My personal essay The Power of A Family Secret has now been posted on Allyson Latta's new website. This essay appeared in an earlier version in several blog posts on this site. Please click on the title of my essay or Allyson's name, have a look and let me know what you think.
Copyright © 2010, Ruth Zaryski Jackson
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2 Poems Published in: "Grandmothers' Necklace" Epic Press 2010
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"Room in My Heart" Published in "Wisdom of Old Souls" Hidden Brook Press 2008
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About Me
- Ruth Zaryski Jackson
- Ontario, Canada
- Ruth has written stories and poems when younger, then academic papers or reports as a student, a researcher and later an Historical Planner. She started writing memoir when she realized she needed to tell her story, not only to her children, but also to her younger siblings whose childhoods differed greatly from hers. She has improved her craft taking on-line courses with U3A, Ryerson University and Days Road Writers. Allyson Latta's gentle support was instrumental in having her first story published in 2008 in "The Wisdom of Old Souls", an anthology about Grandmothers. In 2010 two of her poems were published in "Grandmothers' Necklace". Ruth's forthcoming memoir is called: "Missing Sadie, Missing Myself: Memories of a Childhood". ©Ruth Zaryski Jackson, Memoir Writer's World/memoirwritersworld.blogspot.com 2008-2020. Site and content wholly written, created, and owned by Ruth Zaryski Jackson and cannot be used without her express and written consent.
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3 comments:
That's a very interesting essay. I'd like to read more about the dilemma, for a writer, of dealing with family secrets.
Now I see, you wrote about that in previous posts. I think there is another type of family secret: something that could shock the community in which the family lives, although most readers would think, "So what?"
Hi Miriam,
Thank you for your comments. Writing about family secrets requires a lot of soul-searching and enough objectivity to create a story you are comfortable telling and that the reader will be interested in reading. I think you could Google techniques for writing 'healing memoirs' or have a look at Linda Joy Myers and NAMW for guidance and references. Many writers are wrestling with this challenge so there are lots of resources out there.
Thanks for your suggestion of another type of family secret I hadn't thought of. I am trying to think of an example. Can you give me a general idea? would it be for example, where the "community" is a religious community with its own rules that are not widely held?
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