Exercises for your memoir muscle

Because life is not linear, you want to approach writing memoir sideways, using the deepest kind of thinking to sort through the layers: you want reflection to discover what the real connections are.

Some suggested "mind sprint" writing exercises excerpted from Goldberg's book:

• Tell me what you will miss when you die.

• Tell me what you thought was ugly.

• Tell me about someone who was a true teacher for you. Don't be sentimental.

• Ten minutes on being fat, chubby, flabby, stout, bulky, paunchy, potbellied, fleshy, blubbery, plump, round or corpulent.

• What was the secret vice you held close?

• What have you waited a long time for?

• When did you pretend not to care?

• Write about your mother's jewelry. Write about her shoes.

• What do you no longer have?

• What can you give up knowing?

• Tell me about a time you were instantly enamored.

• What have you held onto too long?

• What bars have you known?

• What aches?

• What's been on your mind? What have you carried and gnawed over?

• Tell me about a clock you've looked at a lot.

• What do you no longer have?