Kia ora 👋🏼
It’s good to drop into your world today. How’s that memoir of yours coming along?
Have you started it yet? Or are you at the ‘thinking about it stage’? Some of you are in the depths of writing, and still more of you are polishing up the first drafts of your stories.
It’s all progress. Every stage matters.
This week a memoir writer reminded me of the value of reading – memoirs, novels, anything really – to become a better writer.
I think I became a writer because I loved to read. From a very young age I found solace in reading. I became a frequent inhabitor of the then, very old, children’s library building on Hardy Street in Nelson. It smelled of old, polished wood and book glue. I read and read. I checked out piles of books at a time, earning approving smiles from be-speckled librarians.
I dove into worlds, built from the imaginations of hundreds of thoughtful authors, from all over the world. And I learned, by osmosis, to write.
So that’s my suggestion for you this week – read. Read some memoirs and biographies, or find some juicy novels and tuck into them. Each book will teach you something. Each author will have a magical ingredient to share with you, if you look for it.
And take those lessons back into your memoir, one word at a time.
Keep writing,
Charlotte x
PS just in case you live in Motueka, I’m gearing up to start a year long memoir programme from November 29. It’ll guide you the process of producing the first draft of your very own book. More info here.
Charlotte Squire 