Tag: interview
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Interview with a Memoir Writer – Childhood with Traumatized Parents
Judy Mandel: In fact, I had been very successful in pushing all the memories down so far that it was like an excavation to unearth them. I can’t explain why I felt compelled to keep doing that, like picking a scab. You know there will be blood, but somehow you feel it will heal faster…
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Interview with Memoir Activist – Founder of National Association of Memoir Writers
As the leader of NAMW, you are in a sense the orchestra leader. But the analogy isn’t perfect. We are all out here writing on our own and only come together occasionally. How do you see yourself in relationship to this loose conglomeration of writers, teachers, and other participants? Help us understand the role you…
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Interview: On Publishing the Memoir Breaking the Code
When I do book events, there is definitely a good deal of teaching and encouraging others to write their own story. I’m passionate about that. We all think we’ll have more time to get our stories, or those of our loved ones, written down. But sadly, for some time runs out. My message is to…
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Turning Dad’s WWII Secrets Into a Memoir, Pt 3
I was also getting encouragement from my critique group. Some of the ladies were little girls during the WWII years and they were a good barometer for how important the information in the letters was. Like everything with this book, the structure developed naturally. Once I’d written maybe 30-pages, I knew it was reading like…
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Birth of a Memoir: Turning Her Father’s Secrets Into a Story
At this point, I wasn’t sure if this was a story I wanted to find a publisher for or if I wanted to simply write it and just have copies printed for my family. But I wasn’t thinking about that much. I just wanted to get it written down in the best form I could.
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Memoir Interview: Breaking into Her Father’s Secrets Pt 1
But once the memories came to the surface, there just wasn’t a way to turn back. Every time I wanted to stop, or my resolve was challenged, something would put me back on track again. Some little step forward would be taken, or a tiny beam of light would shine on a new area.
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Tim Elhajj about Writing and Publishing His Memoir
Most of the anecdotes in the book were ones that I tell in AA meetings or around the dinner table to entertain my kids. Telling a story doesn’t always work the same way as writing a story. You have to make certain adjustments for the page. The audience is potentially different and some things may…
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Memoir Interview: A Fresh, Personal Look at Twelve Steps
Dopefiend provides a fresh, authentic look at the influence of the Twelve Steps program, which has been written about in many other books. It’s a question that arises for many memoir writers: “How do I portray my own individual perspective on a topic that has already received wide coverage?”
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Memoir Interview: Shame, Addiction and Anonymity
I don’t think every story I write needs to be about my recovery or my addiction, but evaluating one’s life openly and honestly, without shame or fear, is the right path for me. It’s like the advice Tobias Wolff wrote to Mary Karr as she set out to write the Liar’s Club. “Don’t be afraid…
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Interview with Susan Weidener About Memoir Workshops Pt 4
The women find themselves writing about things that had “gathered cobwebs” over the years. Once they put pen to paper and write it, the power of that memory or that time in their lives to hurt and cause anguish is taken away. Afterwards, they tell me they feel at peace with it. I’m not a…
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