Memories & Memoirs
blogs by Linda Joy Myers
Honoring International Women’s Day and the Women Who Shaped Me
In my book Song of the Plains–a Memoir of Family, Secrets, and Silence, I investigate these histories–the personal and the cultural. The history of where we came from and what we lived through marks us all. I inherited broken links, missing stories, lost narratives, lies and pregnant silences.
Quilting Your Memoir
Writing a memoir means exploring who we are and where we came from, entering the unknown on our journey and discovering ourselves. It means striking out for the gold of truth and honesty, exposure and even a spiritual journey that leads us away from known territory.
The Past Shapes the Present—Understanding Family by Writing Your memoir
While you write your memoir, your family and childhood come to life on the page. As the narrator, you present the significant things that shaped you through your own eyes and your own point of view.
Writing with a Beginner’s Mind
In his book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki writes about freeing the mind through meditation, creating the possibility of a fresh and truly open mind, especially when approaching new things. He says that we should look at everything with curiosity and acceptance and be vulnerable enough and strong enough to not know everything, to withstand discomfort, to be humble.
Why You Need to Write your Memoir
What are the stories that call out to you? Moments that shaped you into who you are now? What voices tell you to write them, and what forces stop you? What I learned in wrestling with my inner critic is that writing will cure it.
Breaking Your Silence—How to Get Past Fear
Fear--everyone experiences an uncomfortable tension, a flutter in the stomach, when they think about writing about their lives and revealing themselves. But most of us come to the page with a need--to explore our lives and memories. To understand something. To muse...
Meet Linda Joy Myers
Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D. is the founder and president of the National Association of Memoir Writers and the author of The Power of Memoir–How to Write Your Healing Story and Journey of Memoir. Her memoir Don’t Call Me Mother–A Daughter’s Journey from Abandonment to Forgiveness is a ForeWord Book of the Year finalist, and won honorable mention in the New York Book Awards and Indie-Excellence contest.
Linda has been a therapist in Berkeley for thirty-eight years, and combines her background in art, clinical work, and writing in her work. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College, and offers memoir workshops and trainings in the Bay Area and nationally. She is former president of the California Writers Club, Marin branch, and a member of Women’s National Book Association. Myers is an award-winning fiction, poetry, and non-fiction writer. Her first book Becoming Whole: Writing Your Healing Story was a ForeWord Book of the Year finalist.
Workshops & Classes
How to Write a Memoir that Bares Your Soul (And Spares No One)–Free Webinar
What Made Love Warrior a Best-Selling Memoir? A Free Webinar Monday, April 17, 4 PM PDT/7 PM EDT With Brooke Warner and Linda Joy Myers of WriteYourMemoirInSixMonths.com To sign up, Click here: http://writeyourbookinsixmonths.com/love-warrior-free-webinar In Love...