I finally got the right day, but this time my links aren’t writing-focused! Ah well…
Reminder: Tomorrow is the last day to enter my June giveaway of BEE SEASON by Myla Goldberg and THE BOAT by Nam Le. Free books, people!
Also: The baby deer showed up again, and I got video this time! They are adorably awkward, and they run around like typical kiddunks*. I want to keep them and snuggle them and train them to play with Riley. And in my imagination, I will totally do so.
*I stole that word from Sarah.
NYTimes bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch has been branching out with some short personal essays. Two went live this week, and I really enjoyed them both.
I think reading these was also the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. As I mentioned last week, I’ve been itching to write some personal nonfic of my own, and last night I was finally struck with the first line of an essay that’s been swirling in my mind for weeks. From there things flowed, and I ended up staying up past midnight to work on it. The piece isn’t finished, but it’s a solid start. A chink in the dam, I hope.
Author and speaker Sarah Sentilles wrote an interesting piece called “Breaking up with God.”
And last but not least (this one IS writing-related) author Ellery Adams gives real numbers from her career. Advances, word counts, income, etc. It’s just one person’s experience, but it gives you an idea. I applaud her honesty.
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Personal essays are great for those of you who are brave enough to let them out in the world. Me – not so much. At least not yet. Baby deer – yes there was an awww moment. Wooded backyard – jealous I am. ;)
Ellery Adams post is very enlightening. Love the personal essays by Allison Winn Scotch the honesty is great.
The baby deer, so cute, and also fast hehe!
You make this personal essay thing sound more and more intriguing. I think I do write them to some extent, but I keep them rather superficial for public consumption. If I did write an more “intense” personal essay, I’m not sure what I’d do with it.
I love the personal essays. It is such a great medium to write in.
I’d love to have a deer as a pet haha… as long as it was a doe.
Keep going on the personal stuff!
I so enjoyed Allison’s essays. It obviously takes a lot to put something personal out there like that, but the courage has the potential to inspire so many people in different ways. Fiction can obviously do that, too, but with personal nonfiction … I don’t know, there’s an added rawness there, I suppose. Kudos to you – and everyone – who tackles it!
I just pictured you and Riley with the deer. Like a Disney princess. Funny stuff. I hope to read your linky links soon, just trying to find the time. If it rained, that would be a help. xx
Sonje-
I definitely think you have the voice for personal essays. And the pieces you wrote for your girls’ preschool kind of fit what I’m talking about.
Christa-
Agreed!
Les-
ZOMG I was googling around about domesticating deer (not that Andy would ever let me, but shh) and I found a HORRIFYING video in which a doe beats up a dog in order to protect its young. (Or, well, she perceives it as protecting her young. The dog wasn’t really anwyhere near the little guy.) I didn’t blame the doe, but I screamed and shut it off and almost started crying. Needless to say, Riley won’t actually be going out to say hi to my backyard babies.
Shari-
Well said. That “rawness” is what intimidates me as a writer, but also what impresses me as a reader. And excites me as both. :P
Sarah-
I SO want to be a Disney princess!
The video of the baby deer is so cute. It almost looks like they’re showing off for you. It makes me wish my backyard wasn’t fenced in.
I’m sure you can write good non-fiction articles. And I’m looking forward to reading them. What I usually do is I start with keywords from an idea. Then I make sentences from those words then eventually make them into paragraphs. That’s already one article.