Author page: Patricia

Do you ever look around your home and think, how did I accumulate all this stuff? If you're anything like me, you spend a good amount of time trying to declutter and manage all the stuff that wanders into your life. But, have you ever taken a look at your possessions and asked yourself what those items say about you?

TEA 2018 Lunch Bunch My Write Your Story four-week class at The Villages Enrichment Academy wrapped up this past week, and I will sincerely miss spending Thursdays with this enthusiastic group. You were such great writers, and I'm thrilled that so many of you have already registered for the next class in January. If you live in…

Do you have a bucket list? If you aren't familiar with the term, a bucket list is a list of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime. I recently checked a box on my bucket list that was so exciting for me, I just had to share it with you. It may sound funny, but hugging a sloth has been on my bucket list for years, and I finally checked it off my list at Wild Florida with Bob and my fellow sloth-lover and friend, Misty Rogers.

My favorite aspect of the work I do is traveling to different places, sharing my love of writing, and meeting new people who possess amazing stories. I found many such men and women a couple of weeks ago near Tampa within the ranks of Bloomingdale Writers Connection. We spent the afternoon talking about micro-memoir, life stories of 1,000 words or less. Then we practiced writing one form of the genre, six-word memoirs. Here are a few great ones:

I had the privilege of speaking to a record-breaking crowd of the John Knox Village Genealogy Society in Orange City last week. If you enjoy researching family history and ancestors, have you ever wondered what to do with all of that information you're uncovered it? That’s what I discussed with the John Knox Village Genealogy Society, in my presentation, Put Some Meat on Dem Bones.

This Saturday, I’ll hit the road and head toward Florida’s west coast to Valrico, outside of Tampa. I am excited to meet with the Bloomingdale Life Writers at the Bloomingdale Regional Library (1906 Bloomingdale Ave, Valrico, FL 33596) to share my talk, “Micro-Memoir: Life Story in 1,000 Words or Less” from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. In his marvelous way with words, Mark Twain once said, “I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” Very true!

Our editing tips over the next few months are part of a series called Dial up Your Dialogue, by Writing Your Life editor Teresa Bruce. Be sure to follow along each month for Teresa’s fantastic tips to energize your dialogue.

Skip the small stuff. Purposeful conversation moves your story forward to convey important information while deepening your readers’ engagement. Dialogue should enable us to eavesdrop on characters’ motives, mannerisms, and meaning.

The first session of Writing in the Galleries: Art as a Pathway to Memory kicked off last Saturday morning at the Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) and took participants back in time as we surrounded ourselves with the sculpture of Nick Cave in his new exhibit Feat. David Matteson, OMA’s Associate Curator of Education & Outreach, provided insight and background information on Cave’s Soundsuits exhibit. Then we discussed the importance and process of narrowing our focus when writing memoir. After studying a Cave sculpture and visiting other times and places in memory, the participants wrote their stories, and man, were they great.

If you’ve been around me for more than two minutes, you’ve probably heard me talk about the five-year journal and how I believe everyone should keep one. It is the easiest, quickest way to write your life story. It takes only five minutes a day. Who doesn’t have five minutes to document the day just lived? I’ve kept a five-year journal now for thirteen years since my husband and I married in 2005. Talk about a wealth of stories nestled in the pages of those three journals. Each page holds five years of experiences of the day, so every time you open it up (once you start year two), you revisit memories from years past. That is so fun!

Thursday afternoon, I had the great pleasure of walking through the Orlando Museum of Art’s (OMA) latest exhibit, Nick Cave: Feat, and hearing the artist talk about his work. I’ll be using one of Nick Cave’s sculptures as part of the Art as a Pathway to Memory four-session writing workshop this coming Saturday, September 15 from 10:00 a.m. to noon. We still have seats available, so reserve yours now. You can attend individual sessions or sign up for the series at a discounted price and receive a free copy of my book, Eating an Elephant: Write Your Life One Bite at a Time. Your registration fee also includes free entry into the museum where you can visit Nick Cave: Feat and all OMA’s amazing exhibits.