Concentrating on a suggestion for how to start writing...

[Pepi Plowman]

Thanks, Frances.
p
--- Frances Morey <frances_morey at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Pepi, (FM comments in blue and red ink)
> 
> Pepi Plowman <pepstoil at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks, Frances, for your encouragement. You
> articulate your argument for my writing the story
> very
> well. I need a patron (or patroness), for I just
> don't have time to do anything right now except to
> get
> up, go to work, come home and go to sleep.
> 
> FM: How nice, to have work, hope it's peasant.
> Everything I've written I thought about at my day
> job and then wrote when I got home. Mamet does that
> with entire works, ie. makes it all up in his head
> first and then writes it down in one sitting. You
> sortta have one patroness.
> 
> I actually have a chronological Xcel database of
> periods of my own life with short one-liners
> describing experiences in my life (with, obviously,
> the intention of eventually filling it out). I might
> try to do the same for my parents' lives. 
> 
> FM: Oops! Old fashioned me, suggesting paper and
> pencil. But that method still works where you have
> prodigous amounts of time and no computer handy. At
> a conference Shrake answered a question about if and
> how the computer has changed writing. He
> thoughtfully replied that the outcome of handwritten
> work was superior to writing  with the ease, perhaps
> because it's too easy. 
> 
> I tried to get my sisters involved in writing a book
> about our lives together, but I didn't have the
> sustaining power to do it. It took too much energy
> to
> get everyone motivated to write me their memories. 
> One sisters said, why don't you write it, Pepi. 
> Perhaps I will and get them to edit.
> 
> FM: Ah, writing is the lonliest of all persuits. I
> know I began writing so I wouldn't waste the built
> in lonliness of living single. The greatest
> challenge with an editor is that you give them so
> little to correct, and tease them into reading it in
> one sitting. That way maybe you'll get to make the
> corrections in a timely fashion, when the excitement
> of the project is still fresh in your mind. 
> 
> FM: With relatives, you'll be lucky if they will
> read it after it's published! To get opinions on the
> manuscript you need friends. I managed to have
> twenty-five for POV feedback. They played along
> since it was a compelling subject, short, to the
> point and fast reading.
> 
> I do have a person who is an excellent editor in be
> interested--whatever. I guess I need a whip.
> 
> FM: All the fun is all in the writing. The rest, if
> you've been able to whip up any, is icing on the
> cake, reportedly. It's a cake without icing, so far.
> Most of all, amuse yourself in the doing. Clark
> seems to think that I go overboard in that
> department.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Frances
> 
>  
> 
> --- Frances Morey wrote:
> 
> > Pepi,
> > This is the author's first sentence starting a ten
> > page summation of Leoncio's Candle of Death, based
> > on a true story by Anthony Josef: He says, [the
> > book] "...is a work of fiction. Although many
> events
> > are historically accurate, all characters,
> dialogue,
> > and interaction among characters are purely
> products
> > of my imagination." www.bloodshedbooks.com
> > 
> > This disclaimer is no doubt because all the
> > principals are dead. Then he goes on to list all
> the
> > accurate details of the story. The sheer number
> and
> > weight of factual instances of the horrors that
> > unfolded are enough to fill up the entire nine
> > pages! It is as thick a tapestry as any of the
> Greek
> > tragedies. That hardly suggests that the work
> should
> > be first off be described as "fiction." 
> > 
> > To call it a fiction off the top was a terrible
> > idea, since that is only the embroidery that
> fleshes
> > the out story to be believable to readers at the
> > time they read it. It in no way detracts due to an
> > absence of absolute accuracy. Absolute accuracy is
> > basically boring. What drives a story are the
> facts
> > and turns the story takes. That's what holds the
> > reader's interest to keep them turning from page
> to
> > page, unable to put it down until the end and then
> > wanting more. Now THAT'S writing!
> > 
> > Anyway, the point I'm making is that you can
> imagine
> > stuff based on hearsay which would be almost as
> good
> > as an interview with the principal. In the amount
> of
> > time you spent with your mother over a lifetime,
> > surely you must have picked up enough factual
> > information, instances where she had to
> drastically
> > change her life around events. You no doubt
> remember
> > other stories about how her life was led in the
> > various situations to describe it more
> knowledgably
> > than anyone else. The hardest part about writing
> is
> > getting started. 
> > 
> > I would suggest outlining it in by epoch, and
> > filling in memories from each, all in one
> > liners--save the prose for the real thing. This
> will
> > keep the narrative on track and make more sense
> > instead of just meandering around after typing
> "Once
> > upon a time...". Each epoch becomes a chapter,
> say,
> > then when all the epochs are down on paper in
> > outline form, start the writing.
> > 
> > Best,
> > Frances
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Pepi Plowman 
> wrote:
> > Yup. The book my mother always wanted to write. 
> > Since she's dead, it's pretty hard to know what
> > really
> > happened and likely would end up being mostly made
> > up.
> > Which is okay, I guess, considering we are such
> > infinitessimally small specks in this universe--I
> > mean, what difference does it make, anyhow? But
> I'm
> > stupidly literal minded and would want the true
> > story.
> > pep
> > 
> > --- Frances Morey wrote:
> > > Now there's a story that needs writing, Pepi.
> > > Frances
> > > 
> > > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > > From: "Pepi Plowman" 
> > 
> > > To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin
> Ghetto
> > > Daze in the 60s"
> > > 
> > > Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 11:58 AM
> > > Subject: Re: Stockholm syndrome?
> > > 
> > > 
> > > > Correct. I and my older sister were born in
> > > different
> > > > camps.
> > > >
> > > > But my mother still loved Japan--lived there
> for
> > > seven
> > > > years before the war and three 30 years later.
> 
> > > She
> > > > had many Japanese friends.
> > > >
> > > > But when she lapsed into Alzheimer's in her
> > latter
> > > ten
> > > > years, her stays in nursing homes were
> > > characterized
> > > > by her awakening every morning totally
> > disoriented
> > > as
> > > > to where she was, donning every dress she
> owned
> 
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