 |
| Misdemeanor Outlaw - available here |
Mediocre or Just Ordinary
I heard many people use the words mediocre and ordinary as synonyms. I don’t believe that’s reasonable in most instances. Mediocre implies that whatever circumstance you find yourself in, you will deal with it in a less than creative way. Ordinary, on the other hand, indicates that your life experiences are comparable to many other people who may fit some way in your demographic, not necessarily how you deal with those experiences. For a writer of memoir, or really any nonfiction, this is an important distinction.
It has been remarked by some great critics of memoir writing that most of us shouldn’t bother because we’ve done nothing special with our lives. We’re not celebrities or professional athletes or rock stars, and therefore have nothing of value to say regarding our personal lives. I respond to that particular criticism in this way—that’s exactly why we should share our stories. For example, I was wounded while on patrol in Vietnam. More than a quarter of a million Americans were wounded in that war. More than fifty-eight thousand died. Many thousands suffered in wars before that and many more after. It is a fairly common experience and has been described in a myriad of ways by some of the best and brightest authors on this planet. Why would my description be a worthwhile one read?
If, I have developed my craft well enough and if I have been visited in this one instance by that nebulous and undefinable quality called by some inspiration, then the way I describe that event in my life will connect with people on a conscious level, but more importantly, on an emotional one as well. For those who have participated on some level in the horror of war, it will help generate an exorcism of sorts and for those who have not, it will create an empathetic understanding relatable to some trauma in their own lives. In this way, a universal connection is made and connection should be the goal of any writer because through a series of joined images, fresh images get forged. Synthesis often creates possibilities greater than the sum of their parts and the feeling that you are not alone in your struggle to be human helps heal the injuries accumulated by being human.
 |
| Discover Jim's books on Amazon here |
Jim McGarrah's poems and essays have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, including After Shocks: Poems of Recovery, Bayou Magazine, Breakwater, The Bitter Southerner, Café Review, Chamber Four Magazine, Cincinnati Review, Connecticut Review, Elixir Magazine, and North American Review. His play, Split Second Timing, received a Kennedy Center Award in 2001. He is the author of four books of poetry, Running the Voodoo Down (2003), When the Stars Go Dark (2009), Breakfast at Denny's (2013). and The Truth About Mangoes (2016). His memoir of the Vietnam War entitled A Temporary Sort of Peace received the 2010 Eric Hoffer Award for Legacy Nonfiction and was followed by The End of an Era (2011), an account of life in the counterculture during the sixties and seventies. In September of 2015, Blue Heron Book Works published his third nonfiction book, Off Track. McGarrah is editor, along with Tom Watson, of Home Again: Essays and Memoirs from Indiana. He holds a master's degree in liberal studies from the University of Southern Indiana and an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. He taught creative writing and literature at the university level for several years, but has also been a horse trainer, a janitor, a social worker, and a mailman.
Connect with Jim on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmcgarra
Connect with Jim on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/306452
No comments:
Post a Comment