Second Guesses

About six months ago, I spoke with Amy Benson, author of The Sparkling-Eyed Boy. Ms. Benson was the 2003 Bakeless Prize winner for non-fiction. The prize is given annually at the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference. Her memoir of love defies the narrative concepts of chronology and story arc.

Recently, I abandoned my own memoir project because it lacked arc, chronology, yada yada. I set aside about 50 pages of it, "to look at down the road, if I felt like writing essays" and the rest went into the recycle bin. Now, I'm second guessing that decision.

I'm thinking about the writers and books I admire. Amy Benson is certainly on the brain. Frederic Tuten, my teacher once again, comes to mind. They don't write your standard stuff.

What is it that I really want to write, then? I guess (there's that word again), in the end, I want to create something unique, something truthful, and something with meaning.

Ce n'est pas une pipe.