Timetables

I have been writing my childhood memories and the dates do not seem to jive with my memory.  All I can say is “thank goodness my mother is still alive to straighten me out”!  As a graduated historian I am a stickler for dates and accuracy but some memories go way back and must be real.  How does a person reconcile all of that?

Oh yes, that is what becomes a “true-life novel”.  I first heard that expression being used for the book “Half Broke Horses” by Jeannette Walls, author of “The Glass House”.  Ms. Walls developed her grandmother’s story as a partial novel by using memories of hers and those who knew the grandmother.  The book is really wonderful and the reader doesn’t care about accuracy since the story still rings true.  A writer has to get over her peculiar quirks on always wanting to be right.  A right writer, is that an oxymoron?

            In this last year I have really found myself falling back into good writing habits.  A lot of the credit must go to my writing coach, Karen Rowe (of Front Rowe Seat), but I also reflect back on Stephen King’s book “On Writing” where he says that one is not a writer unless one is writing every day.  It really is true that the more I have been writing the more like a writer I feel.  I got a lovely compliment from my sister last night when she said that since my second Writers’ Retreat my blog has become more interesting and my writing has improved considerably.  Again, I have to thank my coach for giving me Permission to be Sanne! 

            You see, I had been hesitant about writing too many anecdotes because I thought they would bore people and to my surprise those were the bits in my writing that Karen liked the best!  And lo and behold, these are the blogs that I am getting my best reviews and comments from.  Who knew? 

            So please bear with me for a few days while I search my mother’s memory (oh to have Dumbledore’s memory wand) before beginning on some more “accurate” memories. 

            Stay tuned tomorrow . . . it is my one year anniversary in writing (consistently) on this blog!