Writing Your Life Story? Start in the Middle
S
o you want to grandmother heating write a memoir. water in an oval tub on Where do you the wood stove and start? Start in the having a strong man middle. Start with tote it to the back something that tickles yard. Monday was your fancy. wash day. Another Ruby wrote of ice tub of warm water skating on the lake, sat nearby in which BY FRANCES S. DAYEE then helping her to rinse the clothes. family cut and haul blocks of ice to the ice house. Bluing was put in a rinse for white clothes. Hand wringing We watched her family layer a base of hay on which to was the next chore, then clothes were pegged to the bed the ice. We saw them hanging meat from the rafters. clothesline. Sue told about her father asking her to dive from What was your first washing machine like? Mine was a the high board she’d previously jumped from, and how wringer washer. I still had to rinse in a separate tub but the she froze. She didn’t want to disappoint her father, an wringer removed the extra water. I still hung my clothes accomplished diver, so she put her arms out and dived. from a clothesline. Then I graduated to a washer and dryer. The belly flop was heard around the world, but the smile What a saver that was. of pride on her father’s face convinced Sue to dive again Perhaps you went hunting with your favorite uncle and and again and again until she also became accomplished. he taught you how to track and shoot. Or did your dad Almuht showed the determination of her mother who teach you how to fly fish in a cold mountain stream? tracked a jaguar in the jungles of Brazil to reclaim uneaten Keep writing the stories as you think of them, stories parts of the sheep it had stolen from their meager herd. you feel. You don’t need to touch every facet of your life. “My life isn’t that exciting,” you may say. But it is to those You can reveal the skeletons in the closet . . . or not. Write who have not lived it. Your existence holds treasures. to please yourself. How did you react the day President Kennedy was One day you will have enough, and it will be time to shot? We all remember where we were when we heard arrange the pieces in order. The result will be your memoir. the dreaded news. And that will be the time to sit back with pride, knowing Did you follow the space race? How did you feel when you accomplished your goal and created a lasting legacy. we landed on the moon? Were you glued to the TV? Did But for now, it’s fine to start in the middle! you hear the words, “That’s one small step for man, one Frances Dayee’s manuscript critique classes have been available locally for over 16 years. Her expertise has produced both fiction and nonfiction published giant leap for mankind,” spoken by Neil Armstrong? writers. Frances has published three books; a column called Love and Popcorn, As you write, you will be reminded of other times of for a Canadian magazine; and numerous nonfiction articles. Contact Frances your life that impacted you. Perhaps it was watching your at fsdayee@yahoo.com.
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3rd Act magazine | fall 2017
www.3rdActMag.com