Post #157 – Women’s Memoirs, Writing Prompt – Kendra Bonnett and Matilda Butler
An Old Truck Offers a Memoir Lesson
Last week, we took houseguests along the Oregon coast from Newport and Agate Beach northward to Tillamook and Astoria. We saw beautiful and even intriguing sights and I’ll share some of that in the coming months. But today I’d like to tell you about my insight from a couple of non-working forms of transportation.
Portions of Highway 101 follow a train track that is no longer in use after serious winter storms of the past decade. Once trains hauled lumber and agricultural products on those rails and were vital to the area’s economy. But the cost of repairs was prohibitive. Today, there is one small section of tract, from Garibaldi to Rockaway Beach, where the Oregon Coast Scenic Railway operates a train pulled by a steam locomotive.
But the rest of the track is dormant, decorated by an occasional freight car. Many of the rail cars had begun to fill in with dirt and weeds. They gave me an idea for this blog article, but we were always driving when we saw them. No way to get a photo.
Then, we had extra time in Garibaldi while we waited for our train ride. Next to the Garibaldi Museum that celebrates the feats of Captain Robert Gray, I saw another unused and unusable mode of transportion, a rusted pickup truck. I grabbed my camera and took this picture.
Here’s Your Writing Tip
We imagine writing more than we actually write. Anything and everything interrupts or stops us. Someone else needs us; it’s time to clean the house; we want to read a book, we’re tired, it’s time to cook dinner; email calls, and on goes the list. Life really does throw up roadblocks. But we need to recognize the real ones from the pseudo ones.
If we don’t take our writing seriously, then weeds begin to grow and eventually take over. For a while, we can persuade ourselves that the weeds with flowers are pretty. But deep inside, we know they are still weeds. What does your writing life look like? Is it well tended and in good operating condition much like a superbly operating car or sleek train engine? Or are the weeds already beginning to grow?
Below, I’ve put a Memoir Writing Prompt that I hope you’ll complete.
Memoir Writing Prompt
1. Create a Writing Calendar. Although an electronic calendar function can do, I prefer a paper calendar that I keep right next to my computer. There are a number of free ones online so you can print just what you need. Don’t spend a couple of hours searching for just the perfect one. Grab something and move on to the second step.
2. Mark your planned writing schedule on the calendar. Start with the coming week. Think about the other activities that are already planned. Be realistic. Don’t say you will write for three hours each day if you typically only write three hours in a week or three hours a month. At the same time, don’t let yourself off too easily. You really are the boss of you.
3. And the end of each day, write down if you met your goal. Continue doing this for a month — one week at a time. Create your writing plan and log your success in achieving that plan. If you miss your plan, write what came up that kept you from your scheduled writing commitment. You can put your notes right on the calendar. Then at the end of a month, evaluate your successes and your failures. What seems to distract you the most? What can you do to work in more hours for writing at times that may work better?
4. Start fresh with the second month. Gradually refine your schedule in ways that lets you have more time to write on a regular basis.
Write regularly to keep the weeds away. Make sure you don’t become like the old pickup truck.
