Concentrating on a suggestion for how to start writing...

[Pepi Plowman]

Yes, Harry, I had thought of that--even have a little
dictaphone expressly for that purpose (but also for
anything else that might occur to me).  When I left
Philly in my school bus it was really easy to talk
into the tape recorder because I was all alone on a
long trip and had escaped the brutal city.  I was like
a released spring.  Right now I feel all scrunched up
with all the catches on:  stuck.  Can't escape; don't
care about much.  Sounds pretty awful, I know.  I feel
blocked from every angle.  I've thought perhaps I
should be like the Buddhists and leave everything
behind--throw it in the trash, give the dogs to the
pound, whatever.  But I've grown too attached to do
that and feel weak, the older I get.  Not only am I
not as strong physically, but my will power seems to
have diminished into nothingness.  I am having a bit
of a problem thinking that what happens to humans is
at all of import, and what would make me any different
than the rest?

I discovered recently I have an aunt (my mother's
sister) who is still alive; she even lives here in
Austin.  I went to see her and wanted to tape record
her.  She sang me a bunch of songs she learned from my
grandmother.  She is a true Christian and doesn't
judge me for not being one.  I don't even have time to
go see her these days--this will change, though.  I
intend to get her on tape as soon as I can.  I feel
surrounded by incubuses determined to keep me down. 
Spring, getting in the garden, getting some sleep,
swimming--all these will make things better again
shortly.  Then maybe I can get started doing something
besides trying to get the gd house cleaned.  Thanks
for your input.

Pepi
--- Harry Edwards <laughingwolf at ev1.net> wrote:

> Pepi, have you thought of oral history?  I got my
> mother on tape before 
> her stroke and I'm real thankful I did.           
> Harry
> 
> 
> On Mar 17, 2005, at 10:30 AM, Pepi Plowman wrote:
> 
> > Thanks, Frances, for your encouragement.  You
> > articulate your argument for my writing the story
> very
> > well.  I need a patron (or patroness), for I just
> > don't have time to do anything right now except to
> get
> > up, go to work, come home and go to sleep.
> >
> > I actually have a chronological Xcel database of
> > periods of my own life with short one-liners
> > describing experiences in my life (with,
> obviously,
> > the intention of eventually filling it out).  I
> might
> > try to do the same for my parents' lives.
> >
> > I tried to get my sisters involved in writing a
> book
> > about our lives together, but I didn't have the
> > sustaining power to do it.  It took too much
> energy to
> > get everyone motivated to write me their memories.
> > One sisters said, why don't you write it, Pepi.
> > Perhaps I will and get them to edit.
> >
> > I do have a person who is an excellent editor in
> > Pennsylvania who has offered to edit for me.  I
> also
> > am friends with (a highschool classmate (actually,
> she
> > was in my sister's class)) Larry McMurtry's and
> > Margaret Atwood's agent in New York.  I do have
> > connects.  Bill Broyles and Bud Shrake would
> probably
> > be interested--whatever.  I guess I need a whip.
> >
> > Pepi
> > --- Frances Morey <frances_morey at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Pepi,
> >> This is the author's first sentence starting a
> ten
> >> page summation of Leoncio's Candle of Death,
> based
> >> on a true story by Anthony Josef:  He says, [the
> >> book] "...is a work of fiction. Although many
> events
> >> are historically accurate, all characters,
> dialogue,
> >> and interaction among characters are purely
> products
> >> of my imagination." www.bloodshedbooks.com
> >>
> >> This disclaimer is no doubt because all the
> >> principals are dead. Then he goes on to list all
> the
> >> accurate details of the story. The sheer number
> and
> >> weight of factual instances of the horrors that
> >> unfolded are enough to fill up the entire nine
> >> pages! It is as thick a tapestry as any of the
> Greek
> >> tragedies. That hardly suggests that the work
> should
> >> be first off be described as "fiction."
> >>
> >> To call it a fiction off the top was a terrible
> >> idea, since that is only the embroidery that
> fleshes
> >> the out story to be believable to readers at the
> >> time they read it. It in no way detracts due to
> an
> >> absence of absolute accuracy. Absolute accuracy
> is
> >> basically boring. What drives a story are the
> facts
> >> and turns the story takes. That's what holds the
> >> reader's interest to keep them turning from page
> to
> >> page, unable to put it down until the end and
> then
> >> wanting more. Now THAT'S writing!
> >>
> >> Anyway, the point I'm making is that you can
> imagine
> >> stuff based on hearsay which would be almost as
> good
> >> as an interview with the principal. In the amount
> of
> >> time you spent with your mother over a lifetime,
> >> surely you must have picked up enough factual
> >> information, instances where she had to
> drastically
> >> change her life around events. You no doubt
> remember
> >> other stories about how her life was led in the
> >> various situations to describe it more
> knowledgably
> >> than anyone else. The hardest part about writing
> is
> >> getting started.
> >>
> >> I would suggest outlining it in by epoch, and
> >> filling in memories from each, all in one
> >> liners--save the prose for the real thing. This
> will
> >> keep the narrative on track and make more sense
> >> instead of just meandering around after typing
> "Once
> >> upon a time...". Each epoch becomes a chapter,
> say,
> >> then when all the epochs are down on paper in
> >> outline form, start the writing.
> >>
> >> Best,
> >> Frances
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Pepi Plowman <pepstoil at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >> Yup. The book my mother always wanted to write.
> >> Since she's dead, it's pretty hard to know what
> >> really
> >> happened and likely would end up being mostly
> made
> >> up.
> >> Which is okay, I guess, considering we are such
> >> infinitessimally small specks in this universe--I
> >> mean, what difference does it make, anyhow? But
> I'm
> >> stupidly literal minded and would want the true
> >> story.
> >> pep
> >>
> >> --- Frances Morey wrote:
> >>> Now there's a story that needs writing, Pepi.
> >>> Frances
> >>>
> >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>> From: "Pepi Plowman"
> >>
> >>> To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin
> Ghetto
> >>> Daze in the 60s"
> >>>
> >>> Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 11:58 AM
> >>> Subject: Re: Stockholm syndrome?
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> Correct. I and my older sister were born in
> >>> different
> >>>> camps.
> >>>>
> >>>> But my mother still loved Japan--lived there
> for
> >>> seven
> >>>> years before the war and three 30 years later.
> >>> She
> >>>> had many Japanese friends.
> >>>>
> >>>> But when she lapsed into Alzheimer's in her
> >> latter
> >>> ten
> >>>> years, her stays in nursing homes were
> >>> characterized
> >>>> by her awakening every morning totally
> >> disoriented
> >>> as
> >>>> to where she was, donning every dress she owned
> >>> one on
> >>>> top of another, muttering, "Got to go to the
> >>> jungle.
> >>>> The Japanese are coming. Got to go to the
> >>> jungle."
> >>>> before attempting to exit and being caught by
> >> the
> >>>> nurses in attendance. She was crazy to get
> >>> out--would
> >>>> bite and kick--I think she was plenty scared of
> >>> the
> >>>> Japanese in those camps, and have no doubt the
> >>>> experience contributed to the Alzheimer's.
> >>>>
> >>>> pep
> >>>> --- Michael Eisenstadt
> >>> wrote:
> >>>>>> His last wife and he both had alcohol
> >> problems
> >>> and
> >>>>> the
> >>>>>> last I saw of them they didn't seem very
> >>> happy.
> >>>>> My
> 
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