Charlene Lamy Edge Speaks about Writing

Greetings, readers! Are you interested in writing your life story? Or have you ever just wondered what the difference is between autobiography and memoir? The short answer is that autobiography tells a person's lifetime story. A memoir focuses on a slice of that lifetime.  Here's a few specifics on memoir that I've shared at presentations I've given about the art of writing memoir. I learned these things before and during writing my own memoir, Undertow . What is memoir?  1. It's a personal investigation: your blood, sweat, tears, and sleepless nights.  “… the memoir writer takes us back to some corner of his or her past that was unusually intense childhood, for instance or that was framed by war or some other upheaval.” (i.e. Russell Baker’s Growing Up). From  On Writing Well, by William Zinsser 2. It's about a specific time of your life. “It’s an act of writing frozen in a unique time and place.” ~ Zinsser 3. It's a narrative of “then.” “Think narrow, the...

Charlene Edge grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in a Roman Catholic family during the 1950s and 1960s. At college in 1970, fellow students recruited her into The Way International, a Bible-based cult. She became a leader and biblical researcher in The Way, but after she discovered what The Way really was, she escaped its headquarters in 1987. Charlene's books Charlene Edge is the author of two books. Her award-winning memoir titled,  Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International  (2017) and ... From the Porch to the Page: A Guidebook for the Writing Life  (2022). It includes:  More than thirty essays on the writing life and craft Charlene’s short stories and poems illustrating essay topics Nourishing insights from well-known authors and poets Recommended books for writing memoir, poetry, fiction, and travel stories She launched  From the Porch to the Page  at the Winter Park ...