#10 Drafting

The Actual Writing of It

I started writing my memoir in the summer of 2016. I’d written a few memoirish essays before. They hadn’t gone over well in my Philadelphia writer’s group. Someone actually quit the group over my bad writing, but I had faith that I’d improve. I was new at it. Everyone was kind, even the person who quit. I got some really helpful advice.

After I moved to Japan, I sat at my desk in the teacher’s office, and the words avalanched out of me.

Nearing the end of my first draft, I talked to a friend about it, and she’d said, “I have a feeling that this year is going to be a big before and after for you. This book is going to change everything.”

My mom died a few weeks later, and I thought, she was right, but her aim was off. It seems like that happens a lot.