Writing Retreat: "God, the Devil, and Divorce" Memoir Writing

Turned the dining table into my writer's desk for the week.

This last week I went on a little personal writing retreat. I had a specific goal in mind...to study the structures of good divorce memoirs so I could compare them to the direction I've been taking mine. I'd had some feedback on my first twelve chapters that my structure was pretty much no-existent, so that made me pause. Pausing in not a bad thing. It is not writer's; it's simply taking time look at the big picture of the work.

Much to my relief, I think I'm on the right track. I have noticed that I tend to give a straight-forward account of events that would be more interesting if I included more sensory detail. I also tend to jump to conclusions without connecting all the dots. Consequently, I going back to my journals on which the memoir is based, and making my scenes more complete. You might think that all this re-writing is a pain, but I'm finding this a fun thing to do. 

If you are writing  memoir, or simply reading memoir, you might want to zero in on these aspects of the writing to enhance your reading or writing experience.

Blessings,
Linda