WHO ME?

WRITING MEMOIRS

           Why I want to write my memoirs?  The most obvious is the fact not only do I like to write, I am compelled to write and over the years have learned that my strengths are NOT in fiction writing, and although I can occasionally write a short story, essays, personal journaling, poetry are more to my liking. And now I have discovered memoir writing. A big difference here, too, is that I no longer care about the impressing the world at large. I am doing this for myself and for my family.

         My main inspiration is to leave a legacy for my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. My grandfather and my father inspired me, as each of them has written about their own lives as their families homesteaded and grew up in the Palouse Country of Eastern Washington. My father also recounts his experiences in WWII in which he landed on the beaches of France. I appreciate the value of these stories and I have the desire to write memoirs of my own; to share a part of myself with the people I love the most.

         One of the first things I had to get firmly in my head was the DIFFERENCE between an autobiography, a journal, and a memoir. An autobiography is a broader description of one's life and more linear. For example, where you were born, when you got married, etc. A journal tends to be records of thoughts, daily growth, and reflections. A memoir, as I understand it, captures the "slice of life" moments in our lives; the events that change us.

        Three resources are I use are Shimmering Images by Lisa Dale Norton , The Memoir  Project by Marion Roach Smith and MEMOIRS OF THE SOUL  By Nan Phifer.

Wish me luck and stay tuned! Comments and reflections are welcome.