... but acts like an investigative reporter?
Lucy Ferris.
Chip Scanlan went to her presentation today and jotted down a few tips. These are his notes. Starting now...
She writes stories about herself, but digs like a journalist to discover -- and reveal in her writing -- truths about the world we all live in.
Ferris had several tips for those who want to turn their lives into a book.
But first, she made three assumptions about her audience:
1.) Most of us in the room would like to write a memoir (guilty as charged).
2.) You have not been keeping voluminous journals since the age of 6.
3.) You believe your readership wants to know a tiny bit more about your subject.
With that out of the way, here are three of her tips for people who want to write memoir.
46 You need to start digging.
47 You need to assemble what you've learned.
48 You need to throw 90 percent of it away.
Some writers use timelines to help discover their story; others use outlines, either rough or detailed; and Ferris uses a wagon wheel. She showed us a rough drawing of the one she used as she was reporting
"Unveiling the Prophet: The Misadventures of a Reluctant Debutante."In the center was her subject. From there, spokes stretched out to the wheel rim. At the end of each spoke was a bubble, representative of a topic she needed to learn more about -- sources to interview, history to master, books to find and read.
I think light bulbs went off in a lot of heads, including my own. I could see the subject of the memoir I'm working on in the center of a wheel, linked by spokes to all the subjects I need to master. Thanks, Lucy, for practical and inspiring advice.
Coming soon >>> The end!
