How to Show the Passing of Time in your Writing
Lesson 21 from: How to Write a Full-Length MemoirJoyce Maynard
How to Show the Passing of Time in your Writing
Lesson 21 from: How to Write a Full-Length MemoirJoyce Maynard
Lesson Info
21. How to Show the Passing of Time in your Writing
Lessons
Introduction to Workshop
16:25 2But….My Life Isn’t That Exciting
09:50 3Great Memoirs & Why they Sell
09:21 4At Home In the World
07:24 5Memory & Research
07:28 6Point of Entry for Your Story
06:30 7Be a Filmmaker
15:24 8The Landing Place for Your Story
08:29Connect with Your Audience - Human Stories
10:50 10Respect the Reader's Intelligence
17:15 11Identifying Your Theme
14:31 12The Ariel View
29:43 13What is My Story About?
27:05 14When You Aren't Used to be Being Centre of Attention
19:28 15Be Lady Godiva
26:24 16How I Wrote My Memoir
08:06 17Step One: Not Writing
03:17 18The Big Idea
20:06 19Point of Entry : Aerial View
11:16 20Writing a Scene
04:33 21How to Show the Passing of Time in your Writing
03:22 22The More Happens, the Less that Needs to be Said
06:24 23You're Not Always the Hero
04:27 24The Internal Landing Place
10:06 25Questions
10:25Lesson Info
How to Show the Passing of Time in your Writing
An unlikely digression, you know, this is the kind of thing you get to do in a memoir that you don't so much in an essay. You get to go off the track a little bit as long as you know what the track is. You never lose sight of the track. There is a section of The Best of Us in which Jim is not yet sick, he hasn't had the diagnosis, but he's having trouble in his law practice. He's not getting very many clients, he's gone into private practice mostly so he can take more trips with me, and he's not much of a rainmaker, and a guy comes to him who's seeking legal advice with an absolutely impossible case that is completely outside of his field of expertise. He was an estate attorney, and this was an African man from Nigeria who'd been kicked out of medical school perhaps very unfairly, and I persuaded Jim, who could always be persuaded by me, to take on his case for absolute pro bono. And I made the promise that I would work with him and help him on this case if he would take on this case. ...
And I tell the story of this impossible lost cause of the case, which occupied us completely for about three months, and which we did spectacularly lose, and there's a key moment in that scene in which we're sitting, I pretended that I was Jim's legal assistant when we went into this hearing with the hospital board, and I'm wearing a thrift shop suit, and I'm sitting next to him carrying a borrowed briefcase, and he's looking, you know he is looking like a lawyer 'cause he is a lawyer, and I had done a lot of research, so I'm passing him notes frantically, and they're completely shooting down all the stuff. They're being really, really cold. This was not actually a court of law, this was a hospital board that we were fighting. And at one point, they were being so awful, that I sent him, I passed him a note that said, this is a mind fuck. (audience laughs) I hope you can say that on CreativeLive. I pass him a note that says, this is a mind fuck, and Jim, the most restrained, proper, sort of you know, well-trained lawyer, San Francisco lawyer says, looks up, and in kind of a daze, and he says, this is a mind fuck. (audience laughs) And then I see this look of horror come over his face. He can't believe himself that he said this. (audience laughs) Well, we lost the case of course, and he actually did get, he was reported to the California bar, as people who are attorneys know that you know, he was cited and it was okay. You know he didn't lose his license, but does that story belong there? Actually, yes, and not just because it's a funny anecdote. That's not, or funny, sad, many things. It belongs there, number one, it says something about Jim, who he was, that he would take on this case, and that he worked on it every bit as hard as he would have if he was getting $450 an hour. But it also said something about the way Jim was with me. That if I passed him a note that said, this is a mind fuck, he read that note. He trusted me that much. (audience laughs) (sighs) So the unlikely digression. On occasion, sparingly, let yourself take them.
Ratings and Reviews
Michelle Foulia
I've been working on my memoir for over a year and was close to the end of the first draft. This amazing class is filled with so much wisdom and excellent teaching. I have watched all the videos back to back, made plenty of notes and loved every moment. I am really grateful I bought this class before moving any further with my memoir as sadly I definitely need to start from scratch. As frustrating as that is, I am relieved it happened now and I can use all this knowledge in the rewrite. I also can't wait to read Joyce Maynard's books. Brilliant!
Doris Freeston
Excellent course! Joyce Maynard provides valuable insights and practical instruction in the art of memoir writing, while telling her own stories, with grace, humility and humour. Thank you, Joyce.
Tammy Adams
I've watched this course twice now and have gotten something new from it both times. Joyce is not boring in her delivery and shares a practical breakdown of how to write a memoir. She's a great teacher in the art.