As someone who will be approaching this juncture sooner rather than later, I appreciate every bit of this, Elissa. Such valuable nuggets. Hope book tour is proving to be rewarding.
I absolutely get that you must show "loneliness of the monster, and the cunning of the innocent". But what if you were a child at the time the story took place? What if everything was outside your control and you were quite innocent? ASKING FOR A FRIEND
You have to take a giant step back, and let your narrator be a character who tells the story with the benefit of age and context. You can still let whatever happened to the child character happen, but having some narratorial distance -- letting the adult narrator tell the story -- will help.
So good! "A cardinal rule that Dorothy Allison once shared with me at a writer’s workshop (I am paraphrasing here): There can be no victimhood on the part of the writer. You have to write yourself as fucked up and shameful as your characters might be."
Elissa, your memoir is arriving today and I can't wait to dig in!
As someone who will be approaching this juncture sooner rather than later, I appreciate every bit of this, Elissa. Such valuable nuggets. Hope book tour is proving to be rewarding.
I absolutely get that you must show "loneliness of the monster, and the cunning of the innocent". But what if you were a child at the time the story took place? What if everything was outside your control and you were quite innocent? ASKING FOR A FRIEND
You have to take a giant step back, and let your narrator be a character who tells the story with the benefit of age and context. You can still let whatever happened to the child character happen, but having some narratorial distance -- letting the adult narrator tell the story -- will help.
So good! "A cardinal rule that Dorothy Allison once shared with me at a writer’s workshop (I am paraphrasing here): There can be no victimhood on the part of the writer. You have to write yourself as fucked up and shameful as your characters might be."
Elissa, your memoir is arriving today and I can't wait to dig in!
Thanks, Elissa.
❤️
Thank you! And my copy of PERMISSION arrived, I am salivating to get started 😅🙏🏼
pre-ordered on Bookshop yesterday after reading the excerpt there - grateful and eager to read the rest
OMG, Such valuable insights!
Essential advice! Bookmarking this one.
Thank YOU! I really needed to hear this as I'm working my book. Absolutely getting your new book!