Once again I attended a writers workshop intended to help us write a memoir. It was a marvelous getaway in Brookneal Virginia, well below Charlottesville by nearly 2 hours.

Staunton Hill is lovely. The sense of tranquility and rapturous peace surrounds the guests there. It would be so nice to spend a few weeks here, in great comfort and quiet. It would be possible to write uninterrupted for hours at a time.

It was a charming weekend, and the company was congenial. We are all tentative but driven to write a memoir. And for some of us, it will be many memoirs. The fun thing about memoir is that you do not have to tell “The Whole Story.” You can pick a time frame or an event or both and just concentrate on that. Then later you can do the same with some other event or time period. This may keep me busy for the rest of my life!

The most important thing is to keep doing it. Don’t stop. Don’t get scared and put the writing away to be forgotten. Finish it. The best advice I ever got about writing came from Ernest B. Furgurson who wrote several wonderful books about the Civil War. He said “set deadlines”. And he was right.

Ever since he told me that, my writing has increased and my finished writing has increased tenfold. That gives me satisfaction and makes me want to write more. So the overall effect has been tremendous.

I recommend going to workshops if you can because it drives you to improve and to complete tasks during that time. So just like deadlines, the assignments of the teacher or facilitator make you finish.

Copyright?. 2019 Bonnie B. Matheson