Memoir and The Pivot: My Own Private Waste Land
In which I contemplate a new title and emphasis
This newsletter is born of love and dedication to my craft and commitment to see my memoir traditionally published.
Of all the hard lessons I’ve learned this year, the number one lesson I’ve gleaned for a debut, unknown writer is that having a platform is essential to getting a memoir published. Yes, the writing must be excellent. Yes, the content must be an original twist. But it’s platform that will make a difference to agents and editors.
Publishing is a business, a tough business, and no one’s going to publish your (or my) book if there’s slim chance of it selling.
So - welcome substack. Welcome audience-building in whatever form it may take.
Thank you for your support thus far. This journey is just beginning. If you haven’t subscribed yet, may I appeal to your generous senses to do so. If you would like to become a paying subscriber (for about the cost of one Starbucks coffee per month), that would be quite generous of you. I will then be able to keep striving to publicize and find an agent for my memoir.
The official and complete title for my newsletter is:
My Own Private Waste Land: T.S. Eliot, Mental Illness, and the Making of a Memoir
That’s quite a mouthful.
The subjects I cover are writing, writing process, memoir - art and craft, the composition process of creating my memoir, my dysfunctional decade, divorce, sailing, T. S. Eliot, “The Waste Land,” mental illness - major depressive disorder, borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder.
The topics are all connected to my memoir in some way.
But to atract more readers, I’m contemplating a title change. I think narrowing the scope to memoir but widening the scope to discuss other memoirs may be the way to go. I will still share selections from my memoir, but it will be much more focused on the art and craft of memoir.
Take a look at the following titles. Please leave a comment about the one or ones you like, or if you have a suggestion of your own, that would be most welcome.
Possible Titles
The Making of Memoir
Making Memoir
The Magic of Memoir
Memoir and Memory
Crafting Memoir from Memory
The Art and Craft of Memoir
Magical Mystery Memoir
Memoir and Memory’s Monsters
Mining Memory for Memoir
The Making of Memoir - My Own Private Waste Land
Let me know which titles you like in the comments below.
That’s about it for today. There is magic afoot. It’s nearing my birthday and a surprise trip is being planned. I was asked to gather some items - warm clothes for two days, toiletries, and the like. I hope I’m not going to be dropped into a snow drift in the rain. But if so, I’ll at least have my shaving supplies with me.
Take care of yourselves. We’ve turned the corner from Halloween season into November and the start of the holiday season (though I seem to have seen ads for Black Friday for the past few months - does it ever end?) We’ve turned on the heater a little to offset the dropping temperatures and to see how the heater works in our small place. It’s all good, though the dial doesn’t seem to mean anything, as if it’s just a sham on/off switch that looks like you can set temperature. It doesn’t appear to work that way. I’ll have more to say next week about this weekend’s adventure.
Be well and stay warm.
For me, I’ll . . .
Just keep writing!
P.S. - I’m very excited about Substack’s new chat feature! Let’s start a conversation about memoir. Looking forward to seeing you in chat.