The Voice of the Writer in Memoir

This past year, ever since we came back to the States, I've been all wrapped up in work for WiDo Publishing. It's our ten-year anniversary and we are very close to having our 100th book published.

We also started a new imprint, E.L. Marker, a hybrid company that offers traditional publishing services to self-publishing authors.

It's been a crazy busy year. The only writing I've done is journaling (my personal psychotherapy) and writing emails to authors whose work I'm editing and/or preparing for publication. So many emails.

I've edited a number of memoirs this year for both WiDo and E.L. Marker, and it's got me thinking about the writer's voice. In any kind of writing, voice will attract or repel readers. But in memoir it's especially important. If you dislike the voice of the narrator, you won't keep reading, since the memoir is about the narrator.

There a few tricks of the trade in editing a memoir to make the voice more appealing. Strangely enough, one of them is to tone it down. You might think, "But why? It's about this person so why not put as much personality in there as you can? So the reader can feel like they know them?"

A good question. The entire book is about the individual, in first person, their story, but it's also about other people they've included in their story. And those other people are part of what makes the memoir whole and balanced.

Putting in too much of the writer's personality, in the form of little asides or sarcasm or other types of humor, can quickly turn the reader off. It tends to make the narrator come across as self-absorbed and thus unlikable--the last thing we want to see happen in a memoir.

If you'd like to take a look at WiDo's selection of memoirs, click on this link to our bookstore and see the tab for Memoir.

Memoir is currently my favorite genre. I can't get enough of them, which I guess is why I've chosen to edit so many lately, rather than passing them along to other WiDo editors.

How do you feel about memoir, either writing or reading them?

The Future is Bright for Writers

Look to Amazon if you want to know the future for books and writers. See the new Kindles they're coming out with in time for Christmas. See how their ad shows it in a teen-age girl's back pocket. See how they make it affordable as stocking gifts for your kids. See how they realize the Kindle has a whole new market of readers to find-- children and teenagers.

As e-readers get cheaper and more diverse, people will have several. I have a Kindle, but I'd like an iPad too. Why not a Nook? And kids will have them.

More people than ever will be looking for books to read on their new readers. So, writers, get busy writing their books! 

I've been kicking myself to write more. Soon I'll go from one book to three that are available as ebooks. I have another novel in the works that I hope can be ready for March release. I think I  can get another one done and into editing for next October release.

My goal is to have five books with my name on them available by next Christmas. Right now I have one. Pathetic, I know, but I have goals.

It's time to buckle down and get writing. We determine our own futures. If we don't write the books, then life goes on without our names on the titles.

About Writing, Reading & Publishing Books

Today I am being interviewed over at Strands of Thought, Kai Strand's blog. Kai is a children's author (The Weaver) who writes reviews and focuses on children's and YA books. I, of course, write neither, but why let a little detail like that stop me?  You invite me, I'll come, because there's nothing I love more than talking about writing, reading and publishing books.

And btw, I just downloaded John Locke's how-to book for authors on how-to sell more of their books. I'll be reviewing it here when I'm done. Fascinating stuff! I am always eager to discuss how to SELL more books, because it's a big challenge for me. Like Locke, I tried a lot of things that didn't work. Unlike Locke, I'm not a natural sales person so I really am taking in his tips. More on that later.

See you over at Kai Strand's blog!

Don't be Depressed about: Career or Writing or Reviews or Book or Blog

Sometimes it seems like there's a lot to be depressed about but my advice is: don't worry about any of it. P.S. I am not a licensed professional

What if nobody likes your book? (just write another one)

What if you can't find a publisher? (improve your work and keep trying)

What if you got some bad reviews? (they are just as important as the good ones)

What if the writing isn't going well? (it often didn't go so well for Hemingway either, or Steinbeck or Dickens or-- fill in the blank)

What if your career isn't happening like you expected? (nobody's is, except for maybe Mark Zuckerman and Jeffrey Bezos)

What if your blog doesn't have enough followers or comments? Now that I can do something about!!

Stop by tomorrow for my big bash, KarenG's Labor Day BBQ. Bring food (I like food) and be prepared to add some spice to the lazy summer blog routine. Find new blogs, get new followers, and jazz up the blogosphere with shared enthusiasm! See you tomorrow then.

I Love Books

I am in love. With books. It's true. They are my passion, my life, my compass. I have other things I love, too, of course, like husband, family, God-- you know, the usual. But books!! Without them, I can't imagine who or what or where I would be in this life.

The fact that I can be one small part of the grand and glorious process of reading, writing, publishing, buying and selling books makes my skin tingle.

How We Write

Hemingway wrote standing up to avoid the gut. Capote wrote with a notebook and pencil, either sitting or laying down. Stephen King sits at a desk, behind a closed door, loud music on.

I write in pajamas, because once I'm showered and dressed I want to go out.
Sitting in my comfy, squishy, writing/thinking chair.
First with pens on loose paper, then on the laptop.
Completely isolated. Door shut. No phone, internet or music.

How do you write?

The Writer Brain and the Blogger Brain

When I left for the weekend, I thought a retreat from the internet would be a nice break. It was a lovely weekend, but what do I do as soon as I get back home? Catch up on blogs, and write posts. I tried commenting on a few blogs and then stopped when I noticed how lame and weak my comments came across.

I think there's a blogging part of the brain and a writing part, and never the two shall mix. This weekend, in the quaint environment where we stayed, transported me to another world, (I write about it here if you're curious)--my writer brain came alive and my blogging brain went to sleep.

The blogger brain still feels groggy. I'll get back to my regularly scheduled programming soon enough, but meanwhile, I'm going to steep myself in the reading of some great fiction and go to bed early.

Writer's block is when a writer's brain isn't functioning properly. Is it blogger block when your blogger's brain falls asleep? Is this even a problem? Or maybe it's an opportunity?

Here's what makes it all worthwhile....

So I wake up this morning and see this on my sidebar-- BOOK REVIEW-- UNCUT DIAMONDS. Barbara Scully, my 100th follower who won a copy of my novel, has read and reviewed it and liked it! Not only that but in a comment on one of my previous blog posts, she said that her mom read and loved it as well.

Please go to Barbara's lovely blog, From My Kitchen Table, and tell her thank you from me! (After reading the review of course, lol!)

I'm pretty sure neither of my two books currently out will ever make a bestseller list. (Although Farm Girl was the best selling title for several months in the local Red Cloud, NE book store. Does that count?) I'm pretty sure that I won't be making mortgage payments from my royalty checks. But what matters to me more than money is to hear from a reader like Barbara who says it's the kind of book she can wrap herself in and "I just love the main character Marcie McGill."

This kind of response makes it all worthwhile to me-- all the writing, revising, editing and rewriting, until finally miracle of miracles, I hold a book in my hands that scares me to death. What if people don't like it? What if they don't get it? What if, like one publisher who rejected it said, they think "the Seventies are boring. No one wants to read about them."

And who knew that my demographic would be Irish women lol? Or as Barbara herself said when she chose this as her prize, "I'm a child of the Seventies who loved the Osmonds, so of course Uncut Diamonds is my choice!"

Thanks, Barbara! You made my day!

First Readers

Most of us writerly types need an audience. It takes readers for us to feel complete. We aren't content to just write, put it away and write some more. We need feedback, we need readers, we need validation. Since it takes courage to show our work, we often start with those guaranteed to be supportive, like family members.

I remember a scene from a film of about 20 years ago, when the main character (a journalist) played by Chevy Chase, moves to the country where he plans to write a novel. When it's finished, he takes his wife out to a wonderful inn for their anniversary, and then leads her to a comfortable chair next to the fire for the big surprise. Voila! He hands her his finished ms.

"Read it!" he says.
"Right now?" she asks. She's all dressed up for a night on the town.
"Yes!" he replies. "Go ahead. We have all night. I'll wait right here." And he watches her every move and expression while she reads the entire thing.

Yep, that's us writers! Almost pathetic in our eagerness to get readers. I used to read my stories out loud to my kids, picking those choice moments when they would be a willing/captive audience. Like when they didn't want to go to bed. "I'll let you stay up longer if you listen to this story I wrote!"

Once that final draft is done, the writer needs a reader. It's a must have. For Stephen King, it's his wife Tabitha. He writes all his books with her in mind, and she's the first one to read his final draft. Mine is my daughter, who is also now an editor (I guess I trained her well back in the day!)

Who is your first reader? Who makes up your favorite first audience once the final draft is done?

Two cozy mysteries and just too many words

I love the cozy mystery genre, Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books being my all time favorite and what I judge all the others by. (too bad for them, very few measure up, I'm still waiting for another cozy mystery series to satisfy my Miss Marple craving)

So I picked up a new possibliity at the library the other day, Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson, the latest in a long series about a caterer (yes, food!) who solves mysteries. This author apparently has been on the bestseller list with her cozy caterer mysteries, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's okay, the first few chapters are intriguing, very tight with an appealing narrator voice, but then it's like the editor took a vacation. Here's a sample of what I'm talking about (keep in mind, this character, Jack, is her godfather who appears in her stories regularly and is not a suspect at all):


"As we stepped into the gray-walled foyer that still showed the rectangular outlines of the previous owner's pictures, it was clear Jack hadn't made much progress. He'd gutted the first floor, so that instead of having a parlor, dining room, and who-knew-what-all victorian-type rooms, he now had a big, open space. In the far-left corner, he'd put state-of-the-art appliances into what was going to be an open-plan kitchen....but he still had no cabinets or counter tops. My feet gritted across the hardwood floors that Jack had uncovered when he'd torn up the old green-and-brown shag carpeting. As far as I knew, Jack had not made a move to refinish the floors, or even to call someone to get an estimate to have them done."

"'Thanks for coming over.'" He was trying to sound cheerful, but his voice was as forlorn as the long, high-ceilinged room that, he'd told me, would eventually double as both living and dining room."


Now, dear readers, please be honest. How many of you made it to the end of those two paragraphs? (The second one I deliberately shortened because I felt sorry for all of you having to read two such paragraphs.)

A long, dull, meaningless description of a house that doesn't enter into the plot. It's simply the main character walking into her godfather's house and describing it-- with a vast array of hypenated words, numerous run-on sentences and boring phrases. Too many words. Period.

On the other hand, here's a sample from the master of the genre, Agatha Christie, in A Caribbean Mystery:


"Outside the hotel grounds, in one of a row of shanty cabins beside a creek, the girl Victoria Johnson rolled over and sat up in bed. The St. Honore girl was a magnificent creature with a torso of black marble such as a sculptor would have enjoyed. She ran her fingers through her dark, tightly curling hair. With her foot she nudged her sleeping companion in the ribs."

"'Wake up, man.'"


Ahhh, what a breath of fresh air this is, especially after reading the first example! Aren't you already intrigued?

Fewer words means greater intensity. Multiplying words waters down your writing. These two examples say it all (but I'll still add my two bits, since it is my blog lol!): Make every word count! Don't keep the fluff, the stuff that does not contribute to plot or character development. In the first book, the author had given enough information previous to this paragraph to show that Jack lived in an unfinished home needing remodeling, and he wasn't in a hurry to get it done. This would have been sufficient without going on and on about it. Respect your readers and don't hammer them over the head with too many words.

When I'm reading a new author and find myself skipping paragraphs at a time, because the words are dull and don't matter, I'm done. I don't finish the book. It may be harsh, but my time is too valuable. I've got other books to read, a lot to do, I won't waste my time.

With Fatally Flaky, I am continuing on, at least for now, because there's enough good in there to outweigh the boring paragraphs. I want it to be good. I want to find books I love, and new authors I can follow indefinitely. I'm an author, but I'm also a reader, and I'm looking for fantastic books! Well-written, well-crafted and edited, with words that count and that thrill me and keep me reading long into the night, when I should have turned off the light and gone to sleep. That's what I'm looking for. Aren't you?

What tickles your writing bone?

Most writers I know also love to read. Reading, along with a few other sedentary activities, tickles my writing bone, and then I have to shut out the world and go work on my wip.

Here's my list of most motivational writing tools:

1. Reading a poorly-written book. I can do better than that, I say, let me at it!

2. Reading a well-written book. It teaches me by example and I want to have a go.

3. Reading the biography or memoir of an author. I want to be just like them.

4. Movies about authors, books and writing. Just seeing a writer in action makes me want to write!

5. Pretty much any Woody Allen movie, because the dialogue is so stimulating.

I wish I could say taking a long walk in the woods, or running 20 minutes on the treadmill, or cleaning house inspired me. That would help my fitness level.

What is it that most inspires your writing? Do you have a list of your own?