Denis Ledoux's Blog, page 81
December 16, 2014
Don’t Wait: Start to Write Your Memoir Today
“What are you waiting for? Why are you avoiding the real work? What will it take for you to go deeper?”
—Phil Cousineau in Stoking the Creative Fires
The Phil Cousineau quote above ought to be for all of us a stirring call to continue—or to begin if that is where we are at—the writing we may have procrastinated about for so long. We fill our days with lesser tasks when we know that what we ought to be doing is writing a memoir.
It is later than you thin...
December 2, 2014
Jitters Over Don’t Let Writer’s Block Stop You Launch
I have to admit that I have felt the book jitters as my new book Don’t Let Writer’s Block Stop You has gone out into the world. It’s been up on Amazon since November 6 but I have been quiet about it. Then this week, I began to make a noise.
On Kindle Select
From December 7 to 11, 2014,Don’t Let Writer’s Block Stop You will be available as a free download as part of Amazon’s Kindle Select outreach. (I hope you will download it then and le...
Jitters Over Don’t Let Writer’s Block Stop You launch
I have to admit that I have felt the book jitters as my new book Don’t Let Writer’s Block Stop You has gone out into the world. It’s been up on Amazon since November 6 but I have been quiet about it. Then this week, I began to make a noise.
On Kindle Select
From December 7 to 11, 2014,Don’t Let Writer’s Block Stop You will be available as a free download as part of Amazon’s Kindle Select outreach. (I hope you will download it then and le...
November 23, 2014
After 50 Years
I was one of those fortunate children to have known well both sets of grandparents. My Ledoux grandparents lived upstairs for most of my growing up while by Verreault grandparents lived 10 miles away. (My children did not know their grandfathers and my grandchildren do not know their grandmothers.)
My grandmother Marie Bilodeau Ledoux was the first to leave us. That was 50 years ago today November 23, 1964.) I published a story in these pages about her birth on the occasion of my grandmother...
November 21, 2014
Congratulations to Libby Atwater
We’d like to offer our congratulations to Libby Atwater whose memoir What Lies Within recently placed first in the Royal Dragonfly Book Awards in their Biography/Memoir category. Due to our interest in Libby, we are including here her publisher’s release. Well done, Libby! Interviews with Libby ran earlier. Click here for the first and here for the second.
What Lies Within Wins Royal Dragonfly Book Award
CHANDLER, AZ (November 2014)—The judges of the Royal Dragonfly Book Awards contest, which...
November 14, 2014
How to Write a Book – An Interview with Libby Atwater, Part 2
Here’s the second half of my recent discussion with Libby Atwater who began telling people’s stories professionally after a career in education. As a writer and editor, she has worked for individuals, families, businesses, nonprofits, universities, and community newspapers. Tales from her life have been published in several anthologies. Her memoir What Lies Within covers her first twenty-one years. Click here for Part 1 of this interview.
Denis Ledoux: Will you write another memoir? Why or w...
November 7, 2014
How to Write a Book – An Interview with Libby Atwater, Part 1
Here’s a recent discussion we had with Libby Atwater who began telling people’s stories professionally after a career in education. As a writer and editor, she has worked for individuals, families, businesses, nonprofits, universities, and community newspapers. Tales from her life have been published in several anthologies. Her memoir What Lies Within covers her first twenty-one years.
Denis Ledoux: How and why did you choose to write this memoir?
Libby Atwater: I wanted to tell the story of...
October 31, 2014
Hemingway’s “One True Sentence” Can Save Your Memoir
I have found the “one true sentence” to be very effective in focusing both my own memoir writing and in the writing of people I have coached and edited. Hemingway’s one true sentence is an effective tool for better writing.
How a “one true sentence” works
Every piece of writing—-whether a book or a section of a book–contains a sentence that encapsulates what the piece is either trying to say or avoiding saying. This is called the “one true sentence....
October 28, 2014
A First Step to Becoming a Disciplined Writer
Do you struggle with becoming a disciplined writer on a regular basis and do you wish you could be more focused? Do you ask yourself, “Why is it so hard to write when I really do want to write?”
You have to opt for becoming a disciplined writer
The good news is that while it may be hard at first to write, getting on a schedule can make it easier by the day. That’s right: a commitment to writing on schedule may be the clincher you need to succeed.
“But...
October 22, 2014
Is Your Memoir Silenced by the Fear of Insignificance?
From my own memoir-writing experience and from witnessing the creation experience of memoir writers I have coached, I have found it useful to work with a subcategory of fear as a writing block. Many of us have been silenced by the FEAR OF INSIGNIFICANCE.
Difference between fear of insignificance and fear of mediocrity
It’s a close fear to mediocrity but clearly different. Fear of mediocrity is perhaps about the writing itself—style, vocabulary,...
