Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon one can neither resist nor understand. Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  ~ George Orwell

Orwell is right about the struggle, and I am nearing the end ofΒ the writing process. Thus, a progress report is in order.

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Β Sometimes I wonder, Should I laugh or cry?

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Early Drafts

Early, on, I used various props to press “start” on the memoir writing engine. I wrote about the mystery of memoir writing here and gave tips about finding a narrative arcΒ here.

 

TheΒ peaks and valleys of my narrative arc looked a lot like an outline of the Swiss Alps.

 

Writing as revision

Writing a draft is one thing. Revising is another. Revising one’s manuscript is like pulling oneself up with his/her own bootstraps. Or as Mary Karr puts it: β€œWriting memoir, if it’s done right, is like knocking yourself out with your own fist.”

 

Other Opinions

Writers tend to get tunnel vision. That’s why theyΒ need other readers, beta readers, who scrutinize their manuscripts.

Beta Readers, now numbering in the double digits, haveΒ read my drafts with a spyglass. They used microscopes, telescopes, and periscopes. Some even used prisms to enable me to see the draft from many angles.

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How Beta Reading works:

I gave early readers GUIDELINES to follow with questions like these: Does the story line make sense? Is the main character believable? Where were you confused? Bored?

Many readers who requested an electronic copy of my draft used TRACK Changes, balloons in the manuscript margin that suggest additions or deletions.

A few wanted a hard copy, which I mailed to them. Suggestions came back with hand-written notes in the margins + other comments, all helpful.

 

How I treated the comments:

Except forΒ my sister JeanΒ who was very helpful with correct names of churches and people in my past, I chose my beta readersΒ because they areΒ published authors whose opinion I highly respect.

More than two years ago my first reader asked, β€œWhat is your story about?” (Not a good sign!)

I sighed because I thought my story theme was obvious. It was to me.

Apparently not,

so back to the drawing board I went.

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All agreed on One Point:

“Take all this advice with a grain of salt,”Β each one said. “This is YOUR story!”

 

What I Changed:

Structure: An example, one of the last chapters now appears earlier in the book.

Order of chapters:Β I changed chapter sequence to improve flow.

Verb tense, myΒ nemesis:Β I’ve concluded verb tense consistency is a problem because I’m writing in the present about events happening more than 60 years ago.

Repetition:Β WHY, oh why would I need to say the same thing twice?

 

The Story Cure: A Big Help

I have followed advice from The Story Cure by Dinty W. Moore, paraphrased here: Take your readers down an Invisible Magnetic River. Help them forget they are reading a book. Invite them to imagine they are right beside you, inside your story. You can read my review of his book here.

 

The Title, a sticky point

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My working title has been Mennonite in Shiny Red Shoes.

I sat with that for a while. After all, the words resonated with a quote I found last year:

To wear dreams on one’s feet is to begin to give reality to one’s dreams. Β  Β  Β  ~ Roger Vivier

 

While this title serves as one metaphor in my book and shows my desire for a fancier life, the title is not a Bingo: And while it does fit one major theme of my book, it’s too derivative of other Mennonite memoirs: Mennonite in Little Black Dress / Mennonite in Blue Jeans.

The latest contenders:

Coming of Age Mennonite: A Daughter’s Quest

I Was Mennonite: The Farm Mechanic’s Daughter and a Cultural Imprint

Β My editor may have other ideas!

 

 

Why Writing Memoir is hard on the body and mind:

Writing memoirΒ β€œis the recreation or reconstruction of past experiences by the synchronous firing of neurons that were involved in the original experience.” 

OftenΒ at my desk I have been so “into”Β a scene that when I looked away from the manuscript, I was surprised to find I was at home in my writing studio and not trying on hats in my Grandma Longenecker’s kitchen long ago, a pleasant memory. If the scene was difficult to re-live, I was thereΒ too.

 

Memoir as Legacy, a prime reasonΒ for writingΒ 

Madeleine L’Engle agrees completely:

If you don’t recount your family history, it will be lost.Β Honor your own stories and tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are.

If you can make your ancestors real for yourself, learn their stories and who they were, your life – and death – will take on added meaning. You will see yourself in the Big Picture that includes all human life that has come and gone on the planet. Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  ~ Laurence Overmire, Digging for Ancestral Gold

 

Hope for Fellow Strugglers

Writing is like driving at night in the fog.Β You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.Β Β Β ~ E. L. Doctorow

 

 


 

What parts of this post can you relate to?

YourΒ suggestion for my memoir title?Β 

Other tips?Β 

Thank you!