B. Lynn Goodwin's Blog: Writer Advice's Flash MEMOIR Contest, page 18
April 9, 2019
Sharing a blog post …
PERSISTENCEfrom http://marthaslavin.blogspot.com
Are you one who dreams of publishing your stories in a book some day?
We are all natural storytellers. Some of us decide to write our stories down. We want to pass them on to children or others have encouraged us because our unique stories have universal value or we are driven to write because writing helps us solve our own problems.
I think of some of my writing friends’ tales of a grandparent’s life in San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century, of struggling to survive a Japanese war camp as a child, of traveling to places like Brazil as a single woman, of trying to find a mother’s home, or like me, moving to another country and having a normal life except with the adjustment to a different culture and being illiterate in a new language. We all have stories to tell, but it takes persistence, dedication and focus to bring a book to life.
I’ve been in a writers group for more than 20 years. Many of the writers in the group join with the intent to complete a book. They all have great stories to tell. The writers are aided by the encouragement and support of the group of fellow writers. As they write portions of their book, they realize how difficult writing, editing, publishing and selling a book can be. All of those tasks are more complicated now. Major publishers have been squeezed by digital publishing so they rely heavily on well-known authors. Independent publishers look for new authors, may have editing staff, but not the resources to provide promotion. Agents are swamped with requests for help getting a book published. All the different jobs besides doing the writing can deflate the interest of a fledgling writer. But if they persist, they can publish a book.
I’ve been lucky to watch numerous friends produce a book. Sometimes the book is not the story they thought they were going to tell. Often they started with a memoir, which honed their writing skills. They struggled with naming names of people close to them and decided to turn parts of their lives into fiction. Sometimes they started over and over again with a different point of view each time. They sought the help of editors to polish their work and to help them stick to deadlines.
For me, I started out with family stories, asked relatives to send me their responses to the statement, “I remember…” which I collected and published through a printing company owned by one of my cousins. The more I wrote the more I realized that short essays about life and my artwork let me say what I wanted to say. Writing helped me to understand my place in this crazy world. Blogging became the avenue for my writing.
Some friends have managed to produce a finished work (some have published more than one book). I am proud of their endeavors because I know they have accomplished what many us dream about.
Elizabeth Fishel
Elizabeth is the founder of Wednesday & Friday Writers Groups, journalist, teacher, and author of 5 non-fiction books about women and their relationships with their families. Her latest book, co-written with Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Ph.D
http://www.elizabethfishel.com/index.html
Francie Low
A mother, author and blogger who in her own words: “My first fun blog, shoezle, started way back in 2011 when I barely knew anything about social media or how to take a picture on my shiny hot-pink cell phone. I guessed at how to blog and through the amazing feedback from readers and a bazillion writing groups and classes, I got better. I got better a blog photos too. Then I got the courage to write a book.”https://www.francielow.com
Irene Sardanis
A retired psychologist and writer was born into a Greek family in the Bronx in the 1940s in which fear and peril hovered. Out of the Bronx is her story of coming to terms with her mother and her past that terrified and paralyzed her for far too long — and of how she went on to create a new life free of those fears.
https://shewritespress.com/portfolio/irene-sardanis/
Jane Bonacci
A cookbook author, blogger, recipe developer, food and travel writer, and teacher has a passion for cooking and baking that she loves to share. Her latest cookbook written with Sara De Leeuw.
Carrie Classon
A columnist, author and performer, and one of my cousins. In her own words, “She champions the idea that it is never too late to reinvent oneself in unexpected and fulfilling ways.” Her latest book, Blue Yarn, describes her experience in Africa where she loses her marriage, her home and her career.
B. Lynn Goodwin
Former drama teacher, continuing to be a writer, editor with Story Circle Network and blogger. Her latest book, Never Too Late, describes her new life as a wife at 62 and the challenges of changing from lifelong single to married woman.Talent is a young adult novel about a young teenager trying to get out from under the shadow of her older brother.
Writer Advicehttps://www.writeradvice.com
Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62https://www.amazon.com/Never-Too-Late-Wannabe-Wife-ebook/dp/B077ZK468Y/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1541908134&sr=8-1
March 25, 2019
Tell Your Stories
This is a plea: Women, tell your stories. Now, more than ever, the world needs to hear the voices of rational women—nurturing, assertive, educated, and under-educated. Scientists, poets, mathematicians, journalists, stay-at-home moms, working moms, young moms, grandmothers raising their kid’s kids, librarians, IT workers, software designers, romance writers all have stories to tell.
Society used to teach women that we were the weaker sex. We need to remind Eleanor Roosevelt’s words, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
Women don’t fit into one mold any more than men do. We don’t have one voice, either, but we agree that sexually demeaning behavior is unbecoming and unacceptable.
So women, tell your stories. All abuse is not about sex. It’s not necessarily about parents and children, drugs and alcohol, or bullying and being bullied. Whatever your story, whether a man is in it or not, whether it includes sex or not, whether it seems interesting to you or not, write it down for your family, your neighbors, your community, the world, and especially for yourself. If you don’t tell your story, who will?
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March 14, 2019
Independent Study offered through Story Circle Network
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April 8 – May 6
Class Description
What is keeping you from your dreams?
Do you have an idea for a story but don’t know how to start?
Do you have a draft but need an editor?
Are you stuck on your summary? Cover letter? Query?
Do you want to make your story, memoir, or fiction shine and sparkle?
During this 4-week session, I’ll take your writing to the next level. That means something different for everyone. I’ll ask questions about your overall project and the chapters, segments, or scenes you submit. You’ll start seeing new possibilities and approach your writing with renewed energy.
Enroll by clicking on ENROLL
Tuition
SCN members: $200. Non-SCN members: $250
Instructor Bio[image error]
B. Lynn Goodwin owns Writer Advice. She’s written You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers (Tate Publishing), Talent (Eternal Press), and Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62.
She was short-listed for a Literary Lightbox Award and won a Bronze Medal in the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards for Talent, and she was a 2018 National Indie Excellence Award Winner, a Human Relations Indie Book Awards Winner, and Next Generation Indie Book Awards & Best Book Awards Finalists plus a NABE Pinnacle Book Achievement Award Winner for Fall 2018
Goodwin’s work has appeared in Voices of Caregivers; Hip Mama; Small Press Review; Dramatics Magazine; The Sun; Inspire Me Today; Caregiver Village; GoodHousekeeping.com, PurpleClover.com and elsewhere.
She is a reviewer and teacher at Story Circle Network, and she is a manuscript coach here at Writer Advice. She always has time to write guest blog posts and answer questions. Visit her website and her blog.
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February 3, 2019
Moonlight Mondays(Interview #7)
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One of the interesting things about indie authors is that working on publicity never ends. I’ll bet you know exactly what I mean.
My latest interview is with idleskybps.com via Moonlight Mondays(Interview #7)
It’s always fun to read an interview over a while after I’ve written responses, and I’d love to have you take a look and leave a comment, reblog, and/or like.
Please keep writing. It will make a HUGE difference in your life.
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January 3, 2019
A few words to the wise
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It’s easy to tell others to take risks. It’s harder to live by that rule, especially if you’re wise enough to consider the consequences. Have faith. Take a leap and trust that someone will catch you.
Weigh your choices.
Don’t hesitate to give to a stranger but don’t give everything away.
Be who you are. Everybody else is taken.
Life is short. Have the courage to leave a miserable job, if you’ve tried everything you can. The same is true of a miserable relationship, as long as you’re not hurting your children. If you’re afraid you might be, weigh the value of staying in a struggling relationship against the possible outcome of moving on.
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Don’t be afraid to move on and move forward. Don’t let fear hold you back.
Don’t be afraid to love; don’t wear your heart on your sleeve.
Remember that life is what happens while you’re making other plans.
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Consider your body, with all its imperfections, a gift from God. Treat it well and know what you can and cannot change.
Accept what you cannot change; change what you can; ask for the wisdom to know the difference.
Be grateful for what is right in your life.
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December 28, 2018
All is well…
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I’ve come up with an answer to my last post:
Yes. Awards matter.
Maybe they shouldn’t. Maybe I’m being vain, but they sure make me feel good.
I am pleased to report that another award has come my way. This one turned up in my spam box! Who knows why it landed there. I mentioned it to the company owner, because it seemed odd and strange to me.
What’s the award for? Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62. Awards from 5 different companies must mean something. If you’re following this blog, you already know what it’s about. If you’re new to the blog, click on the link.
The stickers are small enough that I could find a place to put them without ruining the cover design. Maybe I should do that…
So what’s going on in your writing life and the rest of your life? Inquiring minds want to know. What was your best moment this month? Leave a comment and let me know, okay?
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Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62
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December 17, 2018
One Year Later: Do Awards Matter?
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A year ago I wanted to win as many awards as I could for Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62. So I entered in a bunch of places, and won some First Places and some Honorable Mentions and some Finalists. As you can tell from the tone of that last sentence, it mattered more before I did it.
I love that I have won from 4 or 5 different organizations. The latest one is the Royal Dragonfly.
Having been a writing contest judge, I know it’s the repetition that counts more than any one prize. I know opinions vary, and the fact that Never Too Late is receiving so much recognition is rewarding, but it’s a little scary that I could not name the awards from memory.
Sometimes I wonder if I’ll look back on these days and wonder why I didn’t lean into this time more. Then I’ll remember how much Richard and I were both doing, and maybe I’ll remember these as some of the best years of our life together.
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Be sure to check the mirror in the upper left-hand corner.
I believe this is the one-year anniversary of Never Too Late‘s publication, and I’m glad I said yes to my husband and my publisher.
I’d love to read your comments about publishing books and articles. Can you share?
December 10, 2018
December 10 – Giving in Paradise (California)
I wonder how the people we saw in Chico and at the fairgrounds are doing now. When are the checks coming? How many are with relatives? How do you cope as the loss sinks in? How many have still not been found?
By B. Lynn Goodwin
Volunteers matter—especially when emergencies come up. At the Butte County Fairgrounds in November my husband and I found a mixture of hope and despair, of gratitude and anguish.
We couldn’t get near “Paradise Lost,” as reporters dubbed the Northern California town ravaged by fire, so we went to the tent cities at the Butte County Fairgrounds and the parking lot next to Walmart. We found unparalleled need along with volunteers helping those who’d lost everything but their lives.
My husband and I took a huge stack of $50 gift cards donated by people in our church. We followed the suggestion of a church guest, who returned to Paradise on weekends. He was there with his wife, who barely made it out ahead of the flames. They’d lost their home but had each other. He said, “Take gift cards and give them directly to the people.” My…
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October 27, 2018
Giveaway
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Here’s a quiet giveaway for the e-book version of
Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62.
Go to https://www.amazon.com/ga/p/2fa33846b918dfd7#ln-dei and you stand a good chance of winning a copy of Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62. The giveaway ends November 2.
Even if you’ve read the book, you can pay it forward to a friend, a library, a senior center, a book club, or anyone who claims she can’t find that right person. Maybe you can help your friend reinvent the meaning of “right person.”
And why is this a quiet giveaway? I haven’t acquired skills in promoting it. So if you see this, why not give it a try.
There is hope for anyone seeking a life partner. I am living proof of it.
Enter the giveaway today.
https://www.amazon.com/ga/p/2fa33846b918dfd7#ln-dei
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October 4, 2018
Seeking Support for your writing?
“No one, and I mean no one, writes alone in an attic with no support. Think about it: in order to stay in an attic all day doing your thing, someone has to shop, cook and clean for you, do the laundry, bring you new supplies. If we’ve heard of a writer, someone edited and published them. Someone bought the books.
“My point is: the myth of the lonely artist serves none of us. If you have a dream to write, get a buddy, take a class, find a group, or get support to find alone time if that is what you need.” — Elizabeth Stark
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What are you searching for?
So how do you find the support you need? Check out the following resources:
International Women’s Writing Guild
National Association of Memoir Writers
The resources are out there and many stories sit inside your head, waiting to be told. Writer Advice has a manuscript consultation service, which I run, and I also teach Independent Study, working one-on-one with you and your writing, through Story Circle Network. Why face the blank page alone when there are resources to help you?
You can see a sample of my writing in the free section of Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62 here.
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Writer Advice's Flash MEMOIR Contest
- B. Lynn Goodwin's profile
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