Live Through This

DEBRA GWARTNEY   www.debragwartney.com

 

Live Through This is her memoir.

 

I attended her presentation (The Pitfalls of Memoir Writing) on the Friday of Pima Writers' Workshop 2013 and her writing exercise (Using Relevant Detail) on the Sunday morning. Both were excellent.

 

Let me only jot down a couple of things that stand out to me in my notes of these two sessions.

 

Memory changes with time. Its job is to keep us rooted to who we are. We need to ask of each memory: How is this memory taking care of me?

 

In writing keep irresolution and doubt in the air as long as possible.

 

Each scene has to have its own arc --- something has to happen. What did that scene gain for me and what did it lose?

 

Details need to take you somewhere. It is not enough just to have details. When using them involve as many senses as possible.

 

She used a writing exercise demonstrating narrowed perception. She put us in different situations and had us write what we saw. Coming home to someone to tell them good news. Telling them about a car accident. Coming home and finding them doing something you told them not to do. Vague, general details come first and then progress to the specific.