Vine Leaves Press discussion

What would it cost for a girl to run wildly and recklessly into womanhood, making instant, temporary homes? Please welcome, Gina Troisi, author of the memoir 'The Angle of Flickering Light', who is available to answer your questions about her latest book.

Hello, everyone! I'd love to talk about my recently released memoir, The Angle of Flickering Light, if anyone has questions. I look forward to chatting!

Hey Gina! I was really looking forward to hearing how it felt to have readers know intimate details about your life. Truthfully conveying those details is very important for a great memoir (and yours is!), but for the common reader like me, the task seems so harrowing.

Hi Martha,

That's such a great question, and I think it's one most memoirists struggle with. Long before a work goes out into the world, I have to write without really believing that anyone else is ever going to read it, at least for the first several drafts. Otherwise, it would be too easy for me to censor or shy away from certain scenes and situations that might feel too raw or revealing. I have heard other memoirists say that they pretend they are writing for a very nurturing, supportive audience of one, and I can see how that can be helpful as well.

I published many individual essays that eventually became chapters in The Angle of Flickering Light, which was helpful as far as getting used to putting the content into the world bit by bit. In this way, I have been revealing those intimate details over a long period of time. In the same sense, my writing groups and other friends I exchange work with prepped me for putting the book into the world. Still, once the book was getting close to publication, and becoming very real, I became more aware that people would read these intimate details, and I did have some moments of panic. But I think it's just part of the process. And I think we are really always putting ourselves out there as writers, no matter which genre we are writing in. We are opening ourselves up to feedback, to criticism, to rejection. A good friend (also a memoir writer) gave me a sound piece of advice: she reminded me that once the book went out into the world, it really wasn't mine anymore. In a sense, it's no longer about me, but about the reader--their responses and reactions and the way they connect with the material. I found that advice to be so helpful and very, very true. It's like you pour your heart and soul into crafting this gift--this book--but you give it up to the reader.

And reader responses have been so incredibly rewarding. I think the book has encouraged others to remember that they are not alone in their struggles. Many have expressed that the book has given them hope, and that is so meaningful to me.

I hope this helps, Martha! I'd be happy to elaborate about any parts of this process!:)

The three things that resonate with me about your process are that you 1) ease into allowing your private life to become public, 2) use strategies to quell moments of panic, and 3) remind yourself the whole point of telling the story is to help others get in touch with their own emotions and experiences.

Of them all, the last is definitely the most gratifying. By reading your book, it helped remind me that we can't learn something until we do. We can't extract the inherent lessons until we're emotionally able to do so. That was so helpful!

Hi Martha,

I am so glad to hear that you resonated with specific parts of my process!

And thank you for your kind words about my book. That's a great point about extracting the lessons--when it comes to memoir, I think we are absolutely on the book's timeline, whether we want to be or not. I once heard the author, Joyce Maynard say that in order to write memoir we have to "let the ashes cool," and that made so much sense to me. I have definitely found that I need the time and space to process before I am able to write about certain moments and experiences. I have to be ready to dig deep, and I have to remember to implement self-care strategies while doing so.

Thanks so much for this great discussion!:)