The truth cuts deeper than a lie, but it cuts only once.
Tell the truth.
Today's truth is:
Merry Christmas to all and the very best in 2015.
-The Management
Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
A Mixed Memoir
I’m trying my hand at a memoir. It’s not as simple as it sounds on the surface: find something interesting in your life and write about it.
That’s the basis for it. It’s up to me to make it interesting, compelling, and worth the readers’ investment of time and money. It has to go beyond feeding my ego to serving the greater good. If nothing else I must fool myself into believing that notion.
We can whine about the events of our lives. Each of us has his or her share of glory and misery. It’s not what happens to us in life; it’s what we do with it.
Our choice is simple. We can stay back and be miserable sucking the life and joy from our friends and family as they console and cajole us or mine our life experiences for growth and change. I’ve known many people who choose the former. I understand that’s where they are in their growth, and they are learning something, but I prefer to avoid these energy vampires. They are bad for me.
That said, we all need a hug now and again and some assurance that we are loved and accepted. Memoirists dredge up a great deal of refuse when they mine their lives. We need our share of hugs and reassurance, and then some.
As I write more I remember more. One life scene leads to something else and I find myself slapping my forehead and shouting, “Yes. Yes. That’s right.”
I also have to step back from some of the memories and ask if it really needs to be written. So far the more painful the memory the more it must be put down in writing. Generally if they hurt they are important. They’ll be most interesting to readers, will do me the most good to set down in print, and are the truth of my life.
What would be the point of writing a memoir if I try to organize it as though I grew up in the Happy Fuzzy Bunny Universe? It wouldn’t sell and it if did no reader would believe it.
I never wanted to write about growing up with a mentally unstable, violent sibling, but it is the truth. I wanted only to write about the good odd things like seeing a clown drawn in grease pencil on the barn wall. It’s not really there, but I remember watching the lovely being draw it, and I remember clearly seeing it as I’d walk in the barn. It is also the truth.
The only way for me is to write about the violence and the oddness together. It can be believed or not as suits a reader’s comfort level.
As one of my guides told me told me during a meditation a few months ago, “Write the truth or not at all.”
That’s the basis for it. It’s up to me to make it interesting, compelling, and worth the readers’ investment of time and money. It has to go beyond feeding my ego to serving the greater good. If nothing else I must fool myself into believing that notion.
We can whine about the events of our lives. Each of us has his or her share of glory and misery. It’s not what happens to us in life; it’s what we do with it.
Our choice is simple. We can stay back and be miserable sucking the life and joy from our friends and family as they console and cajole us or mine our life experiences for growth and change. I’ve known many people who choose the former. I understand that’s where they are in their growth, and they are learning something, but I prefer to avoid these energy vampires. They are bad for me.
That said, we all need a hug now and again and some assurance that we are loved and accepted. Memoirists dredge up a great deal of refuse when they mine their lives. We need our share of hugs and reassurance, and then some.
As I write more I remember more. One life scene leads to something else and I find myself slapping my forehead and shouting, “Yes. Yes. That’s right.”
I also have to step back from some of the memories and ask if it really needs to be written. So far the more painful the memory the more it must be put down in writing. Generally if they hurt they are important. They’ll be most interesting to readers, will do me the most good to set down in print, and are the truth of my life.
What would be the point of writing a memoir if I try to organize it as though I grew up in the Happy Fuzzy Bunny Universe? It wouldn’t sell and it if did no reader would believe it.
I never wanted to write about growing up with a mentally unstable, violent sibling, but it is the truth. I wanted only to write about the good odd things like seeing a clown drawn in grease pencil on the barn wall. It’s not really there, but I remember watching the lovely being draw it, and I remember clearly seeing it as I’d walk in the barn. It is also the truth.
The only way for me is to write about the violence and the oddness together. It can be believed or not as suits a reader’s comfort level.
As one of my guides told me told me during a meditation a few months ago, “Write the truth or not at all.”
Monday, February 19, 2007
Is Being A Beta Reader Scary?
I wonder if I scared my friends.
Last June I approached several people to read my manuscript. I listed what I wanted them to check for as they read.
Grammar wasn’t on the list for most of them. I have one faithful beta whose grammar skills outpace most everyone else currently walking the Earth. Her instructions included “read it with a red pen.”
Mostly I wanted the readers to tell me if the manuscript made sense. Was it interesting? Engaging?
Did I contradict myself anywhere?
If you’d spent money to read this, would you demand it back?
I’ve discussed books with these people. I know they have opinions, strong ones, about what they read and that’s what I wanted.
I get that it’s difficult for most people to blurt out the brutal truth, but that’s what I was after. If I don’t know there’s a problem, how can I fix it?
I tried to get a good cross-section of readers. Some were new agey and aware of meditation and hypnosis, others not so much.
Red pen reader was happy to do it and, though kind, told me the truth. Most everyone else seemed reluctant. Many still did it, although one who initially agreed later said she didn’t have time to do it. Was it really a time issue, or did the manuscript bore her silly? I didn’t ask. Maybe I didn’t want to know.
If you read books, then you have an opinion on them. That’s my idea when I look for betas.
When I’m asked my opinion, I give it. I’ve occasionally tried to be kind about it, though I can’t really pull that off.
I’d rather hear the truth as it is than have anything sugar-coated. It’s what I’d like to get back, especially from betas.
Last June I approached several people to read my manuscript. I listed what I wanted them to check for as they read.
Grammar wasn’t on the list for most of them. I have one faithful beta whose grammar skills outpace most everyone else currently walking the Earth. Her instructions included “read it with a red pen.”
Mostly I wanted the readers to tell me if the manuscript made sense. Was it interesting? Engaging?
Did I contradict myself anywhere?
If you’d spent money to read this, would you demand it back?
I’ve discussed books with these people. I know they have opinions, strong ones, about what they read and that’s what I wanted.
I get that it’s difficult for most people to blurt out the brutal truth, but that’s what I was after. If I don’t know there’s a problem, how can I fix it?
I tried to get a good cross-section of readers. Some were new agey and aware of meditation and hypnosis, others not so much.
Red pen reader was happy to do it and, though kind, told me the truth. Most everyone else seemed reluctant. Many still did it, although one who initially agreed later said she didn’t have time to do it. Was it really a time issue, or did the manuscript bore her silly? I didn’t ask. Maybe I didn’t want to know.
If you read books, then you have an opinion on them. That’s my idea when I look for betas.
When I’m asked my opinion, I give it. I’ve occasionally tried to be kind about it, though I can’t really pull that off.
I’d rather hear the truth as it is than have anything sugar-coated. It’s what I’d like to get back, especially from betas.
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