ARCHIVE FOR Michelle Seaton

GrubStreet Instructor Michelle Seaton interviewed Memoir Incubator alum Molly Howes about her new book A Good Apology: Four Steps to Make Things Right. This paradigm-shifting book describes how apologies work, why they are so hard, and why they are so essential for rebuilding and maintaining relationships. You can learn more about and purchase the book here. 

Are your shelves bending under the weight of unread books? Are your files bulging with research for stories yet to be written? Do you have boxes or piles of old notebooks in the corner of every room? Every time you encounter a new anecdote or historical fact, do you say aloud, “I can use that,” as you reach for paper and pen? If so, I can relate. Writers are natural collectors—or hoarders, perhaps

We’ve completed week three of the Dorchester class of the Memoir Project. Like Dorchester itself, the class is mixed racially and in many other ways. Some of the 15 students have advanced degrees and others don’t. Some grew up in the south and moved to Boston, while others were born and raised here. Some are very outgoing and love to share their work, and others are more reticent. Each week I hand out three or four writing prompts at the beginning of class and, and later some of the students read aloud a few paragraphs of what they’ve written in their notebook.

By Michelle Seaton

“How’s the writing going?” It’s the question I hear whenever I venture to an event where I see other writers. I ask this question, too, at every reading, book launch, conference, and party where I run into a friend or former student I haven’t seen in a while. The response is almost always the same: an awkward pause, a grimace, followed by an admission that it’s okay, or could be better, that it’s not that great. As a group, we writers are underwhelmed by our own efforts and achievements.

On Facebook, every day is an amazing day for someone I know. Twitter, too. On social media, my friends are always doing incredible things. They’re finishing their books, selling their books, finding agents. They share so generously news of their published stories and Pushcart nominations. They post links to new essays and photos of finished manuscripts, packed readings, exciting literary parties, and celebrity encounters. I get lots of late-breaking updates on foreign sales, movie options, book-cover dilemmas.