What’s that you say?

Do I have something to say?

I’ve always had the sneaking suspicion that I did have something worth saying. I mean, doesn’t everyone? Unfortunately, growing up being told that, as a female, my contributions were mostly irrelevant led to not a little bit of cognitive dissonance. I’ve got things to say but does anyone actually want to hear them?

Obviously, I’m not a great listener because I’ve always insisted on saying what was on my mind regardless of whether there was an audience. (Hence the novel that has sold just under 100 copies…)

I am slowly finding my voice, despite the occasional ugly-head-rearing from my childhood, telling me no one wants to hear what I have to say. Stephen King says our first million words are trash, so I’m getting that word count under my belt so I can get to the good stuff…

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Synchronicity happens!

As I prepare to have another crack at my memoir, I posted in a writer’s group on Facebook yesterday, asking for suggestions on great memoirs. I have a huge list to read now. I’ve started with Diana, Herself by Martha Beck. Crossed out are the ones I have read…

I’d better get reading…

• Wild – Cheryl Strayed
• Bird By Bird – Anne Lamott
• Fierce Attachments – Vivian Gornick
• Lucky Man – Michael J Fox
• Paper Houses – Michele Roberts
• The Best of Us – Joyce Maynard
• This Boy’s Life – Tobias Wolff
• Diary of A Young Girl – Anne Frank
• Snow in August – Pete Hamill
• Coast of Chicago – Stuart Dybek
• Heartburn – Nora Ephron
• The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien
• The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
• Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas – Hunter S. Thompson
• On The Road – Jack Kerouac
• Joy Luck Club – Amy Tan
• Operating Instructions – Anne Lamott
• Herstories anthologies
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith
• Old School – Tobias Wolff.
• (And a non-fiction novel) In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
• The Art of Time in Memoir – Sven Birkerts
• The Art of Memoir – Mary Karr
• For A Thousand Generations – Ellen Corcoran Hart
• Bald in the Land of Big Hair – Joni Rodgers
• Dear Reflection: I Never Meant to Be a Rebel – Jessica Bell
• The Glass Castle – Jeannette Walls
• Shot in the Heart – Mikal Gilmore
• The Liar’s Club – Mary Karr
• Eat Pray Love – Elizabeth Gilbert
• Hillbilly Elegy – JD Vance
• and The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

As always, the universe seems to deliver what we need, when we need it if we are paying attention. I queue podcasts weeks in advance. I always have way more shows lined up than I have time to listen, so it’s always a buzz when something pops up that really speaks to what’s on my mind right at that moment. (Once I was halfway home from work, driving very carefully with a very smashed-up toe after a little accident, and a guy on an Inspire Nation podcast began talking about something…oh I can’t remember now, but he said “Are you aware of what your right big toe is doing right now?” Ha! Yes, only too aware at that moment!)

Anyway, On The Beautiful Writer‘s podcast, Linda and Danielle interviewed legendary writing guru Robert Mckee. It felt like he was speaking directly to me. Especially the bit about not writing to be liked…whoops…  Any writers reading this blog (is there anyone out there?) need to listen to this interview!

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