Writing Review
Critique &
Guided Study
to Improve Your Writing
Over 30 Years of Writing, Teaching
& Publishing Experience
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Free-Verse Poetry -- Personal Memoir --
Short Stories
Editing -- Free-lance Writing
| Some Thoughts On: | Poetry | Personal Memoirs | Visit ► www.kansaspoets.com |
Young or old,
let's explore and improve your writing talents.
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► Contact Greg German
Writing, Consulting & Coordinator Background
BA English/Creative Writing -- BS English Education
Website Development for Writers & Small Businesses
Extensive editing experience in multiple genres
Secondary and Post-secondary teaching (English / Creative Writing)
Poetry and Personal essay memoirs published in over 40 academic literary journals
News articles on a variety of topics published in numerous newspapers
Designed and implemented multiple writing and literature curriculums
Writing coach for many aspiring writers (poetry, essay, short fiction)
Won or placed in several writing contests
-- Special Projects Consultant for the Kansas Arts Commission & the Kansas Poet Laureate
-- Developer and Content Coordinator for www.kansaspoets.com (& many other literary related websites)
-- Coordinator for Kansas Shoptalk Series (in conjunction with Kansas Arts Commission and Kansas State U.)
-- Experienced Writing Workshop Coordinator
Publications Include: Poet Lore -- Kansas Quarterly -- Hawaii Review -- Negative Capability -- Rattle -- Wind -- Americas Review -- Flint Hills Review -- Alaska Quarterly -- Permafrost -- Potpourri -- and many others.
A poet writes that he might better understand himself and the world surrounding him.
A poet, like a taxidermist, catches and then preserves physical and mental emotion.
Poetry is the writer's insight to that small piece world others have been too busy to experience or have not noticed.
Poetry is a means of extracting "the special" from anything.
Poetry is a means of learning more about ourselves.
Poetry is a means of touching personal emotions.
Poetry is the writer's insight.
A poem is the "magnifying glass" to those pieces of life that people are too busy to see.
A poem is the "reducing machine" for those things that seem to huge to comprehend.
A poem, through metaphor, often surprises us into seeing things afresh, as if with new eyes.
A poem offers us the chance to see things in a new or different light.
A poem is an emotion or feeling that has been etched in stone.
A poem is a painting of words.
Are you relying on Cliché? A cliché is a phrase that has been repeated so often it no longer communicates anything fresh. A cliché may be false or true, but it is so familiar to a writer's or reader's ear that we simply don't think about it. Clichés fool writers into thinking they are saying something meaningful. AVOID the trap of Clichés! Clichés take away from any form of writing.
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Insight Worth Considering "For me, place is that acreage, however large or small, to which the poet brings his perceptions, his insights. This means that a Nebraska corn field, or an apple in upstate New York -- or whatever else -- is usable to the extent that it can be viewed from any number of different angles. Place, for the poet, is a vehicle, never an end it itself. I'll show you this barn, the poet says, so that you can more clearly see the poet. If the poet is dull, you can bet your undershirt that the barn is going to be dull also. A poem is an attitude looking for something solid to sit on." |
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THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN WRITING YOUR MEMOIRS
Though your collected memories will mean a lot to you and your immediate family, it will be your children's children's children who will benefit the most.
Though you might think a particular recollection is not worthy of report, reconsider, others might have nearly the same perception or encounter. Your connection will provide the means for others to experience events, family members, etc., from a different perspective, or perhaps even for the first time. Your memories will add depth to your family history.
When writing, include identifiable details. In other words, BE SPECIFIC. Include names of places, things, events, emotions, and people (even though they might not be relatives), etc. These specific details will help other family members "shake loose" their own dusty memories, as well as helping you retain yours. Often times even the smallest, seemingly insignificant, details can be a link to volumes of memories. Following is an example of six different family members recalling their Grandmother:
I vividly recall her chopping off a chicken's head with a hatchet. Then it ran off without a head!
She said, "Look!" And there, all over the ground, were tiny, blue flowers. I'd never seen violets.
I always remember Grandma as calm and unruffled--no matter how hectic the day.
Grandma used to make lye soap in an old black kettle over an open fire in the back yard.
I saw her pick up a rock, throw it at a rabbit, and kill it-more than once.
Mother could fry chicken better than anybody.
When including memories of past emotions, and unsavory or questionable behaviors or occurrences within a family, be wary. Though these things are important to capture the true flavor of individuals, discretion is appropriate. Consider tempering the negative things or cutting them all together in some instances. In most cases writing a personal memoir is not meant to drive a family apart. It might be wise to clarify that the observation is the writer's perception by either observation or private experience.
Recall...re-tell, stories told to you by grandparents, or other older or deceased family members. You might be the only one to have heard the story or to remember the story.
Family members will be pleasantly surprised to learn that others recall same experiences. Though perhaps told by someone else from a slightly different perspective or with a different twist, the recollection will have added meaning.