Writing Your Family Memoir: Linda Joy Myers
August 21, 2008 | 11:00 am to 12:00 pm Writing a family memoir is a wonderful way to gift your family with a legacy they will always treasure. However, family memoir writers have many questions and arrive at the task with a feeling of responsibility and even worry to the project.
Family memoir writers have questions like these:
- What do I do about the stories the family does not want me to write?
- How do I deal with the problem of everyone having a different memory of events; what about the family myths and downright lies–I would like to leave a truthful and favorable document.
- Who decides what the final draft will be?
- What about using real names vs. pseudonyms?
- How do I start?
- How should it be structured?
These and other questions will be discussed. Matilda Butler, owner of
womensmemoirs.com and author of
Rosie’s Daughters will interview Linda this month, and in September Linda will interview Matilda about writing a collective memoir.
September 18, 2008 | 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Matilda Butler will talk to us about a the collective memoir, a weaving together of different threads of stories written by many different people. Matilda will draw upon her own experience writing Rosie’s Daughters, the compilation of over 100 stories by women she interviewed interspersed with archival photographs and published memoirs to create a tapestry of voices that deepen our understanding of how women’s lives changed and evolved since WWII.
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What themes do you think would work well for your collective memoir?
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What tips and techniques do you need to know about?
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What is the process of writing a book composed of many personal stories?
These and other topics will be part of this fascinating exploration of the power of many voices to tell our stories.
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