storytelling craft
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What If
Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had majored in journalism. Oh, the questions. Before I get to those, you should know the backstory. Real writing for me started with a typewriter, a moose in the snow, and an English teacher who raised my work high in the air for all my classmates… Continue reading
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Making My Money Work
The first time I robbed Peter to pay Paul was at fifteen. I was determined to get myself to a family reunion in Southern California, something Dad had no interest in attending or paying for, which meant I had to figure it out on my own. So I did what any financially strapped teenager with… Continue reading
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Fun-Sized
A memoir chapter should be fun-sized—not small, but complete. A self-contained tale that integrates all the elements of a story—plot, characterization, dialogue, setting—in one sitting. You should be able to lift one chapter out, read it during an oil change or on a quiet Sunday morning, and feel satisfied. Something began. Something changed. Something ended.… Continue reading