SHARE Presentation: Write Your Own Memoir, Part II with Abigail Thomas
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The document discusses a memoir writing workshop presented by SHARE in collaboration with MBCN, featuring speakers like Christine Benjamin and Abigail Thomas. It emphasizes the courage required to share personal stories and the benefits of exploring one's life through writing. Additional resources for continued writing support and reading recommendations are also provided.
SHARE Presentation: Write Your Own Memoir, Part II with Abigail Thomas
- 1. WRITE YOUR OWN MEMOIR Part Two: February 24, 2015 Presented by SHARE in collaboration with MBCN
- 2. Welcome • Meet the Speakers Christine Benjamin, LMSW Breast Cancer Program Director SHARE www.sharecancersupport.org Katherine O’Brien Board Member Metastatic Breast Cancer Network www.mbcn.org Abigail Thomas Writer www.abigailthomas.net
- 3. You Did It! • It is hard it is to make ourselves vulnerable, especially when there is pain and confusion in our lives, and the fact of our mortality is around the corner… Anne O’Brien, Red Chair Nantucket
- 4. Bravo… • Just to be willing to look at the dark and the difficult is an act of great courage… Anne O’Brien, West Falmouth Harbor
- 5. Thank You.. It takes guts and energy. . . Thank you for doing this. Anne O’Brien
- 6. Some Points to Ponder • It’s about clarity. • Clarity usually involves a good deal more humility than you started out with. • Humility is accompanied by generosity… Anne M. O’Brien
- 7. • …And clarity is dependent on generosity of vision
- 8. • A shift at the way we look at ourselves and our lives is one of the benefits of writing a memoir. • Keep an open mind, leave room for surprises. Anne M. O’Brien, Nobska, Cape Cod
- 9. Who are we, and why does it matter? • If you are doing the exercises you will have lots of material. If there is a common thread, follow it. If you return again and again to a specific time or place set up a tent there. Anne M. O’Brien, North Truro
- 10. If you are still plagued by the question of who is going to find it interesting, please remember most of us are curious about other people’s lives… Jennifer Waddell
- 11. • Writing memoir is one way to explore how you became the person you are… • It’s the story of how you got here from there…. • It’s a good story!
- 12. Questions? Q&A with Abigail Photo: Jennifer May
- 13. For Further Reading… February 2015 issue of Good Housekeeping The Kiss That Stayed With Me Forever Decades after a summer fling, a writer and her old crush reconnect. By Abigail Thomas http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/family/marriage-sex/abigail- thomas-love-essay?src=soc_fcbks Abigail’s new memoir coming out at the end of March from Scribners. http://books.simonandschuster.com/What- Comes-Next-and-How-to-Like-It/Abigail- Thomas/9781476785059
- 14. More Reading Suggestions • The Red Devil : To Hell with Cancer and Back Paperback – February 7, 2002 • by Katherine Russell Rich • Intoxicated by My Illness and Other Writings on Life and Death Paperback – June 1, 1993 • by Anatole Broyard (Author), Alexandra Broyard (Compiler, Editor), Oliver Sacks (Foreword) • Autobiography of a Face Paperback – March 18, 2003 • by Lucy Grealy (Author), Ann Patchett (Afterword) Carl Spitzweg, “The Bookworm”
- 15. Keep on Writing With Others • We’ve created a closed Facebook Group called Writing With Others: • • Search under “Groups” and join. • If you need help, email us at cbenjamin@sharecancersupport.org • Abigail is our first member!
- 16. More suggestions…. • Check with your library—many host ongoing writing programs • If you want to start your own writers’ group, many libraries have meeting rooms you can use. • Check with your treatment center. “Visible Ink” offers Memorial Sloan Kettering patients the opportunity to express themselves in writing with the individual support of an experienced writing mentor. • Abby leads workshops for Kingston’s Oncology Support Program of the Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley
- 17. THANK YOU! Questions about this webinar? Email: cbenjamin@sharecancersupport.org