In the early years of my work to write a memoir, I heard Barbara Kingsolver talk about her novel, The Poisonwood Bible. She explained it sat in the bottom drawer of her file cabinet for twenty years, and referred to it as her “damn Africa book.”
As my unfinished manuscript inched toward the two-decade mark, I often called it my “damn Stehekin book” and took some comfort in knowing that Kingsolver, whose writing I admire, toiled many years, too.
When I first began to write what turned into Hiking Naked (forthcoming from Homebound Publications, September 2017), I naively thought I could finish it in a year. But as weary and frustrated as I often felt, I’m glad I put in the time to, as Marc Nieson suggests, “to grow into” my words. I appreciate his insights on his journey to write Schoolhouse (follow the link below) and am eager to read his “quiet memoir.”
By Marc Nieson Growing up, I delivered newspapers after school. Every day, for some ten years. And forty years later, I can still remember the front stoops and names of many of those customers. Some nights I’ll even dream about that paper route. One spring afternoon, though, stands out above all the rest. I was […]
via Finish Work: The Twenty-Year Memoir — BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog
Iris Graville - Author 
This is the piece I needed to read about now. Thanks, Iris, as always, for sending along inspiring words…
Glad it was helpful, Rita. I took comfort in Marc Nieson’s experience, too!