Did you know there’s a genre called “Dog Memoirs”? I didn’t know that either until I was halfway through writing one and realized my book was part of a fast-growing set of specialized memoirs! A dog memoir is, as its title suggests, a story about a dog’s life. But, written by humans, a dog memoir […]

It was great to see so many of you at the recent workshop: Writing Memoir: Getting Started The publicity for this workshop was centered on the concept of “priming the pump” – getting ideas for writing. This workshop was sponsored by the Pierce County Library System (PCLS) and presented via Zoom. In my introductory remarks, […]

The Moth Radio Hour is an inspiring radio program featuring personal stories. It can be found on many NPR stations. As a nonprofit, The Moth aims “to promote the art and craft of storytelling and to honor and celebrate the diversity and commonality of human experience.” We memoir writers can learn much from The Moth […]

These are words we hear a lot these days as we all struggle to make sense of a chaotic and divided world. Personally, I’ve found writing to be an anchor. This began when I was 13 and began keeping a diary – actually writing to an imaginary friend named Ken. I could pour out my […]

November 12, 2020 by Joan Tornow I think it’s safe to say that all of us have been impacted by Covid-19. In the United States, it was March, 2020, when the pandemic began to take center stage in this country.  Shelter-in-place mandates began in California and soon were implemented in other states. The wearing of […]

A great way to energize yourself to write memoir is to spend time reading memoirs! A well-written memoir is bound to inspire you to write your own! And, a well-written memoir indirectly gives you strategies and techniques to use in writing your own story. I recently came across the beautifully-written memoir, Educated: A Memoir by […]

So many memoirs don’t make it to the page because people are obsessed with perfection instead of progress. It’s not important to write the perfect word, the perfect sentence, the perfect paragraph. Just write! You can pick out your favorite parts and/or polish up your draft later. Those of us who write on a regular […]

Many First Ladies of the United States have written memoirs, but I doubt if any are as elegantly written as Becoming by Michelle Obama. I encourage aspiring memoirists to read this memoir. Not only is Ms. Obama’s life story inspiring, but her writing style is also exemplary. It provides many examples of how to render […]

Last week I was visiting my grandson’s elementary school. I’m part of a program there in which parent volunteers read selected books to each class.  These children’s books feature stories that show the importance of kindness and the avoidance of bullying. Teachers and volunteers develop these concepts further by talking, throughout the school year, about […]

Can you remember your first day of kindergarten?  First grade? Seventh grade?  Chances are that you can’t, but you can reconstruct a scene that “rings true” to what your life was like at that time.  Here’s an example from my own life (writing about seventh grade): “Today was going to be the first day of […]

Photos of people at work or play are redolent with emotions and artifacts of the past. Candid shots include everyday surroundings — scenes and objects that elicit memories. A kitchen shot may include, for example, not only the expression on your aunt’s face, but the clock that fascinated you as a child — the one […]

Many writers, at some time, will devote a paragraph or more to an idyllic season of their childhood, often summer. In her memoir, A Backward Glance, Edith Wharton alludes to an afternoon she spent with fellow novelist, Henry James. They were visiting the ruins of Bodiam in England, and observing a scene that included an […]

Poignant moments are abundant in our lives, and writing gives us a way to preserve them. Often we rely on photographs to preserve such moments, but most of the time we do not have a camera on hand when such moments occur. After all, they almost by definition occur by surprise, and it is often […]

January is a time for resolutions and fresh starts. Yet, I also find that some writers lose a bit of energy at this time of year. The holidays take their toll on us.  Plus, let’s face it:  It’s hard to get up early and write when the skies are still dark, the floors are cold, […]

I’ve learned some helpful tips from Martha Stewart. For example, I learned that I don’t need to go out and buy fall and winter foliage for my Thanksgiving and Christmas table centerpieces.  Instead, I can just go in my backyard and pick out a few ferns, some small branches, and maybe a spray or two […]

Holiday memories can bring a special joy to the writer and the reader.   Often we take comfort in common traditions while at the same time appreciating how each person’s memories are unique.   Memoirs such as Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales come in the form of a composite, capturing highlights of Christmases (in Wales) […]

One powerful way to elicit memories is to sketch a simple map of a home or neighborhood you once lived in. This seems to access memories stored in the right brain. So, for example, you could sketch a floor plan of a childhood home, or a simple map of your immediate neighborhood. If you spent […]

As children, we experienced the end of summer along with the excitement of returning to school. In most cases, we had a mix of emotions … joyful anticipation of seeing our friends, but also a bit of anxiety about the work, and perhaps some sadness about returning to confinement! This month, the challenge is to […]

Almost everyone has memories about being on a porch … either a front porch or a back porch.  In earlier times, front porches were more common than they are now.  And they often served to unite families with their communities.   As Tyrone Beason put it in a recent article in Pacific NW, “The front porch […]

Do you find amusing anecdotes in everyday life?    I’ll bet you do!  These are the little stories that we share, chuckling, with others.  Let’s face it:  Life often presents us with the unexpected, and we can often turn these unexpected events into little essays or slices of life.  The trick is just to be open […]

Is Writing Hard? I heard an interesting quote this week: “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” — Thomas Mann The irony of that statement made me smile. On the other end of the spectrum is this quote: “Writing should feel like a pair of loose […]

When you view writing as a craft, you become increasingly aware of the tools you can use to practice your craft. Similes and metaphors are embedded in the way humans think. You may remember from school that similes are those comparisons that begin with the words like or as if, whereas metaphors express comparisons indirectly. […]

So many memoirs don’t make it to the page because people are obsessed with perfection instead of progress. It’s not important to write the perfect word, the perfect sentence, the perfect paragraph. Just write! You can pick out your favorite parts and/or polish up your draft later. Those of us who write on a regular […]

We draw inspiration from our lives and also from our reading! In particular, as memoir writers, we can draw inspiration from reading memoirs written by others. This month, I’d like to feature memoir writer Michael Perry. He’s written several excellent memoirs (which I’ll list later), but this month I’d like to focus on his book, […]

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, I got to spend a couple of weeks in Mexico, sitting in the sunshine and reading! A highlight of this time was reading Edie Clark’s most recent book, As Simple as That. This book consists of the collected essays of this prolific writer. Most of these essays were published […]

Many of the world’s religions have special holidays near the time of the winter solstice. When the days are short, and darkness seems to close in around us, we turn to sources of light … both actual and symbolic. This month, I’d like to share with you a piece I wrote 15 years ago. At […]

At the end of this month, I will present a workshop called “Thanksgiving & Holiday Memories: A Memoir Workshop.” You can read about it at the link, above, to “Workshops & Classes.” And, if you’re near Milton, Washington, why not register and join us? Workshops near the holidays are probably my favorites. There is something […]

One exercise I often do at workshops consists of having participants reflect on what the breakfast scene might have looked like on the morning of their first day of school. Few people can actually remember that morning! But, they can reconstruct what it ‘might’ have looked and felt like. And even what it sounded and […]