It was in a public speaking class where I learned the importance of the opening line and I think it applies whether you're speaking or writing.

Whatever it is, your opening line should make that person seated in the last row in the auditorium ignore whatever it is they're thinking about—or doing— and look up and listen. And it's the same with your writing.

Grab your reader's attention with your first sentence.

One that makes them want to read the next sentence and then the next, until there are no more to read.

Not sure how to get started? Let me know if I can help.

Is it any wonder?
I asked myself that this morning. Is it any wonder people so often talk and write about the weather?

I suppose it's because it's always there ... the forecast ... in some parenthetical way. We mostly go about our business, but if a storm is brewing, if there's a shift in the humidity, the heat, the cold, or the dew point, there's an underlying awareness. Even animals sense a shift in the barometer.

It's hard to ignore.

Hurricane Henri hit southern New England yesterday and continues to lash the area with gusty winds and plenty of rain.

Watching the news updates and warnings, I noticed a flag graphic ... a hurricane flag. So I looked it up and discovered:

If a hurricane is brewing, it's two flags:

- one red flag with a black square in the middle signals a tropical storm
- fly two together and there's a hurricane on the horizon

Using research and detail in your writing
It's the sort of detail that adds depth to your writing ... especially if you're writing about hurricanes.

The biggest weather event I can recall is the 1998 ice storm here in Maine. Overnight the landscape changed. It was as if we had been transported and put under glass, like in a snow globe. We woke to a world where everything was coated in ice. Everything. Tree boughs bowed under the weight of the inch-thick ice that encased them, power lines sagged, and the crack of trees branches snapping under the weight sounded like rifle shot. We lost power for a week and recorded a low temperature of 34°F ... in the kitchen.

There's no flag for that
It's a story I could write about, but it brings no joy, no overarching lesson I want to revisit, so I'll leave it be.

But I do want to write about snow.

And you? Is there a weather event so vivid in your mind's eye you might want to write about it? Grab the Story Inventory and see what comes of it.

"I don't know what to do."

That's what Barbie wrote when she contacted me about her book.

She'd been working on her memoir for years. The writing was done and she wanted to move forward, to publish the book, but she had so many questions.

Should she find someone to edit the book? Where could she get a cover design? And what about the inside?

She had no idea where to begin.

Writing a book is a huge accomplishment. Getting it into book form and publishing it is another.

Together we reviewed her manuscript, edited and organized what she'd written, talked about titles, cover designs ... and how and where to get it published.

As we worked through the project, Barbie often thanked me for my guidance and told me she was learning so much about the process.

I was learning, too. Learning about how hard it can be for writers to share their work, to hand it or and trust things will work out.

After Barbie's book was published, she sent me a note.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have been a dream to work with. I am so happy with my book. I could NEVER have done it without you."

Do you have a book tucked in a drawer ... waiting to be published?

I can help. Especially with things like:

- how to begin and develop your bok
- editing what you've writeen
- designing you book for publication

Call 207-252-9757 or write today to talk about your book.

I once spent the night at a house that had a cuckoo clock ... read more

My life's not that interesting.

That's what someone wrote in the comment section of a memoir survey I sent a while ago.

It's not what I expected, and I don't believe it's true.

After all, what makes an interesting life to one person may not be interesting to another. Is an interesting life one with lots of travel? A successful career? Life on a farm? Sailing around the world? Lots of dinner parties and dancing?

Any one of those things might fill your days, but I'm not sure that would guarantee a good memoir. What makes a good memoir is your take on the world ... how you see things, and why they matter.

Your perspective is what people want to read about.

I like to write about the unexpected, curious ways the commonplace can (and does) surprise and shape me.

Memoirs that offer a behind-the-scenes look at how someone created or experienced something can be reassuring, educational, and inspiring.

The stories that resonate with people are the ones they can relate to ... stories that remind them about something they've experienced ... or want to experience.

Where you go and what you see.

So don't worry about whether or not you have an interesting life. Where you go with your writing and memoir is more about what you see and how something made you feel; sharing what you learned, and the joys, and frustrations you experienced. That's what people want to read about.

The stories you tell could be about the pets you've had and what you learned from them, your first job, how you started your business, or what it was like that first and only time you went to summer camp. It's the common experiences, disappointments, successes, and life affirming joy that people are looking to connect with.

When I re-read some of the stories I've written, they remind me of different times in my life; a life filled with curiosity and attention to detail. And that's what matters, no matter where or how you live your life.

What did you see? How did it make you feel? What did you learn?

Write about that.

A lasting legacy for author and community

When Michael Gery offered to chronicle his church's story, it was with the understanding that he would work alone. Gery understood it would expand his "workload immensely," but that didn't matter. He was, he wrote, "always more interested in the quality of the project" and feared writing by committee would result in a book that was "disjointed, and written in different voices."

Though he died before he was able to publish his work, Michael Gery did complete an impressive amount of writing and research. Gery's wife, Lisa, states in the dedication that, "He spent years collecting and reading books and historical documents, visiting local historical societies, conducting interviews, and culling the church's voluminous files of sermons, logs, and annual reports. At the time of his death, he had more than three hundred files of partially written chapters and appendices."

Lisa Gery, with the support of church member and editor, Jo Ann Augeri Silva, pulled together the work her husband had done, created a manuscript, and contacted me to put it into book form.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead: Transformation Through Time is an impressive body of work. The book holds not only the history of the church, but the history of the "political and religious movements that led to its founding."

From a design perspective, it is a complex text with deep footnotes and few photographs. Understanding that it would be a hefty book (the spine is nearly an inch thick), it is designed in a larger format with a wide inside margin.

The result is a book that opens easily, has plenty of white space, and gives readers room to breathe.

Though I never met Michael Gery, his interest in creating a body of work he could be proud of will, I imagine, inspire his congregation and readers alike as it inspired me.

If you're writing a memoir and need guidance, let's talk.

Wow, I'm so proud to be able to say my book, A Snail Mail Guide to Cursive Writing Practice, is done. What a great feeling.
 
It's part memoir, part how-to, and loaded with tips for improving your handwriting and spending more time with the people you love and like best by writing to them.

The idea for the book came about from seeing articles about the demise of cursive writing. Some say it doesn't matter now that we have computers and ask, "What's the point?"

Well, a new study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology reveals how writing by hand can make kids smarter.

And in The New York Times article, "Snail Mail is Getting People Through This Time," Tove Danovich writes about creating meaningful connections through letter writing during the pandemic.

A Snail Mail Guide to Cursive Writing Practice combines the benefits of letter writing with the benefits of writing by hand in an uplifting, informative, and beautifully illustrated book. The book showcases the elements of a letter, cursive writing instruction for each letter of the alphabet, and the inspirational I Write Letters to Say series.

Do you know a teacher or students who would benefit from the book? Tell them about A Snail Mail guide to Cursive Writing Practice.