Memoir

My current work in progress is an autobiographical memoir.    This is the toughest writing project I have ever started.    The key is being authentic; being real.   The critic who has made himself at home on my shoulder is, too often, in good voice.    I've changed the working title twice already so not sure what the final title will be but right now it is called Now and Then - all them houses.

The original working title was Orchard 7410 which was the phone number in my childhood home. 

The second working title was All Them Houses and, because there have been so many of them, it is a challenge to remember all the addresses.   It is much easier to remember some of the stand-out events that took place in each house.    In this writing I am reminded of "Ellen and The Hummingtree".  It was easier to write a fictional memoir than it is to write my own which often reads and feels like a fiction with too many characters to sort out.

As I work I find myself going back and forth in time -- remembering a time but then wanting to focus on something current.  This is how I came to use the current title Now and Then.

I am looking at my life realistically , and how blessed I am that it is such a long one.  But I find that I am sometimes persuaded to look at my life philosophically.   If it has one at all, I am not sure what this strange writing style can be named.

The writing of this memoir is taking a long time.  I started seven months ago and so far I have written about only the first twenty years.   This is going to be a very long book.

I hope I get it completed before it is my time to fly away.