing groups are harder to find than Toastmasters was, but gradually, through persistent networking and internet research, I located and joined a variety of writing groups... Some at my local library... some listed on the internet... Some monthly meetings and some annual conferences. The more I connected with ot Aging,,Courage,to,Write,,Family Jerry Waxler no No http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-author-talks-about-writing-sharing-and-healing/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-author-talks-about-writing-sharing-and-healing/#comments Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:58:27 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-author-talks-about-writing-sharing-and-healing/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-author-talks-about-writing-sharing-and-healing/feed/ 0 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/unbearable-courage-of-living/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/unbearable-courage-of-living/#comments Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:05:11 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/unbearable-courage-of-living/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/unbearable-courage-of-living/feed/ 1 00:01:01 By Jerry Waxler To become more knowledgeable about living, I try to find out as much as I can about dying. This is easy information to ... How one memoir author takes us an ordinary journey with extraordinary courage. Book,Review,,Trauma Jerry Waxler no No