Dulcinea Norton-Smith's Blog

Posted by Dulcinea Norton-Smith

On my memoir research travels I kept stumbling upon the word “scrapbooking”. It has been one of those things where I have acknowledged the word and stored it in my brain but only after several months of noticing the word subconsciously did I stop and think “Hang on. What is this scrapbooking craze and what does it have to do with memoirs?”.

It seems that scrapbooking is preserving memories in a creative way using a scrapbook. It is a messy memoir! Whereas a memoir about high school would usually be a pretty detailed account of the subject's life in high school with some in depth emotional ponderings, a scrapbooker would write briefer journal style entries over laid with movie ticket stubs, party invites, corsage petals, photos and such like.

So who should scrapbook? Well I guess scrapbooking is for the more creative journal writer. The type of person who still has the first movie ticket from the first movie they saw with their husband and the random leaflet they found on the floor the day their first child was born. Wait a minute – that is me! Perhaps I should turn the memory boxes I made for my children into scrapbooks.

So why am I telling all you literary memoir writers out there about scrapbooking? Well it is not only useful for the sentimental type but also as a portable thought board for biography and autobiography writers to store and organise their research. If you take a risk and write and stick in a non linear way it can also present interesting new ways to view your work. Just grab an empty scrapbook or notepad and get started.

For more articles on scrapbooking check out the Suite 101 craft section.

Posted by Dulcinea Norton-Smith

In my recent interviews with genealogists and designers of autobiography software I have regularly asked the question "Are you writing an autobiography?" and "When you write about your family or life who do you picture as your audience?". The answers are sometimes surprising.

This began my train of thought on the reasons for writing a memoir, biography or autobiography. It seems that, in deciding whether to write for personal reasons or write for publication, not all genres are equal.

Here are my theories:

• Biographies are almost almost written with publication in mind, often commissioned by academic publishing houses. It is a rare thing to want to spend years researching and writing about a person you don't know and not to have some publication aim at the end of it.
• Autobiographies are largely the domain of well known people and celebrities (and often written by ghost writers). Once again the aim is often publication, although this area of the genre is a bit more likely than biographies to be written for personal reasons.
• Memoirs have recently enjoyed a prime spot in the best seller lists. As a result more and more memoirs are being written with publication in mind. Despite this, however, memoirs are possibly the most likely area of the genre to be written for personal reasons such as documenting a loved one's life or writing about a traumatic experience for therapeutic reasons.

So there you go. Not very scientific but a nice enough thought for the day.

Posted by Dulcinea Norton-Smith

Katharine Susan Anthony

“To the biographer all lives bar none are dramatic constructions. “

“The lovers of romance can go elsewhere for satisfaction but where can the lovers of truth turn if not to history? “

Ruth Fulton Benedict

“No man ever looks at the world with pristine eyes. He sees it edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking. “

Fawn M. Brodie

"Show me a character whose life arouses my curiosity,

and my flesh begins crawling with suspense."

“A man's memory is bound to be a distortion of his past in accordance with his present interests, and the most faithful autobiography is likely to mirror less what a man was than what he has become.”

Leon Edel

“The secret of biography resides in finding the link between talent and achievement. A biography seems irrelevant if it doesn’t discover the overlap between what the individual did and the life that made this possible. Without discovering that, you have shapeless happenings and gossip.”

Philip Guedalla

“Biography is a very definite region bounded on the north by history, on the south by fiction, on the east by obituary, and on the west by tedium. “

“History repeats itself. Historians repeat each other. “

With thanks to World of Quotes

Posted by Dulcinea Norton-Smith

The sixties and seventies never really interested me so they would never be on my list, although both Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe would be captivating studies.

I think that the eras which would interest me most for a biography would be the 1920s, Ancient Egypt and the Restoration period.

The prohibition in the 1920s and the exciting underground drinking dens which that gave birth too interest me. As do the tales of bootlegging, gambling gangsters such as Al Capone. If I were to write about this period the subject of my biography would be Louise Brooks, film star and the pinnacle of style with her flapper looks and still famous bob haircut.

Ancient Egypt is something which really interests me yet I know little about. This would be the in depth, major research, field trips to the Pyramids project! I would write about Nefertiti. The reason being that my grandmother has worn a Nefertiti pendant since before I was born. Nefertiti is the famed beautiful Egyptian Queen. Evidence of her disappeared and no-one knows how or when she died. She had great political influence.

The Restoration refers to the restoration of Charles II to the English throne and the period immediately following it. Charles II lived a decadent life full of scandal. My biography subject would be one of King Charles II's many mistresses or illegitimate children.

Posted by Dulcinea Norton-Smith

Writing an autobiography, biography or memoir can be a long and tiring project. There are times when the writer will understandably feel jaded or demotivated.

Instead of plodding on only to produce a few poor quality paragraphs why not take a break and recharge your batteries?

What To Do on Your Writing Holiday

• Exercise. After days, weeks and months of exercising your brain give your body a turn while your brain takes a rest.
• Read. Absorb someone else's words and style. Either stick to the memoir, autobiography and biography genre to see how others do it or take a complete break and plump for fiction.
• Catch up on some sleep. Especially if you have been a regular late night writer.
• Drink water. The brain is apparently 85% water so don't starve it of the fuel which may just kick start your inspiration.
• Play some word games. Type "word games" into your search engine and you will be surprised how many free games are out there.
• Just take a few days off and set a date and time for going back to your writing. Treat it like a date and make sure that the room you will be typing in is beautiful and welcoming and you have your favourite drink and nibbles to hand. Make writing a date to look forward to.

Now you have had a break get back to that writing!

Posted by Dulcinea Norton-Smith

In exploring the world of writing and researching biographies I suddenly realised that not everything is all we assume it is.

A biography can just be a great story or a record of someone's life but they can also be a powerful tool to open up the possibilities for a person's future.

Have you ever felt like you were lacking in direction or a sense of who you are? Then a Career Biography may be a great way to find yourself.

There are many people who know they would be great for a job if only they could get noticed but their Curriculum Vitae is less than inspiring.

Let us also not forget the stay at home moms and dads. Those excellent organisation and co-ordination skills needed just to get three kids out of the house in the morning or into bed will fit nowhere on a CV but can be fully reflected in a Career Biography.

So why did I stray from the traditional biography path to write about Career Biographies? I guess it was just to share with the world that biographies need not be just an interesting story. They can be a life changing work of art.

Posted by Dulcinea Norton-Smith

Inspired by my own article I have created a new blog called Letters To My Children.

As you may know from my previous bloggings I have long been writing pen and paper letters to my children about their lives but I decided why not do a blog? I am always on the computer and so will find it easier to regularly update than bothering to find a pen and nice paper every time I have something to say.

Another bonus is that if we ever have a fire or flood in our house (God forbid) then the letters are not lost. They are stored on some super server somewhere untouched by my own personal disaster. The couch and TV may be history but the letters will survive!

I have so far created the blog and invited my husband to join so all I need to do now is find ten minutes without the kids to start typing. Is that hypocritical? Doing something for the children but needing them to be somewhere else so that I can do it?

I will also be inviting a few other relatives to join in. On the children's 18th or 21st birthday I will be able to present them with their very own memoir when I get their blog printed as a book. I think that I am being ever so forward thinking and technologically advanced but I am sure that when I present them with their "Bi-blog-raphy" they will think that mom is laughably old fashioned and quaint!

Posted by Dulcinea Norton-Smith

Unfortunately I wasn't online at the time so couldn't answer that night but it got me thinking about whether it was possible to write a memoir in one night.

Obviously not even the greatest speed typing bard can dash out a 60,000 word memoir in one night but I think a basic memoir would be possible. So what would I do if I was to attempt it? Here is my plan.

6pm - Get a strong coffee, a pen and a piece of paper. Spen half an hour writing down the major moments in my life. Born, education, wedding, birth of children, career, future plans.

6.30pm - Give my writing hand a massage and get a new sheet of paper. Write down the details of my birth, a few early memories, a quick bio of my immediate family, school details with a few good and bad memories, meeting my husband, all about the wedding day, getting pregnant, pregnancy and birth, more on the career.

8.30pm - Take a half hour break

9pm - Get typing. Using my notes type without thinking too hard until my memoir is in print.

Wee hours of the morning - off to bed with a satisfied grin.

Posted by Dulcinea Norton-Smith

So everyone knows that your family can influence things such as whether you are susceptible to diabetes, a peanut allergy or asthma but do they influence other things too?

Whenever I start to think about writing my memoir I start to ponder on whether my son is left handed because my grandmother is or whether I like writing because my great uncle did. Even stranger - a couple of months after my mother gave birth to me she started to get a hair that grew from her chin. A few months after my baby was born so did I!

So why not take a leaf from my book and start to wonder. When you begin to write your autobiography or memoir look to the past and the future generations when writing about your own life. You never know what you will find out

Posted by Dulcinea Norton-Smith

I am currently trying to arrange an interview with a woman called Kitty Axelson Berry who set up a company called Modern Memoirs after her business partner lost family in the 9/11 bombings. It is a pretty unique company which interviews their client, writes their memoir then publishes it (either for personal use or to sell). They even sort out ISBN numbers for anyone who wants to sell their book.

They also do quite a few other unusual memoir style services such as creating "Little Books" which are mini memoirs which just document an event for example a birthday or holiday.

I contacted her as her company sounded really interesting and I wanted to know what had inspired her to set the company up and find out if she has a memoir.

Anyway check back soon or subscribe to my RSS feed to catch the interview I do with Kitty. Wish me luck!

Posted by Dulcinea Norton-Smith

Opinions are split on whether the work of Sarah Ban Breathnach is memoir or self help book but my opinion is memoir.

I first began to be a fan of Sarah Ban Breathnach when I was on a cruise and, desperate for something to read, went to the tiny ship library. I picked up Romancing the Ordinary because it had a nice painting of Ophelia on the front. By page 20 I was happy, relaxed and hooked.

I have always thought of these books as memoirs as most of the lessons also tell the reader how Sarah reached that point in her life or how she enjoys simplicity. In her 10th Anniversary edition she also has a large introduction about how her life brought her to the "Simple Abundance Path".

Ok that sounds a bit happy clappy. A bit like a cult or sales tactic but I promise it isn't They are just really inspirational memoirs.

The books talk about how concentrating on the simple joys of being alive such as a moment to relax, a lovely smell, the beauty of a flower and the health and happiness of your family can help you to be happy in all things. Being happy with today rather than always rushing to tomorrow. Kind of the antithesis to the new hit The Secret by Rhondra Byrne which teaches how to visualise what you want to get it.

If you want to find out more without splashing the cash (especially if the thing making you blue is lack of money) then visit the Simple Abundance Website.

Posted by Dulcinea Norton-Smith

When I was 21 my mother and I sat down with a bottle of champagne and opened my “birthday box”. In it was a selection of drawings, school reports, short stories, photographs, baby teeth and other bits and pieces from my 21 years on earth. Also in the box were letters from my mother and father written to me on the week I was born and the week I turned 1 year old.

After the birth of my first child this memory came back to me and inspired me to write (it doesn't take much to push me in that direction). I started to write letters to my baby in a beautiful leather bound book. I wrote little and often and when my second child came I began a second series of letters.

I hope that by the time my children have grown to be adults they will each have a memoir of their lives. I try to tell them about how their lives are going and about the lives of the people they love. I also add snippets about what is going on in the news and the world as I remember one of the exciting parts of my letters from my mother was that the Yorkshire Ripper was still on the loose.

So if the idea of writing a memoir appeals to you but you just can't stomach the amount of writing it entails then why not take a leaf from my book and write it as a series of letters for someone you love.