I want to thank Mws R Writings and Paula Light from Light Motifs II

You both came to my rescue and although you both gave me suggestions for a civilian life title I have chosen Paula’s “From Pancakes to Prozac – A Memoir of a Disturbed Housewife.” This is perfect Paula. And I did start out my psychiatric journey with Prozac, which was a disaster.

Now the next part is figuring out how to represent my childhood. It was fraught with psychiatric episodes from birth and they didn’t talk about it in the 1950s so that was left for me to stumble through although my mother had some kind of anxiety meds that went in my bottles so I could keep the milk down and then she was always on hand watching and had that little white pill waiting if I needed it which I did quite often. My whole life was traumatic and chaotic.

Some suggestions that I came up with for my childhood blog that doesn’t necessarily make sense are:

Afraid of my own Shadow

My Two Cents

Stumbling into adulthood

Rock the Cradle

Beyond the Cradle

The Cradle and Beyond

Manic Mondays (probably being used in some ways since it is a song title)

It’s all in my Head

Thanks again and if anyone else has an idea don’t be afraid to step up. I am open to other ideas.

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

Author of a book, a work in progress on the blog, https://tessacandoit.com/government-property-a-memoir-as-a-military-wife/

Highlighted chapters are done and ready to be read.

Help! Have a few writing questions.

This is about writing, but anyone can give their opinions.

My  blog book is named “Government Property – A Memoir of a Military Wife vs a Civilian Wife.” Now technically my title is military only and therefore I wonder if I should just do the military wife section (which is very small) and not include the civilian wife. I would have to do a separate piece for that one and then, of course, I already mean to do my childhood memoir separately.

Suggestions, please.

What do you all think? Should they be broken up more? Memoirs are small pieces of your life and not like autobiographies for those that don’t know.

That would also mean a new title for the civilian part. If you have an idea I am listening.

Also, have to come up with a name for the childhood section. I figure something to do with mental illness since that dominates my life.

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

Author of a book, a work in progress on the blog, https://tessacandoit.com/government-property-a-memoir-as-a-military-wife/

Highlighted chapters are done and ready to be read.

Another writing question. Looking for opinions.

I am writing a memoir. For those that aren’t sure what that is, it is a section of your life story, but not the whole story. Now I am starting from when I was a military wife and then planned on continuing to the divorce. So that would be my whole marriage. But the title is “Government Property – A Memoir of a Military Wife.” So now I am wondering if I should cut it down to just include the military years.  What do you think?

Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new wor

k is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

Are you a Writer? Poet? Can you help me with this?

I have been writing like crazy on my memoir. Still only posted the first three chapters so far though.

I have a problem that has brought me to a screeching halt, a problem that maybe some of you can relate to and give me some ideas on how to get through it. I have come to a halt as two of my chapters have become hopelessly entwined together.

Do I print out the offending chapters and try to renumber the scenes and then try to fix it on my Microsoft Word? Do I delete the whole thing and with the print out try to rewrite those two chapters? Should I try to outline from this point forward although the thought of that is not appealing at all?  Is there another option that I am missing here. I guess this is one of the things an outline would have resolved. I don’t outline, but work by the seat of my pants or I am a pantser as they call it.

I hope someone has some resolutions to this that might help me.

Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

Article: Are you a pantser or plotter (outliner) by Teresa Smeigh

Most writers are either a pantser, which means they write by the seat of their pants or a plotter, they must have an outline to lay the whole thing out. Now there are a few people who are a combination of both and they are called plantsers.

Pantsers write one day at a time letting the story tell itself. When they start they are not sure whether it will be a novel, novella or simply a piece of flash fiction. They must be ready to scrap their work if it doesn’t work out. The pros of being a pantser mean that you can kill off a character and not have to rewrite the whole outline. The cons though mean that it is easier to get stuck since you have no plans written out to fall back on.

A plotter or planner plans their whole novel before they start writing. They methodically plan it out from start to finish. It can be scribbled on a piece of scrap paper or neatly written out. This is great for people who don’t want to go off plot because they can’t focus. They don’t want to go off their original plan. The pros are that they hardly have writer’s block. The cons though are really rough as a change in the story means rewriting the whole outline each and every time they decide to change something.

Although I am a pantser for the most part, for this memoir I am writing, I am writing an outline of sorts. I want it chronological so I have written out my table of contents and occasionally I do end up having to add chapters or move them around as my memory kicks in with another memory or I remember the actual date.

Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

Oscar Wilde Quote

“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.”

– Oscar Wilde

 

This has been the story of my life. Terrible and bitter trials happening all the time and then later finding out that it was the best thing in the world that could have happen. Sometimes it takes a while to find out just how much of a blessing it is.

Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

2016/01/06/writers-quote

 

This is so very true. I do my best writing in the middle of the night. There are no interruptions and piece reigns supreme around here anyhow.

Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

 

Thunder and Lightning – a haiku

Thunder and Lightning

By Teresa Smeigh 2019

thunder cracks loudly

lightning flashing across sky

I jump at each crack

Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

Spring Rains – a haiku

Spring Rains

By Teresa Smeigh 2019

peeping through the earth

colorful blooms appearing

rain nourished them

Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

I’ve been thinking, ut oh LOL!

As some of you know I have been doing a lot of writing on the blogs. Some of that work is for my 2 writing groups and the rest has been all the prompts I found on here.

For the writing groups I have been doing longer work and non-fiction. Someone suggested that I should use these writings and write a memoir. That interests me more than poetry books, but who knows what the future brings. I may never get that complete need to be published. I never know with my Bipolar Disorder where my interests will get so interesting that I follow through.

So with all the writing for the 2 groups and belonging to one, possibly 2 reading groups if the one here where I live in the senior high rise gets going, I have to cut down on all the prompt writing I am doing.

Right now I am obsessed with writing, leading towards a manic phase. I am sleeping less than normal which isn’t much to begin with. My psychiatrist is slightly concerned, but doesn’t feel I am a serious manic phase at this point. YET anyhow.

I am going to research memoir writing first. I have no idea what they consist of except that they are not full autobiographies. I believe that I have several things that I could use possibly to write one, but I am clueless which leads to lots of research.

That being said I am going to slow down probably on all the prompt writing although rewriting old posts that could possibly work for a memoir I will still work on.

Things change abruptly in my life and my whole idea may change and I might go back to poetry writing. I just don’t know.

Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com