by Ruth W. Crocker | Jul 7, 2025 | posts
Have you ever heard someone say, after a traumatic or startling event: “I just can’t talk about it right now”? They may describe themselves as “lost for words,” as if the right words have not yet been invented to pinpoint feelings with precision. This is a normal,...
by Ruth W. Crocker | Feb 24, 2025 | posts
“Do you swear to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” We’ve heard this intimidating oath in every television show with a courtroom scene. Fortunately, writers of memoir and personal essay don’t have to make this declaration – at least...
by Ruth W. Crocker | Jul 23, 2022 | posts
Not long ago in a writing workshop, a colleague offered to read a personal essay I had written about a difficult life experience. My kind friend reported back that he felt as if I were dragging him, sad and depressed, to the abysmal end of the story. “I don’t want to...
by Ruth W. Crocker | Jan 8, 2021 | posts
One of my challenges in the writing process is how to stay connected to whatever I’m working on and have enough distance, at the same time, to have a perspective on what I’m trying to say. Sometimes writing can feel like I’m looking through the wrong end of a...
