Readers will discover how to construct a well-crafted spiritual memoir--one that honors the author's interior, sacred story and is at the same time accessible to others. Provides practical advice on how to overcome writing obstacles and work through drafts
Product Code: 5246
ISBN: 9781558964709
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Skinner House
Pages: 256
Size: 7 x 6.25
Published Date: 12/01/2004
Availability:In stock
N/A
Price: $16.00

Readers will discover how to construct a well-crafted spiritual memoir--one that honors the author's interior, sacred story and is at the same time accessible to others. Provides practical advice on how to overcome writing obstacles and work through drafts. A writing instructor and spiritual director, Andrew teaches memoir, essay and journal writing at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis.

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Introduction

The Spiritual Memoir

Why We Write

The Attributes of Spiritual Memoir

Getting Started

Inevitable Resistance

Developing the Writing Habit

The Dilemma of Memory

Organizing Your Memories

Your Spiritual Life as Subject Matter

Describing the Indescribable

The Power of Epiphany

Symbols and Metaphors

The Vividness of Childhood

Being in the Body

Honoring Teachers

Journeys

The Significance of Setting

Sharing Suffering

The Numinous

The Craft of Writing

The Power of Showing, The Power of Telling

Finding a Structure for Your Story

Revision as Seeing Anew

Learning to Read as a Writer

Putting It Out There

Writing Practice, Spiritual Practice

"What, exactly, is spiritual memoir? I was halfway through writing my own before I knew. A mentor began handing me books—wild rides through the Christian faith by Augustine, Teresa of Avila, Margery Kempe, Simone Weil, Thomas Merton, and Henri Nouwen. Later my reading widened to include Sufic, Jewish, Buddhist, Mormon, and New Age memoirs, memoirs by authors of eclectic faiths and authors with no faith tradition at all. I read books by authors who were young, old, famous, unknown, spiritual leaders and ordinary folk, queer and straight, alive and dead. What all these authors had in common was a passionate striving to link their seemingly small lives to some broader truth, some vaster mystery. Although each author’s experience of the spiritual was unique, the way each one’s experiences emerged in writing was strikingly similar. Familiar themes, structures, and styles appeared across history and culture. Since then, in my work with hundreds of beginning writers, I’ve come to recognize that the process of writing our sacred stories is filled with common pitfalls and pleasures. Spiritual memoir is a form unto itself."
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