Creative Nonfiction and Memoir: What’s the Difference?
A new student asked me to explain the difference between creative nonfiction and memoir, and so I thought I'd clarify this here today. If one person asks, I figure, more are probably wondering. The answer is really quite simple: Memoir is a form of creative nonfiction. Let's define creative nonfiction. I actually dislike the term, as do many writers in [...]
Recipe for a Perfect Day in Solitude Visiting Shaker Village in Kentucky
"...when [you] remember feeling joyfully bound to the whole earth or even universe -- [those moments] are most likely to be associated with being alone, and often alone outside." found on p. 109 under "Explore Reverie" in How to Be Alone by Sara Maitland How true, how true. I stumbled across this observation recently reading Sara Maitland's How to Be [...]
Writing Postcards – A Tradition Continues
Postcard carousel in the colonnade at Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic (September 2016) Whenever I travel, I send postcards to my brother and sister. They do the same. This summer I was grounded because of my hip surgery, but the side table by my writing spot displays postcards from my brother's trip to Scotland and my sister's excursion to [...]
The Rainy Day File
One evening last summer, my brother and I lingered by the camp fire after the rest of the family had gone to bed. As the flames died down, we looked up at the night sky, taking in its twinkling endlessness. Suddenly, there they were: Two falling stars, their contrails briefly lighting up the inky firmament. “Did you see that?” We [...]
Place Can Help Restore Your Sense of Self
Yesterday I went for a walk around Promontory Point for the first time since my surgery, and I realized: a place can help restore our sense of self. Three months after the surgery, I was taking this walk that I have taken so many times before, and: I felt that I was reclaiming a part of myself. Making the round [...]
Summer Apples
This is the time of year when I used to go apple picking with my kids. Alas, they've all flown the nest, and the one day my daughter and I could have gone, I was simply in too much pain. I simply love everything about the County Line Orchard where we always go--the apples, the beekeeping shack, the petting zoo, [...]