More News from Write! Canada

Tonight's keynote speaker was author and professor of literature, Carolyn Weber, who spoke about the spiritual journey chronicled in her book: Surprised by Oxford; a reference to C.S. Lewis's book, Surprised by Joy.

She read from her book; a beautifully written memoir; and she spoke about the impact it had on her family; as broken and dysfunctional as any of our own.

Marilyn Yocum wrote recently about Every Writer's Dilemma: To Write Privately or Publicly, and I wrote too, in my post entitled, Can't Do It, of my decision to draw a line in writing of some personal family history.

Carolyn spoke of that very thing tonight and I thought that I would share a little of what she said.

She quoted Samuel Coleridge--and I wrote it down quickly so it is just an approximation: "The process of selection is the hardest part of creation." How true that is!

Here are my rough notes on four of Carolyn's "5 Golden Rules for Writing Memoir:" I'm sorry that it is only four--but I only just realized that I missed writing down the last one. This is one keynote that I will probably order the audio CD for:

  1. Pay attention to your life; be intentional about journaling.
  2. Treat others as you would like to be treated.
  3. Never write from anger or unresolved issues; writing through my anger or sadness brings me to the other side. No one has to see that draft.
  4. Get several points of view on your final draft: Carolyn says she gets two people who can look at her theology professionally and two or three people who can look at her draft on a personal basis: a friend or believing spouse; and a non believing friend.
Signing off from Guelph. One more glorious day to go. 
Belinda

Comments

Anonymous said…
If we are not to write in anger, we probably shouldn't write through jealousy! :-) Ha ha! Sounds like you are having an awesome time. And yes - I'm a bit jealous. Enjoy the opportunity!
deeps said…
thanks for sharing this one
Marilyn Yocum said…
What a treat to read this this morning! Thank you for bringing it to me. It contributes to my ongoing processing.
Belinda said…
Thanks pals!

Anonymous, you made me laugh!

Marilyn, I was thinking of you so much. I think that you would love Carolyn Weber's book, and she has a new one coming out soon, "Holy is the Day."

Deeps--I don't think I've heard from you before, but thank you for letting me know that you were blessed in some way.

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