Support Your Local Writers: Strategy #1

Sisters In Crime Book Launch Review

Writers are a kind of intangible asset. If you don’t like their style or their message, you just shrug your shoulders and ignore them. Think about that before you allow that to be your reaction. It is important to support writers, especially those in your own backyard, even if you do feel ambivilant about their work. There is tremendous value to your community to have producers of art living amongst you. Without your support, they can not survive and the impact on the community is silent and invisible, but felt nonetheless.

On Saturday there were several Muncie people in Indianapolis to pay homage to the Muncie authors in the Sisters in Crime anthology, Bedlam at the Brickyard. What a thrill for the Muncie authors to have their hard work compiled into a final produce – a wonderful sense of accomplishment for them. What an honor for them to be recognized, to sit at the destination of a long line of fans wanting their signatures! What a message of approval and an affirmation of support for them to look out into the crowd and see their local friends and colleagues in the crowd!

Personally, I was thrilled to see the faces of my friends illuminated by their own accomplishments. They will not become rich and famous from this endeavor and the book will not put Muncie on the map, so to speak, but their work has filled our community with positive energy that propels others into positive action. This is an intangible asset that is truly priceless! I am certainly proud that I live in a community that supports its own artists. I am also very proud of my friends for their individual accomplishment!

So my message to people everywhere is, by all means, support your local writers! Your local writers belong to your “from” and they are, in some sort of way, recording the history of your time and space in the world. Make them proud to live amongst you. Writers are the creators of beauty in your environment. Support their endeavors – before, during, and after publication. Sing their praises, cheer them on, lift their spirits, honor the guts it takes for them to pursue their passion. Do these things for your local artists and you will feel that internal joy that carries you over the rough waters in your own life.

Oh, yes! Do this and my words here will become unnecessary because you will know instinctively exactly what I mean.

Congratulations Sherita, Dee, and Tammy! Write on, sisters!

Book Review: Thinking About Memoir

Book Review by Linda Johnson

Visit Linda’s blog – Various and Sundry Items of Interest

Thinking About Memoir

by

Abigail Thomas

AARP Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 2008 118 pps 978-1-4027-5235-3

To purchase online, visit: The WriteShop

Abigail Thomas wrote Thinking About Memoir with several hopes in mind. In her preface, she states “Memoir is the story of how we got here from there. I hope this book will inspire different ways to look at the moment you’re in right now, and see how far back it can take you. I hope it will make you admire how surprising life is, and I hope you will write.”

Thinking About Memoir is a small book, probably about 4” x 6”, only 118 pages. It is small enough to slip in a pocket or purse and carry with you. This is good because these small pages are filled with enough prompts and exercises to keep you writing for months, if not years. Thomas wastes no time getting writers started: she introduces an exercise by the third page of Chapter 1. I started marking pages I want to return to—by the time I finished reading, my book bristled with Post-It® Flags!

Thomas agrees with Natalie Goldberg about the futility of trying to approach memory and memoir straight on. Goldberg says we must zig and zag our path through. Thomas says we must approach through a side door. “That’s where the exercises come in.” (pg. 3) We write in response to her prompt. We start with one memory, that memory leads to another, which leads to another, and soon we are surprised at what comes from our pen.

Thomas advises writers to start or keep a daily habit of writing. Keep a notebook with you at all times. Write down anything that catches your attention. Don’t judge whether or not it is important. Just notice.

She doesn’t like the word journal to describe this notebook. She feels that journal would make her feel self-conscious. Instead, she calls it her diary and uses it to collect her daily life. “Everything goes in: grocery lists, things to do (so I can scratch them off) random observations, knitting patterns, recipes, overheard dialogue, everything. A diary isn’t sacred. Think of it as the written equivalent of singing in the shower.” (pg 13)

I differ with her on the naming of your notebook. To me diary sounds restrictive; journal is more open to holding everything. Some people call their notebooks a commonplace book. My friend Sherita calls hers her Blackberry®! What we call it seems unimportant, as long as we write in it every day.

Thomas sets up each chapter with a vignette or anecdote that illustrates her following exercise. A reader can dip into the book anywhere and find a short, complete, interesting entry that will inspire a written response.

The final chapter is More Exercises. Thomas ends the book with eight pages of assignments. So any time a writer is stumped for an idea, he or she can pull out this little book, thumb through the last chapter, and find a side door to try.

This book is little but mighty. Wait! That reminds me of a story my Mom used to tell. In her senior yearbook, that phrase was written as her description. I think I just found an open side door!