Customer Reviews

Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir

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I've read numerous books on various genres of writing: some I've finished, some I've left off, for a variety of reasons, after a partial reading. There are many books out there that address all genres, all topics and many of the questions and insecurities of both the new and the seasoned writer. I'd have to say though, that I've not found as satisfying and useful a book on life writing as this one by Lisa Dale Norton, who details in this new book, her technique for writing and developing memoir.

The book is divided into several well-defined sections. The first is a discussion on writing memoir in general: what it is--"narrative nonfiction"...telling or narrating a story about something that actually happened. Norton moves on to the idea that as a memoirist, you must be sure to "claim your own truth, to accept responsibility for your actions, and to make sense of the actions of others in the context of a story." She explains the importance of looking at our stories in a larger context, with some balance and with new insights that have revealed themselves since the events occurred. The reader/writer recognizes the need for a broader view of her subject matter: to see a particular recollection through the eyes of others involved and perhaps from the vantage point of greater wisdom and a better sense of the time in which the event took place.

Following sections relate to Norton's actual process of writing memoir. This includes focussing on the stories themselves and how to bring them out in a deeper way. She begins with the "shimmering image, one of those memory pictures you've had for years.....a memory that rises in your consciousness like a photograph." Norton urges the reader to take note of these as they are the source of stories waiting to be told.

Finding satisfying ways to tell these stories is dealt with though exercises in subsequent chapters. One such exercise, The Mountaintop, helps with story structure and is "a way to find a beginning from the imaginary view of a mountaintop." It helps us define significant, even life-changing moments in our lives. Norton advises the reader to list these events for use in her next exercise, the Memory Map. Here we select one of our Mountaintop images and proceed to map it out, drawing detail of the physical reality of the event so that it takes on dimension and a life. As we create the map, other images--"shimmering images"--may come to mind and they in turn may be instrumental in bringing our stories out. Additional elements in Norton's overall process include collecting and sorting through personal mementoes or "stuff" such as diaries, calendars and newspaper clippings, all of which stimulate our ability to recapture images and to find meaning in them. Another part of the process is to recognize the need to research around the event: what was going on at the time, politically, culturally, etc. All of this embellishes the story and will bring interest to the reader. Finally, in this section, we learn about structure and how to get to the "Heart of the Story," how to portray our story and its meaning in a universal way so that our readers can identify with our experience.

The final section of the book is dedicated to crafting the process and deals with voice and perspective. Are you telling the story as it happened or in hindsight: are you the ten-year-old girl in the story or the fifty-year-old woman recounting it? Norton also talks about imagery, setting the scene and the use of cliché in writing.

Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memory completely lives up to its title. I found it to be informative, absorbing and extremely readable. Norton writes with great enthusiasm and made me feel as though anything is possible, that, yes, I can definitely do this and do this well. Her book is a must-have reference for anyone interested in writing memoir.

by Janet Caplan
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

I have always been a writer, but I've kept my writing safe, careful, and from a distance. I've written business articles, newsletters, letters and emails to friends, journals, and to-do lists...loving the simple act of putting words on paper, but not thinking of myself as someone with a story to tell.

Yet I have always yearned to write books, with an ache I could feel. I covered up my desire with business writing; I even wrote a business book and had started several more. But over the years, many of my mentors have suggested that I write my story, about my life. "Why on earth would anyone want to read my story?" I'd always ask. However, a couple of weeks ago, when someone again suggested I write my story during a group call, something clicked inside of me.

I hung up the phone, got in the car, and drove straight to the bookstore. I pulled half a dozen books off the shelf on writing life stories, autobiographies, and memoir and sat myself down in a chair in the corner to look at all of them. Each one seemed complicated, or not practical, or just didn't connect with me...until the last one in my stack. It was a tiny little book called "Shimmering Images" by Lisa Dale Norton, and as I glanced through it, one phrase stood out as if it had been written in red ink. "I believe memoir writing is the most effective way to change the world," Norton writes. "Sounds lofty, I know, but honestly, the way I see it, when you write your story, you codify a truth about past experience. That act changes you, opens up new, stunning possibilities for your future, and when witnessed by a reader - if you've done your job well and written with authenticity - the sheer act of sharing your truth allows that reader to claim her own truth."

I had found my book. I bought the book, went outside the bookstore, found a chair in the Arizona sunshine, and read this little guide straight through, crying the entire time. It struck a chord in me that I had been waiting for but never knew I was expecting.

The exercises Lisa shares in her book are practical, useful, and they work. Already I am seeing pieces of my own life in a completely new way, and am now inspired to tell my story. Lisa has created a brilliant book with lovely writing, full of compassion and support and guidance.

I've captured life stories of many senior adults over the years -- though on audio or video, rather than in print. The results have always been emotionally powerful and interesting even to those who do not know the storyteller.

I've looked for books that document the methods I've used, but have found none until now.

Most books on writing memoirs focus on lists of questions or topics. My method is to focus on storytelling and to let what's important bubble up from the person's own memory. That approach reveals what is important to THEM, not to me or some list-maker.

In most instances, even the people with many public accomplishments never mentioned them during our recordings. However, their stories do reveal the people and experiences (including failures) that shaped their character and poised them for such outward success -- and, more important, that were the foundation for their personal growth as well.

Shimmering Images is a step-by-step guide to capturing the essence of our life. Lisa Dale Norton delivers this in a concise and readable 112-pages. We do not have to become "writers" and spend years researching and learning the craft. People are natural storytellers. Our life is our preparation. Shimmering Images shows us how to release what we already know in our own voice.

When I finished the book, I actually kissed it and said aloud,"Thank You!"

Yes, thank you, Lisa Norton, for making it possible for anyone -- famous or not, professional writer or not -- to probe and record the past in an engaging way that enlightens the future for us and for others.

This book's terrific for those among us who are visual learners. Norton has you draw out major turning points in your life (boy is my drawing long) and then create memory maps from any of those turning points. As a visual artist, this has been a huge help to me: I'm writing daily now, thanks to this process.

When is a writing book not a writing book? When it is a precise roadmap for a thoughtful and well-considered life, disguised as a slender and accessible "writing guide" geared towards both the professional and amateur writer. Lisa Dale Norton has breezily accomplished in a mere 112 pages what writers like Julia Cameron and Natalie Goldberg have struggled to articulate in handfuls of books and workshops.

Norton, founder of the Santa Fe Writing Institute and author of the memoir Hawk Flies Above: Journey to the Heart of the Sandhills, has distilled years of teaching and writing trial and error into a compact toolkit for both the aspiring memoirist and those who just want to make some sense of the randomness of life's trajectory.

In a crisp and lively fashion, she lays out the main components of effective memoir-writing and encourages the writer to follow along one step at a time. Her techniques are well-grounded in literary tradition and are refined to a razor's sharpness; there's no fuss, no muss, just a clear-cut path from Point A to Point B that keeps the writer on track and free of distraction.

She has given these techniques little names that are easy to track throughout the writing process (from the Shimmering Images of the title through The Mountaintop, Memory Maps, Personal Archives and The Larger World).

There are also brief but highly effective discursions into specifics of the craft of writing, including the use of scene-setting, metaphor and simile and the avoidance of cliches, which all seem designed to remind the writer to add self-education, writerly discipline and a quest for excellence to the process, a crucial element so sorely missing from many contemporary memoirs (and faux-memoirs).

In fact, Norton's entire assortment of tools and techniques seems equally well suited to writing fiction, especially when it comes to understanding character development and sense of time and place. And the way in which she encourages the writer to start--with "shimmering images," little bits of visual memories that rise up in one's consciousness--could be a perfect way to create the entire life of a fictional character.

But most engaging about Norton's presentation here is her emphasis right from the start on the need for honesty and compassion, a generosity of spirit and a sense of balance in the memoir-writing process.

Far more important than telling the writer how to produce a contract-worthy manuscript, Norton is primarily concerned with "the act of ordering the chaos of the past, assigning meaning through the narrative process, and simultaneously creating a truth you can carry into the future, upon which you can base future choices..."

Norton firmly believes in the power of story and storytelling; she asserts that as we each have a story, we each have a right to share it, and in that sharing, we share our humanity and our universality. Her call for a balanced, harmonious, graceful, compassionate and generous approach to the people and circumstances in our personal histories is a far cry from the exploitive finger-pointing dreck spilling out of bookstores these days. Even--and perhaps especially--the non-writer will feel inspired to take a look back at life and perhaps spend some time on paper with those shimmering images.

This guide to writing memoir by Lisa Dale Norton is an easy read packed full of information. Lisa breaks the complicated process of writing a memoir into easy to follow steps. This is the best book I have found on the process and I've read many of them. Every writer and teacher of writing should have this book.

For anyone who writes and needs discipline and simple guidelines this book by Lisa Dale Norton is a must read. At the same time, although small, this work is rich in material and technique. Lisa's humor, gentle prodding and gracious insights make a memoir a possibility. A very effective and relevant tool ! Thank you Lisa Dale Norton !

It is my belief every person has a story to tell. Some of us have more than one. So how do you get your life's experiences on paper? A good start would be with Lisa Dale Norton's SHIMMERING IMAGES.

When I first browsed through the book, I was caught off guard by how much was covered in the book's 144 pages. It's a relatively quick read, but the message is powerful. Storytelling is an art. If you have the desire and drive, you can pursue your dream of writing and publishing.

The book is broken into three parts. The first is The Ideas Behind the Process, which talks about the ideas behind writing a memoir. It also covers truth verses fact. This would have been valuable information for James Frey prior to writing A MILLION PIECES.

Part two, The Process, introduces a step by step process for your unique narrative voice.

Part three, The Tools To Craft The Process, is a self-explanatory. This part gives you some to the tools needed to write your memoir.

This is the perfect book for someone contemplating this sort of adventure. There's plenty of confidence building, which I find vital. The how-tos are important, sure, but so is confidence building. Norton's passages built me up, making me feel I too could accomplish such a feat.

I read thru this book in one day and gathered more information about writing memiors than I did spending three days reading thru a bloated writing text. This book is straight forward, smart and to the point. The exercises are very effective. I will keep it on my book shelf for years as a trusted resource.

Shimmering Images is a great resource for writers of all levels. With simplicity and humor, Lisa Dale Norton walks the reader through creative techniques that stimulate rich memories. As a writer, I found this book extremely helpful, and I tell other writer's about it whenever I can.