{"id":12116,"date":"2022-09-29T13:14:50","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T20:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/?p=12116"},"modified":"2022-09-29T13:14:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T20:14:56","slug":"writing-through-a-books-mushy-middle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/writing-through-a-books-mushy-middle\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Through a Book\u2019s Mushy Middle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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“Advice on Writing Through a Book’s Mushy Middle” By Judy Bolton-Fasman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A eulogy I wrote for my father expanded into journal entries and eventually my book, \u201cASYLUM: A Memoir of Family Secrets.\u201d I long dreamt that those loose collection of journal entries might become a book, but for many years they were arc-less and therefore not coalescing. There was no discernible beginning, middle, and end. But those entries, the impetus to start a writing project\u2014I wouldn\u2019t dare call it a book at the time\u2014formed my literary North Star.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Emily Dickinson wrote: \u201cI am out with lanterns looking for myself.\u201d I searched for myself in every corner of my memory, soul, in every rare photo I had, in every journal entry I wrote, and in notes I jotted down. In that process, I found profound, surprising things about myself and the other protagonists in my life story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the best pieces of advice I received from a friend was this: Find people who knew your father back in the day. I won\u2019t give away the secret at ASYLUM<\/em>\u2019s core but researching my father\u2019s life blew my memoir open. My nascent book was no longer all situational\u2014I had a story to tell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I threw away many pages of false starts and bruised prose. Then, armed with knowledge from my research, I began to write again. A word about research. In my case, there was little or no paper trail about my father so, I learned about him in his university library. There I read his alumni magazine class notes beginning in 1940. I sussed out facts casually mentioned, which led to an astonishing connection. But mostly, I talked to people. Many of them claimed to remember nothing. However, their foggy memories did not deter me. I gently asked questions and found gold to mine in those conversations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And research\u2014don\u2019t be daunted by it. For me, it was the skeleton key that opened submerged parts of my family history. Research takes many forms. It can be as accessible as reading someone\u2019s favorite book or rereading your favorite book. The bottom line is we are the experts on our stories. Only we can tell a particular story. Bearing that in mind sustained me in slogging through my book\u2019s \u201cmushy middle.\u201d And when I reached the other side, I found my research had buoyed my story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The importance of ongoing note-taking sparked memories and ideas. Again, this doesn\u2019t have to be daunting. For my next project\u2014notice superstitious me is hesitant to call it a book\u2014I\u2019m keeping an ongoing hodgepodge of notes on my Notes app. I did that to some extent while writing ASYLUM<\/em>, particularly when I needed to keep track of who I had to talk to, where I had to go to find my father. Write everything that pops into mind. Those words, those lines will beckon again and enable you to go deeper into your book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the mushy middle, all kinds of characters will be vying for attention to include them. Invite them into the book\u2014it doesn\u2019t mean they will stay. But getting to know a crowd of characters enabled me to know myself better. I love this Joan Didion quote:\u00a0\u201cI\u00a0<\/strong>think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise, they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind\u2019s door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Didion\u2019s observation is a manifesto for the memoir writer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A character, usually not the writer, constantly lurks and then threatens to take over the narrative. My mother is necessarily a major character in ASYLUM<\/em>. But, my goodness, she threatened to hijack the book at so many points. And maybe she did occasionally. In the mushy middle, give the characters and yourself permission to roam around the narrative. That\u2019s what revision is for. And speaking of revision\u2014do not go down the revision rabbit hole in this tender middle. Instead, generate, generate, generate material with which to sculpt. Nothing is wasted\u2014think of it as literary compost to enrich the writing, the story, yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few words about the last part of the book: the ending is embedded in the narrative, it\u2019s embedded in you, the writer; it always has been. You will realize it was hiding in plain sight. I wrote my ending at what felt like the last moment. But it wasn\u2019t the last moment; it was a cumulative moment for me and my book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll be more specific\u2014I end with returning to where my parents were married and say the Kaddish for my father there. This worked in that my parents\u2019 marriage is front and center in the book and saying the Kaddish\u2014the Jewish prayer of mourning\u2014was central to the stages of grief I went through. It was also a significant strand in the book.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And last words of advice\u2014no matter how tempting, and I know the temptation well\u2014do not abandon your book. It needs you and you need it. This is your story, your moment. You\u2019re important, and so is your story. Keep taking notes even if it is on the back of a restaurant menu while your dinner companion is in the loo. Those bits will happily surprise you as you come upon them again and welcome them into your writing.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And journal your way out of conundrums. Free write, and if possible, handwrite in a notebook. It makes a keen impression on the mind, on memory. Truths and images and insights will inevitably emerge. And remember, you did not write to bury anyone but to bring them to life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdvice on Writing Through a Book\u2019s Mush Middle,\u201d<\/a> first appeared on Brevity\u2019s Nonfiction Blog on August 25, \u00a02022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judy Bolton-Fasman<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is the author of\u00a0\u201cASYLUM: A Memoir of Family Secrets\u201d<\/a>\u00a0from Mandel Vilar Press (2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her essays and reviews have appeared in major newspapers, essay anthologies and literary magazines She is the recipient of numerous writing fellowships, a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and a Best of the Net nominee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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