Words to Write by

Readers seek out memoirs because they want true stories. But the truth, according to Judith Barrington in her book Writing the Memoir, is more than using Google to fact check. There are also emotional truths, which are harder than factual truths due of our imperfect memories, because they might offend our friends, families and communities, and because they can be painful, both to write, and to read. All of these ideas made for a fascinating podcast conversation.

Also in this episode, we interview Raime Liddle, whose on-the-road life adventures with her mother-in-law went viral and led to a her writing Driving Miss Norma. And then in our writing exercise, Kim recounts a harrowing bike accident she had as a teen. 

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

Chronological, essays, skipping through time, interspersed non-fiction — there are so many forms that memoir can take. Judith Barrington covers several in her book, Writing the Memoir, and in this episode we discuss the options, and why you might choose one for your memoir. As a bonus, Renee shares an exercise she’s come up with for finding your memoir’s theme. 

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

Baring one's soul in a memoir is hard work. Convincing others to care, to engage in your life story may be even harder. In her book, Writing the Memoir, Judith Barrington says the first step is getting ourselves to care about our memoir. In this podcast we discuss both her philosophical reasoning and practical advice. 

In this week's writing exercise, Kim tries to come up with what her memoir should be about.Iit does not go well. Thankfully Renee is there to pep-talk Kim off the edge. Fun times! 

Plus we have two short interviews with memoirists, Marlene Bumgarner and Janice P. Kehler,  about how they included self analysis and judgement in their memoirs.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

We’re starting a NEW BOOK - Judith Barrington’s Writing the Memoir. And what better place to start than by discussing what a memoir is, and what memoir isn’t, and just how truthful do you need to be, important questions that are addressed in the book’s first chapter. But that’s only half the episode. We once again have a book with writing prompts at the end of the chapters. We might be a bit rusty at following instructions, but the results are a hoot to listen to.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

How do you tackle one of the most famous writing craft books, you take it “Bird by Bird.” That’s what we’ve done with Anne Lamott’s book over the past 12 episodes and in this final episode we cover her end of the class advice, along with how to avoid libel (not sure why that got placed there) and give our opinion about the book as a whole. 

And then, because there’s always another writing craft book, we reveal what we’re reading next … Judith Barrington’s Writing the Memoir. Finally, we have a great discussion about memoir writing classes with one of Renee’s favorite memoir writing instructors, Joselin Linder.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

Well,  why do you? The answer for most authors is to get published. But is that the only reason, or even the best reason? As we near the end of Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird we investigate other rewards for writing, like to to find ones voice, or as way of giving. And then we get back to publishing (this is a writing advice podcast) and discuss Lamott’s opinion that it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. 

We also check in with writers Patrick Dugan and John Gibson about how they deal with writers block. And for our writing exercise, Kim takes a stab at writing a page of her humorous fantasy in the voice of George R.R. Martin.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

Anne Lamott (in her Bird by Bird book) says the dreaded writer’s block isn’t about being blocked, it’s about being empty. In today’s podcast we discuss Lamott’s approach to writer’s block, as well as her technique of letter writing to get at the heart of your story. We also have an insightful conversation on exactly why memoirists (or at least Renee) want strangers to read about their lives.

But before that, we have an interview with Kerry Muir from the The Writing Salon on what makes a workshop successful. 

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

Behind most successful authors there is a writing group (at least according to their novel's acknowledgment section). But how does one find a writing group, and how do you get the most of out of one once you're in?

In todays episode, we discuss the chapters "Writing Groups" and "Someone to Read your Drafts" from Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird. We also recall some WTF moments from our own writing workshops and address the dangers of toxic beta readers.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

Some advice is timeless, some is not. In this episode we evaluate  writing techniques from Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird and see if they still have value in our current Information Age. 

Specifically, Lamott writes about capturing one's thoughts on index cards, and how to use a telephone to get information and also, to get a larger sense of people's views. Although we now use our phones for much more, there's still some nuggets of inspiration in these chapters of the book.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

Sometimes just showing up isn’t enough. You’ve set time aside for writing and instead of your story unfurling on the page (or screen) other things come out. In this episode, we’ll discuss author Anne Lamott’s struggle and solutions to this problem from her book Bird by Bird. First we’ll tackle the good voice, the inspiration that we keep ignoring, Lamott calls this the “Broccoli” then the bad voice “Station K-FUK” and finally that thing that will tear you apart, jealousy.

 And, as a bonus, Kim talks about the highs and lows from her trip to Japan (check out our show notes for a very scary video of mountain leeches)

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.