Memoir - No Guts No Glory

"Dark is a way and light is a place,

Heaven that never was

Nor will be ever is always true"

- Dylan Thomas

 This is the quote found at the beginning of the poignant, heart tugging memoir - The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. This book has been out for awhile so I won't do a book review, but I enjoyed this book a lot. Walls' childhood is shocking and horrible yet at the same time inspiring and endearing. From the very first scene it compelled me to keep reading. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it. Oh, I do have to warn you that there is a lot of profanity and some sexual content.

This book has turned my thoughts to memoir writing. Do you write memoir? Have you ever written yours? When I first began writing all I knew was that I wanted to write, but I didn't know what to write about. Of course we've all heard - write what we know, so that's what I did. I wrote stories from my childhood. The problem was, I found I couldn't be honest. The stark reality and details were too personal and they involved other people so I felt I couldn't be honest. I turned my childhood stories into fiction, because I knew complete honesty would hurt people.  In an interview I read about Walls she stated that she wouldn't have been able to write this book while her father was alive. I think I would need to wait even longer. Luckily I lost interest in writing my memoirs when inspiration struck and I began writing my novel. But still I wonder about people who write memoir. I admire their courage and honesty, but I wonder if they change any names to protect the innocent or if they get permission from every person who is in the book. I'm sure some of them experience backlash if their book becomes popular and I wonder how they deal with it.

On a slightly different topic, I'm rather dense when it comes to poetry - so will you share your thoughts with me on what you think the above poem by Dylan Thomas means.

Is Reading An Enemy to Writing?

I read two books this week. That use to be the norm for me, but ever since I started writing it's been hard to find a book that can pull me in. My mind is too full of my own story I guess. But these two books I could not put down:

Since probably most of you have read or at the very least heard of these books, I won't bore you with a review. 

I'll just say this:  These books are well paced and unique. The world is fully realized and fascinating. The main characters are both likable and disturbing at the same time(like all of us). Mostly what I enjoyed was the way Cashore wrote the story -- it's very well crafted. Her writing is clear and concise -- barely a wasted word. It wasn't literary, but her descriptions are vivid and lovely. 

This now brings me to the point of the title of this post. I'd hoped to do a lot of writing this week. I made a goal to write 10,000 words. I didn't really believe I'd write that much, but it gave me something to shoot for. But since I had a hard time putting these books down, I only wrote 4,309 words. I also felt a little discouraged. Does good writing ever do that to you? I almost want to give up writing because it's so hard for me to believe that I'll ever write anything worth reading. I did keep writing though, but only after I reminded myself that even great writers have first drafts that suck. Well, at least that's what they tell us. Do you think they might be saying that to make the rest of us feel better?

Even though I didn't reach my goal of 10,000 words, I'm still pleased with the writing I did. I started this week with my WIP at around 46,000 words and I am now at 50,221 words. I've written a NaNoWriMo novel and it only took me 10 months - awesome I know. Too bad I still have 30,000 more words to go until I'm done. I did get past the part I was stuck in though, and I added 16 pages to my WIP. I may not have met my goal, but I think that's worth a pat on the back.

For the record, I don't really believe that reading is an enemy to writing. I actually learned a lot this week by reading those books, so it really wasn't time wasted. I believe that reading good writing can help us fine tune our own. So keep reading everyone.

I'm still trying to stay unplugged this week so I won't be commenting on your blogs. Hope all is well with everyone. Maybe I'll reach that 10,000 this week.

Happy writing!!

An Element of Truth In Every Great Lie

"It's no wonder truth is stranger than fiction, fiction has to make sense." - 
Mark Twain

Lie #1-

In my early days of learning to ride a motorcycle, I hit a rock that was on the side of the trail. The motorcycle stopped and I kept going. As I flew over the bike my shirt somehow got stuck on the handlebars and when I landed in a heap on the ground my shirt was completely off.

This lie is almost true except for the end. I couldn't find a picture of me on a motorcycle, so I used a picture of my hubbie. As you can see, the helmets we wear make it impossible for a shirt to come completely off, but what did happen is just as strange. As I flew over the motorcycle, somehow the handlebars went underneath my bra and pulled it off. I even had a rub burn that went up the center of my chest.

Lie #2 

When I was 14 I went to St. Louis, MO with my family and we went up in The Gateway Arch. There were five of us, but there were six seats in the elevator. A really hot guy about my age took the 6th seat. We found out the guy's name was Ryan and he was on Holiday with his mom, but she was afraid of heights and refused to go up. He had an adorable English accent. The elevator was small and it tipped back and forth with a loud clanking noise as it rose to the top. I'm not usually squeamish, but with the combination of the chili dog I had just eaten and the claustrophobic feel of the egg-shaped room I ended up puking all over poor Ryan.

There's some truth in this one. I have been to the St. Louis Arch, but I was younger than 14. The elevator only seats five and it does have a claustrophobic feel and tips back and forth with a loud clanking noise that is unnerving. I didn't puke on anyone though. I did meet a cute guy from England when I was 14, but we were on vacation in California at the time. I can't remember his name, but he was on Holiday with his dad and he did have an adorable accent. We stayed at the same hotel. I had a picture of him, but I couldn't find it. He gave me his address and I'm not sure why I never wrote him. 

Lie #3

We've been remodeling our house for ten years. About five years ago we remodeled our basement apt. When my husband opened up the wall where the stove had been, the electrical wire was so old it snapped in two. Sparks flew everywhere catching the wall on fire.

Everything is true in this except for the end. The electrical wire did snap, but my hubbie had turned the electricity off. No sparks, and no fire.

Lie #4

I smoked my first cigarette when I was 12 and liked it so much I kept smoking all through my teenage years and into my 20's. I knew I wanted to have children so I finally quit smoking a year before I got pregnant. To this day I can't smell cigarette smoke without wanting to take a drag.

The only thing true about this one is I smoked a cigarette when I was 11 or 12. I hated it though. It burned my throat and the whole thing was miserable. I tried it a couple of other times after that, because I thought the cool thing to do was smoke. It seemed like almost everyone I knew smoked. All of my 5 siblings smoked. Luckily I was smart enough to say - "This sucks. I hate this," and didn't do it anymore. My sisters  both quit before they had children, but my brothers haven't been able to.

Lie #5 

I love Harrison Ford. One year I was at the Sundance Film Festival here in Utah and I saw Harrison Ford. I was so excited, I ran down the street yelling his name. I was nearly at his side when a huge arm thrust out in front of me. It felt like I'd hit a brick wall and I fell to the ground. A bald guy with a big mean face leaned over me and said, "Mr. Ford appreciates all his fans, but he does not wish to be accosted at this time."

The only thing true about this one is - I love Harrison Ford. I've never even been to The Sundance Film Festival. I have been to the waterfall Loree mentioned in the comments and it is definitely worth the hike.

Now For the Truth

I met my husband when I moved into an apt. with his niece who was only three years younger than him. I didn't actually meet him until I'd lived there a week, but in that time I heard a lot about him and I went to my roommate's birthday party where I met his entire family. When we finally did meet I felt like I already knew him and thought, he's The One.

 

Simmering

"It is worth mentioning, for future reference, that the creative power which bubbles so pleasantly in beginning a new book quiets down after a time, and one goes on more steadily. Doubts creep in. Then one becomes resigned. Determination not to give in, and the sense of an impending shape keep one at it more than anything." - Virginia Woolf

 

The above picture came up when I typed writers block into photobucket. The title of the picture is Broken Dreams. Wow - depressing huh. The funny thing is, that image doesn't make me think of writer's block or broken dreams. It makes me think of a writer sitting quietly in her own house, but with her imagination she is creating strange and interesting worlds.  

Now you're all probably assuming this post is about writer's block. Your assumption is only partly right. The truth is I don't know what this post is about. I've been staring at the screen trying to decide what to post and my head hurts.  Today was also the first day I've written anything in my novel for a week. I've thought about it though. The characters and plot ideas are simmering in my brain and today I had a breakthrough. But now I think I'm getting sick and my head is pounding, so I may need to let my thoughts simmer a little longer. Is that writer's block? Maybe, but some of my best ideas have come when I let them simmer.

The Past Has Passed

Past Vs. Passed

The car whizzed past me.  
 VS 
The car whizzed passed me.

Which one is correct? I pretty sure it's the first one, but I'm not absolutely sure. Does anyone else struggle with the correct usage of past and passed?

I didn't think I had a problem with it until I put a sentence similar to the one above in my story.  I originally used past, but later I thought I was wrong and changed it to passed. Recently, my critique buddy noticed it and said it should be past, so I changed it back.  I kept thinking about it though and now I'm not sure she's right. Oh, it's so confusing.

Take a look at this sentence:

The car passed me. 

I'm fairly certain it's not:

The car past me.

But, what if it's like this:

The car went past me.

Or should it be:

The car went passed me.

Oh My Gosh! Is your head hurting right now? Mine is.

I borrowed some tips from the Daily Writing Tips blog to help us understand passed and past better.

Past – relates to location

The word past locates something in time, and sometimes in space.
It can be used as an adjective, noun, or adverb.
“Past” as an adjective
The first definition which the OED(Oxford English Dictionary) gives for past as an adjective is “Gone by in time; elapsed; done with; over.” For example:

• “The days for mourning are now past.”

When attributed to a group of people, past can also mean “Having served one’s term of office; former.” (OED)

• “All past presidents of the United States were male.”

And in grammar, we have more examples of past being used as an adjective, such as in “past tense” and “past participle”.
“Past” as a noun
The main meaning for the noun form of past, given by the OED, is “The time that has gone by; a time, or all of the time, before the present.”

• “In the past, standards were higher.”
• “We cannot live in the past.”

“Past” as a preposition
As a preposition, past can mean: “Beyond in time; after; beyond the age for or time of; (in stating the time of day) so many minutes, or a quarter or half of an hour, after a particular hour.” (OED)

• “It is almost half past five.”

It can also be used for location: “Beyond in place; further on than; at or on the further side of; to a point beyond.” (OED)

• “My house is the one just past the turning.”

“Past” as an adverb
The first meaning the OED cites for past being used as an adverb is “So as to pass or go by; by.” For example:

• “The ball sped past the goalkeeper.”

Passed – a verb in the past tense

Passed is the past participle of the verb “to pass”. It can be an intransitive verb (one which doesn’t require an object) or a transitive verb (one which requires both a subject and one or more objects).
“To pass” means “To proceed, move forward, depart; to cause to do this.” (OED) This can refer to movement forwards in time, in space, or in life (such as “to pass an examination”).
For example:

• “The weeks passed quickly.” (Intransitive: subject “the weeks” and no object).
• “I passed all my exams!” (Transitive: subject “I” and object “my exams”.)
• “He passed the ball well during the match earlier.” (Transitive: subject “He” and object “the ball”.)

When do “past” and “passed” get confused?

Often, writers muddle the words past and passed in sentences such as:

• “The heroes passed a village on their way towards the mountains.”

It’s common to see this written as:

• “The heroes past a village on their way towards the mountains.”

But the word should be passed, as (in this sentence) it’s the past participle of the verb “to pass”. An easy way to tell is to rewrite the sentence in the present tense, as though you’re describing something which is happening currently:

• “The heroes pass a village on their way towards the mountains.”
• or “The heroes are passing a village on their way towards the mountains.”

However, if you wrote:

• “The heroes walked past a village on their way towards the mountains.”

It’s correct to use past. The verb in this sentence is “walked”, and the “past” is acting as an adverb.

Unusual uses of the word “passed”

Most of the time, passed is a verb, as described above. There are a few occasions when it can be used as a noun or an adjective, though. For example:

• “Don’t speak ill of the passed.” (noun)
  - This comes from the phrase “passed-away”.
• “A passed pawn” (adjective)
  - Term used in chess.
• “A passed ball” (adjective)
  - Term used in baseball.
• “A passed midshipman/fireman/surgeon” (adjective)
  - Someone who has passed a period of instruction and qualified through examination – apparently this usage arose in the navy.

Clear as mud, right? When all else fails just pass on using either one.