How I Wrote a Memoir: Part I

In this blog series, I will explore my writing process from my first workshop to completed manuscript.

In 2007, seven years after completing seven years of college, I decided to take writing seriously. At thirty-four, I was a Southern California woman living in a small Georgia suburb north of Atlanta, in love with a man who’d soon give me a giant ring I would return before my thirty-fifth birthday to move home. When I believed I was in Georgia forever, feeling homesick, not writing, and longing for a creative community, I signed up for an online UCI Extension Creative Writing course.

Allison Klein, “Inspired Life” blog, The Washington Post
Estelle Erasmus, Adjunct Professor, New York University’s School of Professional Studies

Tips from A Washington Post Editor to Get You Published
NYU Center for Publishing and Applied Liberal Arts
Continuing Education Programs

Conversations from the Archive
Bread Loaf Lecture Series

Peter Ho Davies
The Art of Revision: The Last Word
Nine Revision Tips

Signal Fires, Dani Shapiro

Writing and Secrets: On Writing into What We Don’t Know

When I was a child, I read every Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary novel I could get my hands on. I rejoiced on days when the Scholastic Book Fair came to my elementary school. I read at the dinner table. I reorganized my bookshelves often, opting to submerge myself in words while other children played outside and perfected Atari games.

Conversations From the Archive
December 2015
Los Angeles, California

Adé: A Love Story, Rebecca Walker
I Love You and I’m Leaving You Anyway, Tracy McMillan

Conversations From the Archive
September 2015
Corona Del Mar, California

The Nakeds, Lisa Glatt
Orhan’s Inheritance, Aline Ohanesian
Remember Me Like This, Bret Anthony Johnston

Conversations from the Archive
April 2015
BinderCon Los Angeles

Excerpts:

Emily Rapp Black: In nonfiction, grief is the richest experience you have. Everyone experiences it differently. I wrote my book when my son was still living. After he died, I literally was out of my mind. I was trying to find meaning, not feelings, before he died. After, all I had were feelings.

Conversations from the Archive
April 2015
BinderCon Los Angeles

Mermaid: A Memoir of Resilience, Eileen Cronin
Excavation: A Memoir, Wendy Ortiz
Land of Enchantment, Leigh Stein
Quinn Heraty, Esq.

Conversations from the Archive
April 2015
BinderCon Los Angeles

Love and Basketball, The Secret Life of Bees, Beyond the Lights, Gina Prince-Bythewood
Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute

Conversations from the Archive
April 2015
BinderCon Los Angeles

While the Gods Were Sleeping, Elizabeth Enslin
Armor, Amour, Amy Pence
Veiled Intentions, Eileen Rendahl
Don’t Move: A Novella, Nikki Stern
Landfalls, Naomi Williams

Conversations from the Archive
March 2015
Long Beach, California

How to Cook a Moose, Kate Christensen
The Book of the Unknown Americans, Cristina Henriquez
The Clasp, Sloane Crosley
Prayers for the Stolen, Jennifer Clement
The Color Master, Aimee Bender

Conversations from the Archive
February 2015
Los Angeles, California

Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life, Dani Shapiro
Ongoingness: The End of a Diary, Sarah Manguso

Conversations from the Archive
June 2014
Webinar

Brooke Warner
Linda Joy Myers, PhD, MFT
writeyourmemoirinsixmonths.com

Conversations from the Archive
May 2014
Los Angeles, California

It’s Not You: 27 (Wrong) Reasons You’re Single, Sara Eckel
Disaster Preparedness, Heather Havrilesky

Conversations from the Archive
April 2014
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion, Meghan Daum
The Empathy Exams, Leslie Jamison
The Object Parade, Dinah Lenney
Trying to Be Cool: Growing Up in the 1950s, Leo Braudy
The Man Within My Head, Pico Iyer

Conversations from the Archive
April 2014
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Dan Smetanka – Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press
Bart Schneider – Kelly’s Cove Press
Deena Drewis – Nouvella
Peter Ginna – Bloomsbury Press
Ethan Nosowsky – Graywolf Press

Conversations from the Archive
October 2013
Pen on Fire Speaker Series with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Corona Del Mar, California

Still Writing: The Pleasures and Perils of a Creative Life, Dani Shapiro

Conversations from the Archive
August 2013
UCLA Writers Faire
Los Angeles, California

Michelle Meyering
Maxine Lapiduss
Colette Sartor
Norman Kolpas
Tom Fields-Meyer

Conversations from the Archive
August 2013
UCLA Writers Faire
Los Angeles, California

Samantha Dunn
Amy Friedman
Alison Singh Gee
Tom Fields-Meyer