I’m here to tell you how much I love working on my memoir manuscript. It engages a whole other part of my mind in a truly delightful, relaxing way. Okay, I may be lying about the relaxing part. Editing my memoir fills me with teeth grinding fear and hopeful gases. Yes, editing has physiological effects. […]
Author: Sylvie
I am a writer based in Philadelphia. I have three writing arenas: creative non fiction, short stories, and feminist/modern retellings of fairy tales. "The Baby and Other Stories," a memoir, is my first book length work. I received my Master of Liberal Arts, with a concentration in Creative Writing, from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004. My novella, Fly, Rapunzel was a finalist in Low Fidelity Press’s 2006 Novella Award Contest. The first piece in this collection of stories (“The Baby”) was published in Philadelphia Stories; a short story (“The Woods”) was published online in Quail Bell Magazine. I have also been blogging about the process of writing this memoir: http://invokingthei.tumblr.com/
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75% Freaking Done
As of tonight, I’ve got 21 chapters in my memoir, and I’ve got 5 stories to revisit and improve upon. This means I’m 75% done with this revision. That’s either incredibly close or impossibly far. Tonight I rewrote my query letter to give some background on what motivated me to write the book. I was […]
After I wrote my third paper of the semester’s seven, we took off for the PA Renaissance Faire. I’m always intrigued by what gets acted out at the Renaissance Faire. I like that the space embraces misfits and curiosity seekers of all stripes. I always wonder at the elaborate costumes some wear. I wonder at […]
Life is very exciting in these parts. I just tackled my second memoir chapter rewrite, and it felt downright successful. That’s two pleasurable chapter rewrites in a row. Inconceivable. (“Are you sure that word means what you think it means?”). Miraculous. The experience is good because I can read feedback on particular chapters that tell […]
I was reading the done manifesto, which encourages you (me) to wrap things up and move on, in acceptance that everything is a draft, and mistakes will naturally creep into the process if you’re highly productive (paraphrasing). I like the idea of getting things done, of course, and maybe I should embrace the 20 minute […]
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The Best Surrender
I (triumphantly) snuck in some writing tonight because I realized that strictly speaking I didn’t have to do my assigned reading because class was a general assembly lecture. It felt naughty. It felt good. Writing soothes a part of my soul that nothing else can get to. Also, it felt really good to give up […]
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The Gazillionth Rewrite
“I feel stupid and contagious” allows me to a) honor Nirvana belatedly (jumping on media bandwagon), and b) succinctly express how I feel when my writing group critiques my work. I have been working on my Frenchness and Identity piece for a while. I must be in my fifth major re-write/re-org at the very least. […]
Tonight, I’ve been reading about (big words coming, so don’t freak out and abandon me here) Applied Symbolic Interactionism. It’s a social work theory formulated from 1890 to 1910 (stay with me…) and it freaking answers every question that drove the writing of my memoir. Okay, I’m exaggerating. It only answers or speaks to half […]
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Delicious Rejection
I got instantly gratified, or nearly so, with a rejection two days after submitting my work for consideration. This kind of turnaround in the zine industry is rare stuff. So I’m delighted and honored to know where I stand, at least with this one publication.I am not however disheartened, probably because the best advice I […]
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Tonight’s Reward
Tonight I get to read. What I want: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.I figure I don’t have to be perfectly structured and achieving at all times. (Right?) I’ve got homework covered for the week. I’ve updated my blog site. I’ve submitted memoir chapters to nine literary venues in two days. I’ve done laundry and […]
So I finally got around to doing what I probably should have been doing all along–tonight I sent in three chapters from my memoir as submissions to literary mags. I can expect resounding rejections, but at least I’m doing what I think I’m supposed to do–which is opening myself to criticism and rejection by letting […]
Carol Shields, who is one of my favorite authors, wrote her first book by writing one page a day for a year. It sounds so easy. It’s so hard to do. I’m finding myself consumed by the need to get homework done, and so I probably need to find a new strategy to get creative […]
I’m engaged in hand to hand combat with a cold. The cold is currently pressing its fist against my face and forcing a cough and a lot of mouth breathing. Amidst my unfortunate nasal fluid releases, I have nonetheless read three academic articles, of varying interest. I’ve noticed that my feet are being forcefully plunged […]
Okay, my new rule is that I can blog when I finish a bit o homework. So right now, I’m trying to patiently work my way through sentences likes these, sentences out of my worst academic posturing nightmares: “From this perspective on language and discourse, destabilizing basic constructs–interrogating, contesting, and rein-scribing entrenched, sedimented, and naturalized […]
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Sometimes You Need Something Delicious
You know how families send around those Christmas letters detailing the year’s accomplishments and memories for the family as a whole and for its members? I got jealous. Single girls don’t send these letters. So I tried to write one (but maybe that’s already been done and it’s called Bridget Jones’ Diary) and it’s harder […]
I’ve been waking up and realizing that I’m mulling over the findings in my readings and how they are altering my world view–for example, the best predictors of decreasing poverty rates for African-Americans? Lifting out of poverty correlates to having more AA’s being employed by the government and their having greater political representation.(That’s tonight’s homework–email […]
Dear Readers, Time for simple begging has come, and I am before you, on my metaphorical knees, asking you to please subscribe, with the humble promise of more interesting blog posts in the near (possibly very near) future. Among other things, I want to test out my website’s ability to manage subscribers and its ability […]
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The WordPress Labyrinth
I really wanted to nap this afternoon after work because I wanted to be well rested before eating a veritable mountain of sushi. But no napping for (un)Reasonable Girl. Instead, I spent an hour and a half installing Filezilla, reading back up documentation on setting up my FTP protocol, and finally mastering the proper way […]
Last night I did some homework and I’ve never had such an intense, reflective, and enthusiastic response to academic reading. I’ve landed on a planet of like-minded thinkers. My very own secret society. My brain is being stretched in good ways, really hard and really fast. Emerging notions: 1) I magically happened upon the right […]