Christopher Bennett

Memoir Reflections

Memoir

A Reflection on Relationships

I’ve worked on my memoir for several years and interviewed many friends, family, and relatives. Since then one family member, and at least three of my relatives interviewed passed away. A few days ago a childhood friend also passed away. She was my sister’s close friend during the 1950s and 1960s.

It’s made me reflect on the value of past and present relationships and how fleeting the days, years and decades are. It’s easy to take people you know for granted and forget that there really is only a limited time to nurture and develop meaningful relationships.

Though I remember interviewing a mate who I had not seen for forty five years. When he appeared at his front door the decades vanished and we easily picked up the friendship from the last time we had seen each other as teenagers back in the 1960s.

Working on the memoir has helped me stay in touch with those who have passed away and those still living through my writing,, shared stories and photos.

I value those relationships perhaps because I’m closer to the end than the start of my life – reflecting and appreciating more the impact they have all had on my life.

For those who have passed away their ‘footprints on the sands of time’ will remain in my memory forever.

Image courtesy Jeremy Bishop via Unsplash
Quote: ‘Footprints on the sands of time’ – William Wadsworth Longfellow

Early Christmas Present

I’ve given myself an early Christmas present by finishing and printing out the final draft of my memoir. I’ll hand it over to the editor today.

It’s been a hectic few weeks fine tuning this draft but it’s done and now I can take a break from writing over the coming holidays.

Next month I’ll review the feedback and make any edits, corrections required and then begin the process of self publishing it. A realistic goal is to have it out there on the market late next year.

But for now, it’s couch time.

Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year everyone!

Image courtesy of freestocks on via Unsplash



Memoir: The Numbers

Words: 90,279

Draft: 7th

Chapters: 24

Started: 2010

Finish: 2022

Vignettes: 155

Cherry Ripe: Hundreds

Cups of tea: Thousands

Next week I’ll start checking my research notes, interviews, previous drafts, photos for extra bits I hope will add to the narrative. I’ll allow up to three weeks to do this before handing the draft over to my editor.

After she ‘picks the bones’ out of it I’ll make the suggested edits and corrections for the last draft.

If you wondering why it’s taken me so long to write my memoir its because I’m running a business and have little time to write. Though over the past few months, due to covid restrictions, I’ve managed to write almost full time.

I’m looking forward to finishing this memoir so I can get a life again. 🙂

Image courtesy of Jaredd Craig via Unsplash.

My Memoir: The Home Stretch

I’m almost there after eleven years of working on my memoir which is about growing up in the working class suburb of Fitzroy during the 1950s and 1960s.

The reason why it has taken so long is because I’ve had little time to write it while running two businesses. Though since the covid virus appeared last year I’ve had the opportunity to write regularly.

I’m currently working on the final draft and will finish that by the end of the year. Then one more run through before I start the process of getting it published.

I’ve leaning towards self publishing rather than the traditional publishing option because I do prefer control of my memoir.

I’ll engage professionals such as a book cover designer, editor, printer, and someone to format the book. I’ll do the marketing, distribution and I’ll also look at other ways of promoting my book besides this site and Face Book.

I’m on the homestretch and can just see the finishing post.

And it feels good!

‘Dogs Breakfast’ to Narrative

It’s good to get past my ‘dogs breakfast’ drafts and start writing the narrative of my memoir.

I’ve received feedback from my editor about the last dogs breakfast (all over the place) draft and as a result written the narrative for seven chapters. That’s about a third of the memoir..

Corrections and suggestions were written over my last draft and I’ve now knocked it into shape. It now reads like a story. This rewrite is not difficult because everything is in front of me, I can see an overall view of each chapter and make the necessary adjustments.

I’m on target to finish the final draft early next year after eleven years of interrupted research and writing.

As they say, ‘every dog will have it’s day and I will too, when my memoir is published.

Image courtesy of Patrick Tomasso via Unsplash