tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post6376385919451198861..comments2024-03-29T02:43:11.575-04:00Comments on Jungle Red Writers: MEM-reeeeeeesJungle Red Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16646429819267618412noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-66600344460216715962010-11-02T01:28:55.446-04:002010-11-02T01:28:55.446-04:00It was comforting to hear so many of you complain ...It was comforting to hear so many of you complain about your own memory. Yes, Hank, I've stood in front of an open refrigerator trying to find a dish towel! A younger me had a fantastic memory. I could remember for years phone numbers of friends after dialing it once. But soon after starting to write for the newspaper, my memory became that cobweb shroud and I didn't like it. My husband said my brain synapses were on overload. But thinking about why this might be common -- my other writer friends complain about it, too. Can it be because we all flush our memories because we write everyday? And even if not typing or scribbling, we are engaged in working that next writing out.annoxfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775887050572970228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-54282575109051909602010-11-01T20:48:43.275-04:002010-11-01T20:48:43.275-04:00Yes,Rebbie, I thought so, too! (That was me writin...Yes,Rebbie, I thought so, too! (That was me writing,via JRW.)<br /><br />And it's such a fun and challenging stretch, then, when you realized that, to expand into writing not-you. Or at least--the not-you of you.<br /><br />You know what I mean.Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-49555358384516625532010-11-01T19:52:21.514-04:002010-11-01T19:52:21.514-04:00Love that last comment! I've found that even w...Love that last comment! I've found that even writing in the POV of a male protag, it's still all about me. <br />I think I'm hopeless. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-8744396440963921552010-11-01T16:45:58.277-04:002010-11-01T16:45:58.277-04:00Hey Rochelle!! xo
A wonderful comment on facebook...Hey Rochelle!! xo<br /><br />A wonderful comment on facebook today about his--he says--"Would we ever write about ourselves? What ELSE do we ever write about?"<br /><br />Very wise...Jungle Red Writershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16646429819267618412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-3008491600861112602010-11-01T15:19:43.202-04:002010-11-01T15:19:43.202-04:00I loved to read female memoirs and biographies bef...I loved to read female memoirs and biographies before I hit my teens - maybe those juicy, daring women inspired my wild side?<br /><br />My pat answer whenever someone asks if I'll write about myself: No. My best stories cannot be told. And my memory is awful!<br /><br />That's why fiction is so much fun - take the truth, dress it up or down, give it a different name, put it in a scene and wait for the reaction.Rochelle Staabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08700362801884548978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-37661753116517578772010-11-01T14:23:52.422-04:002010-11-01T14:23:52.422-04:00Yup, Becke, sometimes I walk downstairs in my offi...Yup, Becke, sometimes I walk downstairs in my offie and by the time I get to the bottom, I 've totally fogotten my goal. NO IDEA.<br /><br />I've decided to decide it's funny. And I generally remember in a minute. Usually after I go back UPstairs.<br /><br />OH! My capcha word is upers! Funny.Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-9656810586266610802010-11-01T13:48:04.021-04:002010-11-01T13:48:04.021-04:00I remember pretty much everything about my childho...I remember pretty much everything about my childhood and teenage years. It's the more recent stuff I'm likely to forget, like where I left my cell phone charger.<br /><br />Would I write a memoir? Probably not. Would I tell the truth? Not if it would hurt anyone still living.Becke Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05347467350985614111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-89592598477026803352010-11-01T11:33:36.738-04:002010-11-01T11:33:36.738-04:00You guys are hysterical! Rhys, you sang with SIMON...You guys are hysterical! Rhys, you sang with SIMON AND GARFUNKLE?? You have to tell that story, at least here with us...<br /><br />Hank, very impressive that you would read your diary and then change your behavior...Jan, I think you should go ahead and write it, see what happens...on the other hand, as Hallie points out, very tricky.<br /><br />I'm finishing up Julia Child right now. She had quite a bit to say about her co-writers on MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING. I wonder what they would have said about her!!Lucy Burdette aka Roberta Isleibhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04660402177299546055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-89855879047492318262010-11-01T11:22:10.158-04:002010-11-01T11:22:10.158-04:00Sheila,
Your grandmother sounds like a Barbara Tay...Sheila,<br />Your grandmother sounds like a Barbara Taylor Bradford epic!!<br /><br />She did all right with her stories......<br /><br />Hallie, I read Fear of Flying and didn't actually realize it was a memoir. But I was fairly young as I recall and was reading it just for the sex!Jan Broganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11323983086318138814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-50927066808237171282010-11-01T11:03:20.393-04:002010-11-01T11:03:20.393-04:00I lived in Ouga only 11 years ago, and while I hav...I lived in Ouga only 11 years ago, and while I haven't looked at the book in a while, it's probably still pretty current. Now if I'd kept a journal when I lived in Brazil for a year at age 17 (with a Brazilian family, not my own), that would be pretty different.<br /><br />As for the tricky part of memoir writing, one thing stuck with me from a book I read at the time about writing memoir: "Write the truth with love." Tell the real story, but with respect for the characters.<br /><br />EdithEdith Maxwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388006370860482509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-47362224537094774922010-11-01T10:24:47.358-04:002010-11-01T10:24:47.358-04:00I did keep a jounal for awhile, actually, when I w...I did keep a jounal for awhile, actually, when I was in my 30s. Again, during a part of my lifet hat was pretty exciting,a nd lot of big changes. What di I wrte about? Men.<br /><br />But, actually, when I read it over, ten years later, it was pretty revealing. And I changed my behavior as a result.<br /><br />Edith, I bet your Burkina Faso memories would be fascinating..when you look over them now, does it seem like "you"?Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-8920395276127505072010-11-01T10:22:44.220-04:002010-11-01T10:22:44.220-04:00HOw about Barbara Walters, outing her own affair i...HOw about Barbara Walters, outing her own affair in AUDITION?? I thought that was--interesting. Controversial. She said it was because, as a reporter, it wouldn't be honest to leave it out.<br /><br />Sheila, that's amazing. Did she ever tell you about any of it?Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-60470491644663042402010-11-01T09:51:43.008-04:002010-11-01T09:51:43.008-04:00Oooh, I can't wait to read the Stephen Sondhei...Oooh, I can't wait to read the Stephen Sondheim memoir. I'm such a fan. Interesting, he said in an interview on Public Radio that he did not reveal negative opinions about folks who are still alive because it can be so hurtful. And to what end? I agree. Am I the only one who read Erica Jong's Fear of Flying and wondered how she could write such revealing material about her ex, even if he was an SOB. Memoir is very tricky stuff.Hallie Ephronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04759439029582054503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-38817589641934467072010-11-01T08:46:11.320-04:002010-11-01T08:46:11.320-04:00I know what you mean, Hallie, about sisters with d...I know what you mean, Hallie, about sisters with differing memories. Do we just think we grew up in the same house? (And all of us less than two years apart in age...)<br /><br />The first year I successfully kept a diary was the year I was 16. Lots of big stuff happened that year: first person on the moon, RFK killed, and so on. What did I write about? Boys. Slumber parties. Going to the beach. Hair. Grades (Telling diary I was SURE I was going to get a D in chemistry, then reporting an A...). <br /><br />I did write a book of memoirs the year I lived in Burkina Faso (titled, creatively, A Year in Ougadougou). It needs a lot of editing and reorg, though. I guess that's a "retirement project" - hahaha, like I'm ever going to be able to afford to retire.<br /><br />Edith<br />http://edithmaxwell.blogspot.com/Edith Maxwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388006370860482509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-74434355488260302312010-11-01T08:30:19.251-04:002010-11-01T08:30:19.251-04:00My grandmother led an interesting life--orphaned y...My grandmother led an interesting life--orphaned young, married wealthy, owned a plantation in Cuba, divorced him when he lost all his money as a bad dairy farmer, took herself to New York where she climbed the ranks of corporate America to become personnel director for Lipton Tea in the 1950s, had dinner with Queen Elizabeth. She kept diaries for years, and what did she write about? The weather.Sheila Connollyhttp://www.sheilaconnolly.comnoreply@blogger.com