What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding – Book Club Today!

Hello Memorists!

I’m running late on sending this newsletter out. It’s been a hectic time for me while I prepare to move to Berlin sometime in October.

I’m looking forward to seeing some of you tonight for our Book Club discussion of What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding by Kristin Newman. This is one of my favorite memoirs; however, I can see why some readers might not like it or may even take offense. Sounds like the perfect fodder for a conversation! Goes to show that we can’t please everyone so we shouldn’t worry too much about that aspect when we’re writing our own memoirs.

Be sure to check out the section at the bottom of this post with “October Goodies.” There are some gems in there that might spark inspiration for you as they did for me.

Oops! I’m running so late that I haven’t even written the book club questions yet! Better get on that! I’ll have them ready in time for the meeting. See you soon!

Warm regards,

~Christina

I’m excited to be discussing:
What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding, by Kristin Newman

Book club questions can be found here (When I get around to writing them): https://memoirmentors.com/book-club-questions/

This is one of my favorite memoirs, I’m fully prepared for some of you to think it’s shallow, but I loved it! It’s got none of the self-pity of the last book we read, and it’s really funny, so it’s got that going for it!

What it’s about:
Kristin Newman spent much of her twenties and thirties buying dresses to wear to her friends’ weddings and baby showers. Not ready to settle down and in need of an escape from her fast-paced job as a sitcom writer, Kristin instead traveled the world, often alone, for several weeks each year. In addition to falling madly in love with the planet, Kristin fell for many attractive locals, men who could provide the emotional connection she wanted without costing her the freedom she desperately needed.

Kristin introduces readers to the Israeli bartenders, Finnish poker players, sexy Bedouins, and Argentinean priests who helped her transform into “Kristin-Adjacent” on the road–a slower, softer, and, yes, sluttier version of herself at home. Equal parts laugh-out-loud storytelling, candid reflection, and wanderlust-inspiring travel tales, What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding is a compelling debut that will have readers rushing to renew their passports.

I’d prefer that you sign up through Meetup so I know who to expect and so that you know what the agenda is for the week, but if that’s too problematic, you can go directly to the Zoom link that we use every week:
https://zoom.us/j/4400465879?pwd=R0Y0RUp4YjAvdnJCODV0MkhNMXlmdz09

October 3: Book Club – What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding:
https://www.meetup.com/memoir-mentors/events/302271301/
October 10: Write then Read:
https://www.meetup.com/memoir-mentors/events/299955136/
October 17: Write Then Read:
https://www.meetup.com/memoir-mentors/events/301776739/
October 24: Speaking Your Story:
https://www.meetup.com/memoir-mentors/events/302458304/
October 31: Happy Halloween!
No meeting 
November 7: Write then Read:
https://www.meetup.com/memoir-mentors/events/303408649/
November 14: Write then Read:
https://www.meetup.com/memoir-mentors/events/303444959/
November 21: Speaking Your Story:
https://www.meetup.com/memoir-mentors/events/303408649/
November 28: Happy Thanksgiving!
No meeting 

FutureMe: Write a Letter to your Future Self – I love this site! It’s a simple tool that lets you craft letters to your future self, arriving on a date you choose—perfect for sending yourself a dose of inspiration when you need it most. I started using it as a birthday treat, but now it’s my go-to for sending motivational nudges about my book. Imagine getting a letter from past-you just as you’re about to hit a writing slump or celebrate a milestone. It’s like a pep talk from your own pen—how fun is that?

In Favor of Reading Out Loud – I have often said that reading out loud is one of the best tools we have as writers editing our work (and it’s free!). I have been following the Raptitude blog for years. It’s one of the few (besides Jane Friedman’s Electric Speed newsletter) that I open and read every time. In this blog post, David at Raptitude talks about how much more we get out of writing if we read it out loud. Inspired by Sylvia Clare and David Hughes’ habit of reading out loud to each other, my partner and I have started reading out loud to each other. We’re currently reading Walking This World by Julia Cameron. To be completely honest, we’re not sure if we like the book, but we do like the experience of reading out loud to each other.

The power of specificity in writing – As an editor and a reader, I often see manuscripts with generalizations or high-level summaries. While there is nothing wrong with this and a book crammed full of flowery details could get overwhelming, I find that using a dash of specificity in writing can really make it come alive. Read this article for some tips on how to avoid generalizations in your writing: https://www.writingforums.org/blogs/how-to-avoid-generalizations.62131/

What transforms an anecdote into a story is escalation – George Saunders. Allison Wearing shared this Instagram post recently with some wonderful insight on how to elevate an anecdote to a story. “When we write memoir, we need (among other things) to transform anecdote into story. Rather than ‘listen to what happened to me,’ we are aiming for something more along the lines of ‘here’s what happened, here’s the backdrop that gave it a certain meaning at the time, and’ — the crucial piece — ‘here’s the clarity of understanding I have about the whole thing now.'” Read the whole post here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAV7tSEikEi/?igsh=M291YmViMm9wazU0 Watch out Author Q&A with Allison here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izl_Y1bqO8Y&feature=youtu.be