SMMay 2008 Newsletter
| SM |
May 2008 Newsletter |
|
|
|
|
HOME COURSES MESSAGE BOARDS
BOOKS ETC. ADMIN Coached by Carol Celeste
© 2008 Carol Celeste Disclaimer
|
 |
Writing to Heal,Writing to GrowSM
CONTENTS
Greetings to all and welcome new subscribers.
Summer has arrived in Southern California, just in time for the annual Festival of Books. Over 100,000 people visit the UCLA campus the last weekend in April each year to celebrate the written word. This year we also celebrated the lemonade sellers who strolled amid booths and buildings with trays of cool refreshment hanging from their necks. Temperatures topped 90 degrees but massive ancient trees provided a touch of shade. And most of the events occurred in air conditioned rooms. Whatever your taste in writing there was a panel to satisfy your literary appetite, including several on memoirs. Perhaps one day you will be a panelist at the Festival of Books. But first you must collect your memories and write about them.
In each newsletter I include paying markets for personal writing. Many of them are anthologies, collections of stories by many people usually complied and edited by someone other than the writers. If you have trouble expressing your own stories, or don’t have enough for a book, an anthology or collective memoir is an option for satisfying your personal writing urge. The article below discusses the difference between anthologies and collective memoirs, two literary forms that are gaining in popularity.
Last month I mentioned new courses in planning stages. April was an uncommonly busy month so I’m a bit behind with that project. Beginning in June both Writing About Cancer and Writing for Personal Caregivers will return. It’s been several years since they were offered by Writing to Heal, Writing to Grow and the format will be slightly different. Look for more information on the Web site and in the June newsletter. If you know people in either situation, please spread the word.
For places to send your precious life moments (those you dare to share), check for new additions to the markets section at Markets. Watch for deadlines. And the markets section of this issue features more places to send your life stories.
Comments and suggestions for a more meaningful newsletter are welcome.
Until next time,
Write to heal, write to grow, write to reflect,
Like so many literary formats, anthology found life in ancient Greece. The first anthologies dealt mainly with poems but over the millennia, the form has expanded to include many genres. The word anthology stems from Greek for anthemia, cluster of flowers. The flowers in a literary anthology are the individual entries which cluster in a single volume.
Anthologies have gained popularity in the personal story publication arena during recent years. Probably the best-known are the Chicken Soup titles which first published in 1993. Since then, many other anthologies solicit personal stories from the general public and issue multiple titles, each dealing with a common theme.
Chicken Soup alone has published over 170 titles and its list shows no sign of ending. Chocolate for… and A Cup of Comfort for…, along with numerous smaller publications, are other series with growing lists of personal story themes. All receive far more submissions than they can publish. The prominence of personal anthologies suggests that personal writing has captured the hearts of millions and that everyone has stories to tell.
A lesser-known format for personal stories is called collective memoir. Although the term isn’t used much, many examples exist. Like an anthology, a collective memoir contains individual stories connected by a theme.
The main distinction between an anthology and a collective memoir is the specific nature of the theme in the latter versus a general theme in the former. Anthology collects personal accounts about a broad topic which may include many tangents. Collective memoir takes a look at a specific event, situation, circumstance or time from the differing perspectives of those who experienced it.
For instance, the anthology titled Chicken Soup for the Teen Soul includes real-life stories by teens about various issues they face, e.g., friends, family, school, the future, etc. That covers a lot of territory. The common denominator required of the entries is the teen perspective. A collective memoir by teens would address a narrow facet of one of those areas that all the entrants experienced. For an anthology high school memories would do. For a collective memoir the topic would shrink to life as a student as Hollywood High, perhaps even during a particular decade.
The history of collective memoir remains elusive but may well have emerged from those prolific ancient Greek writers. In modern times, scattered examples appear. In 1985, Same Song, Separate Voices, was billed as the collective memoir of the Lennon Sisters. For the youngsters among us, they sang on the Lawrence Welk Show in the 1950s and ’60s. In 1997, The Way Home: A Collective Memoir of the Hazelden Experience shared recollections of residents at that notable rehab center. Even the 9/11 Commission Report issued in 2004 contains elements of collective memoir according to some reviewers.
The year 2007 brought a near epidemic of collective memoir publications with several books covering such diverse topics as Jews’ flight through France and Italy to avoid the holocaust, the Students for a Democratic Society protest group of the 1960s, thoughts of women born during WWII, and residents of Bremerton, WA, near the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard during WWII. What all these have in common is a needle-narrow niche.
Don’t think collective memoirs are repetitive just because they deal with the same event. What we remember depends on how important the event was to us at the time and what role we played in it. You may wonder at times if all the writers really were in the same place at the same time from the different stories they tell about the same happening. Family histories often include sections of collective memoir where family members recall the same events. Spirited discussions may result from conflicting memories.
Both anthology and collective memoir add interest to our own personal stories by comparing our recollections to those of others for whom the event was equally but differently real. Stories that appear in a collection of contemporaries define our place in the greater world. Be alert for opportunities to include your life experiences with those who share a common tie. Or take on the editor role yourself.
Write about your favorite piece of jewelry. Where did you get it and why is it special? |
|
|
||
