From Kate’s Writing Crate…
I write
first person essays for several outlets so when I discovered Why We Write About Ourselves: Twenty
Memoirists on Why They Expose Themselves (and Others) in the Name of Literature
edited by Meredith Maran, I had to read it. Another selling point, several of
my favorite memoirists are in the book including Anne Lamott, Sue Monk Kidd,
and Cheryl Strayed. After reading the book, I have many more memoirists’ work I
want to read.
Each chapter begins with an
introduction of the memoirist, vital stats, a list of published works, then his
or her answer to: Why I write about myself? The rest of the chapter subheadings
are different as each author discusses his or her writing process and beliefs.
At the end of each chapter, there are Words of Wisdom for Memoirists.
Here
are some of my favorite passages:
“Don’t
be afraid of writing into the heart of what you’re most afraid of. The story of
life lives in what you would rather not admit or say.”
--Kate
Christensen (page 20)
“…I
firmly believe that there are things we already know and spend a lot of time
resisting. You can try, but the amount of energy you spend trying not to know
what you already know will be exhausting.”
--A.
M. Homes (page 102)
“The
reason to write memoir is to put something important out into the collective
consciousness, to distill one human life as you’ve come to understand it…”
--Anne
Lamott (page 140)
“Know
that the writing will lead you to places you can’t imagine you will go…writing
comes from a place beneath intellectual consciousness. The only way to get to
that place is by writing. Trust the magic of that process.”
--James
McBride (page 164)
“My work doesn’t hinge on
shock value. I tell only what needs to be told for the work to reach its full
potential. I’m not interested in confession. I’m interested in revelation.
--Cheryl Strayed (page 212)
“If you’re not uncomfortable
and scared while you’re writing, you’re not writing close enough to the bone.”
--Ayelet Waldman (page 230)
“You get the most powerful
material when you write toward whatever hurts. Don’t avoid it. Don’t run from
it. Don’t write toward what’s easy. We recognize our humanity in those most
difficult moments that people share.
--Jesmyn Ward (page 242)
I want to read many of the books listed by the
authors in Why We Write About Ourselves including
Ayelet Waldman’s Love and Other
Impossible Pursuits which sounded interesting and familiar. Searching through
my unread books, I found it—a future book review.
