Dear Pamela: Worries that offering a memoir class at my church will bring up too many strong emotions
I will be posting every month from my new writing advice column, “Dear Pamela,” from womensmemiors.com. I will be answering questions about all aspects of writing, specifically memoir writing, from character development (yes memoirs do have characters, including you, the narrator!) to agent submissions. Below is a question-and-answer from the May post: Dear Pamela, “I am co-creating a memoir-writing class at our church. When this was first proposed, someone said we shouldn’t do it because writing a memoir might call up too many strong emotions from someone, presumably with difficulties in their lives, like childhood abuse or an abusive marriage or loss of a child. We are going ahead with the project, but how would you respond to such an objection, and, more importantly, how to help attendees with such challenges? I’ve always thought that writing was one of the best ways to re-address and help heal such challenges from the distance of time and perspective.” — Carol at Church … Read on