It’s Never Too Late to Start Writing

I recently read the amazing memoir A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas.  It’s the story of her life after her husband suffers a traumatic brain injury in a pedestrian accident.  As you can imagine from the title Thomas’  dogs help her cope with her new life.  But interestingly enough, she could have called the book “The Writing Life” because writing is what also helps her cope.

The magic of memoir is that it allows the reader to try on the life the writer lives, to eavesdrop on a life very different from one’s own, even if it’s only the details of an ordinary day.  Thomas’  life became very unordinary the night her husband was hit by a car while he was walking their dog, but it is her description and reflection on how she copes with ordinary days that I liked.

I loved her observation on aging.  “The fact that I’m sixty-three has something to do with it.  What I used to fear was growing old–not the aches and pains part or the what-have-I-done-with-my life part or the threat of illness, none of that.  I just couldn’t imagine what my life would be like without the option of looking good.”

But she does look plenty good in print!  Elizabeth Gilbert gave the a big thumbs-up when I saw her speak in Phoenix last spring.  On the book’s cover,  Stephen King is quoted as saying  “the best memoir I have ever read.”  The back cover has glowing endorsements from People, O Magazine, and Newsweek.

The accident that changes Thomas’ life is dramatic; the change their marriage undergoes is tragic.  The most shocking thing, however, about the book wasn’t how the accident happens.   Nor was it the details of how she copes with her husband’s memory loss and strange acquisition of intuitive powers.  The biggest surprise for me was page 149 when Thomas begins a new section with “I didn’t start writing until I was forty-seven.”  The rest of the paragraph details all the misconceptions she formerly had about writing, many that I could relate to.

“She was just 47!” I commented to one of my Wise Women Write groups in a recent discussion of the book and its relation to memoir writing.

Deb, a new Wise Woman of two weeks, said, “Yeah, I know, and I’m 47!”

I hope that little detail from Thomas gave Deb some courage.  It certainly gives me courage.

I came to writing in my early 50′s after abandoning the writing of  bad gushy love poetry in college.  I had written short stories in high school, the most memorable being the story of a girl in a mental institution.  Geez…what was I thinking?  Probably that I could write pretty imaginative stuff and that my normal every day experience  didn’t matter even though my experience included nothing of mental institutions.

Creative nonfiction is so much easier.  Telling the truth is much easier than fiction.  Sharing your truth in writing with others is the way to go, which is how I returned to a writing life in my early 50′s.  Funny… I did what Thomas says she did in A Three Dog Life:  “I met other writers, and we began to get together to share our work.”   This is what I did when I formed a Wednesday night writing group, the group that later produced LifeLines.  And wait…this is exactly what we do in Wise Women Write!

I’m so glad I have “A Wise Women Writing Life.”

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in this post are “affiliate links.”  If you click on the link and buy the item, I will receive a few pennies from Amazon. However, I only recommend books I believe will benefit my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tagged as: A Three Dog Life, Writers Resources