“First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys.”s ― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes Very possibly, Ray Bradbury has written more about the month of October than any other writer. Even when he is not specifically writing about October, visions of that month seem to be lurking somewhere within his consciousness. “The…
Describe the Land around Your Childhood Home
Your journal assignment for today is to describe the terrain or the countryside of the area around your childhood home. When I say describe, I mean just that. Provide sentences that capture how the countryside looked. Don’t just say: “I grew up 40 miles south of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Fort Smith has a population of…
If You Were A Crayon, What Color Would You Be? – Free Writing Prompt
Memoir Mondays Free Writing Prompt for September 24, 2022: If You Were A Free Crayon, What Color Would You Be? Why? Note: As I marvel at all the wonderful names that the Crayola Company has devised to name its various sticks of color, I am reminded of the importance of being specific when we write….
Believe – Memoir Mondays Prompt: Do Your Believe?
Last week, I set the prompts for this week’s Memoir Monday’s writings, and I established that today, Friday, September 23, 2022, we would write about the following prompt: “I Just Can’t Believe That…” Today, I awoke and began writing about the prompt, and I began looking for the old song, “I believe for every drop…
Memoir Writing Is Perfect for the Elderly
In the above photographs, you see my mom. In the sepia-toned photo, you see my mom when she was about 20. That would have been 75 years ago. In the lower image, you see my mom now — sitting. knitting, watching the time pass and marking her days. That photograph was taken a few days…
Should Picture Book Writers Write Memoirs? YES!
Every Writer Should Write Memoirs. News Flash: The Donkey’s Song stemmed from my memoir writing. That Donkey is me! Yesterday, I asked my Memoir Mondays people to draw a map of their childhood neighborhoods. If you study my map closely, you can see that my childhood home was within walking distance of the foundation blocks of…
How to Get Into a Writing Groove – Just Write! One Word at a Time
If you are having difficulty getting into a writing groove, you may be suffering from a couple of issues. The most common problem for most writers is procrastination. Much of the time, Procrastination is linked to Perfectionism. Perfectionism often manifests itself as Fear. A Perfectionist is Afraid of making mistakes. Remember This: THERE ARE NO…
Let’s Write a Few Words about Our Childhood Homes
How to Participate in Memoir Mondays: All of you need to get a cheap, black-speckled journal at Walmart, Dollar General, or wherever else. If you already have a journal, that’s okay, too. But toward the end of the year, I’ll share tips for decorating and altering a simple composition book to turn it into an…
Remembering the Era of World War II When Life Was Yankee Doodle Dandy
I’ve been writing my Memoir for several years, and about seven years ago, I wrote the post at the bottom of this one. This past week, with the passing of Queen Elizabeth, I have been reminded that in many ways, we are watching the end of an era pass. Since my own mother is only…
Soldier’s Home – A Short Story by Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway, “Soldier’s Home” (1925) The following is copied from The Complete Bedford Introduction to Literature. Work Cited Hemingway, Ernest. “Soldier’s Home.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, edited by Michael Meyer and D. Quentin Miller, 12th ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2020, pp. 110-115. Krebs went to the war from a Methodist college in Kansas. There…