Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lisa Rivero on September 11, 2010 at 4:21pm

Here's mine:

Twitter

Hattie's blog (I post selected family diary entries there, but want to work on making it more informative, as well, so as to point agents toward it when I'm at that point)

Facebook Author Page - very new, so very naked for now :)

Permalink Reply by Judith van Praag on September 12, 2010 at 12:19pm

Hi Lisa,
Visited Hattie's Blog. Interesting in that you can post her journal entries because they tell so little yet promise more. What occurred to me was how much she kept to herself, how much she thought but dared not write. Great opportunity for you to jump in and come up with her inner thoughts, that shed light on secrets and explain euphemisms.
In the September post about washing her hair "for the first time since misfortune in May" I initially thought perhaps she had a miscarriage, but no, she'd tumbled in a hole.
Also, Hattie married rather late, at age 38.
I think you're letting your imagination go wild with the material?
Mmmh. fun!

Permalink Reply by Nancy Hinchliff on September 11, 2010 at 6:32pm

Lisa, I love Hattie's blog...interesting the way you have the dates and events organized. I also like your facebook page.

To be honest, I am somewhat tentative about putting all that information out there for just anyone to see or read. I've already posted most of my guest stories and some of my recipes over the past year or so and gotten a lot of feed back. But I'm at the point now where I'm actually writing the book, prologue, epilogue, connective text and personal recalling, etc and I don't feel that I want to expose my book for all to see at this point...may an excerpt or a summary...but to make my memoir blog accessible to all makes me a little nervous. Am I being overly careful?

BTW, this is the definition I'm using for memoir (and this in essence is the kind of memoir I'm writing):

… Focus on a brief period of time or series of related events

… Narrative structure, including many of the usual elements of storytelling such as setting, plot development, imagery, conflict, characterization, foreshadowing and flashback, and irony and symbolism

… The writer’s contemplation of the meaning of these events in retrospect

… A fictional quality even though the story is true

… Higher emotional level

… More personal reconstruction of the events and their impact

… Therapeutic experience for the memoirist, especially when the memoir is of the crisis or survival type of memoir

Permalink Reply by Lisa Rivero on September 12, 2010 at 5:39am

Nancy, you bring up some wonderful points here. I share some of the same questions you do about what is good to share publicly before a book is accepted/published... or not. I started Hattie's Blog (thanks for the kind words about that, btw) only as a way to share what I was transcribing with my dad and his siblings and any other relatives who are interested. It's become a great source of joy for them, as well as for neighbors in the area who remember Hattie and Will. Because there are so darn many entries (lol), I am picking and choosing quite selectively what to publish, often making decisions based on the people she writes about and what might tickle them. But I am leaving parts out that I want to focus on more in my book. For example, she was in the hospital for a goiter operation in 1936 and writes some alternatingly poignant and hilarious stories about her stay there, which I want to turn into a "real life" short story. I'm leaving most of those entries off the blog, so that the material isn't "out there" ahead of time.

In short, I don't think you are being overly careful at all. The transcription I'm doing isn't at all what my book will be, which will be (I think!) a hybrid of my experience of working with the diaries, short stories and poetry based on some of the entries, and some more straight-forward non-fiction chapters that give background and historical information (kind of like The Worst Hard Times in that respect).

[note: I just read your other reply about password protection for blogs---something I have considered, too]

I'm really glad you raised the question about sharing work in progress, because I'm always surprised when I see large portions of authors' work on the web. I had thought that it would constitute as the work's being previously published and might make it less likely for an agent or publisher to be interested. I think I am mistaken, at least in part, though. The publishing world is changing so fast! I'd really be curious to have others weigh in on this, too.

I love your definition of a memoir! It helps me, because I'm not sure how to categorize my work in my proposal (and I know that "hybrid" will be the kiss of death, lol). Have you considered putting that definition up as a She Writes community blog post?

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Swan on September 12, 2010 at 6:10am

Hi Lisa!
This is a great suggestion. I have written a memoir based on a controversial event in my family's history. My blog/website is www.jenniferswan.net and I'm on twitter with the handle: @authorjswan. I am also on facebook; just search author Jennifer Swan to find my "like" page. :)
I look forward to learning more about the other members of our small, but mighty, group. Lisa, as you know, I'm familiar with your work and enoy your regular blog posts!

- Jen Swan

Permalink Reply by Lisa Rivero on September 12, 2010 at 6:21am

Jen, thank you! I really encourage everyone to visit Jen's website and read about her fascinating project. I hadn't realized you had a Facebook author page, so I just joined (liked? the terminology is not very graceful, lol).

Permalink Reply by Nancy Hinchliff on September 12, 2010 at 7:26am

Jennifer, Went to your site....so interesting with lots of good things to read and think about. I love the excerpt you wrote...sounds like your memoir will be very compelling. And, BTW, you are such a good writer.....really enjoyed reading your posts.

Love the quote by Edison:" Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something"

I've been struggling with whether or not to open my beginning writings of my memoir on my blog. I think putting excerpts out there is a good idea. Right now, what I have posted is password protected. I don't think the personal stories would tempt anyone to plagiarize, just thought maybe the format might.

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Swan on September 12, 2010 at 8:02am

Hi there,

Yes, it is worrisome posting hard work on a website for anyone to read. I've thought long & hard about whether my story could be stolen, etc. In fact, I had a "hollywood" type reach out to say he was already in the process of producing the Necedah (Virgin Mary apparitions) into a movie. He wanted to colaborate. I did a search on the guy and found out he was some horror-house-creep wanting to sensationalize the story. I chose to ignore, but it prompted my post: "Sell Crazy Someplace Else".
It's a balance between getting your work out there and hoping no one does anything stupid.

Take care and thank you for your kind remarks - looking forward to your writing,

Jennifer

Permalink Reply by Nancy Hinchliff on September 12, 2010 at 9:01am

This is exactly what I'm talking about. I don't see anyone stealing my content, because it is so confined to me, my bed and breakfast and my guests. The events were not that public. What I'm concerned about is that someone might decide to use the format of my book, which I think is somewhat original. Haven't seen another one like it out there, although I'm still looking.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Rivero on September 12, 2010 at 10:14am

One thing I've been thinking of doing as I am putting the final touches on my proposal, and that your thoughts here prompted me to do this weekend, is to post a short excerpt on Scribd: http://www.scribd.com/doc/37267643/Prologue-U-S-Highway-18. Has anyone else done that? It was easier than I thought to do, and it seems a good way to get both feedback and, possible, reader interest to use when approaching an agent.

Permalink Reply by Nancy Hinchliff on September 12, 2010 at 10:37am

I went there and checked it out and couldn't figure out how to use it. Sounds like a good idea though.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Rivero on September 12, 2010 at 1:27pm

Oops! In trying to fix some settings, I lost the original upload. Here is the new URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/37302748/Prologue-U-S-Highway-18