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On Self
I'm taking a memoir class this semester. I'm the second-youngest person in the class. The youngest looks like Britney in the "Hit Me Baby" video...she's young. The rest of the people are at least ten years older than me and an average of approximately thirty years older than me. Considering it's a memoir class, they have the upper-hand when it comes to matieral.
Personally, I just want to write, but it's got to be annoying to see a 24-year-old who wants to write a memoir in your class. About what? Getting drunk? Being locked up? Depression? Played out, yo. It's all been done -- and by the 20-something female, no less.
While I'm a little sick of the influx of premature life stories by the young women of my generation, let's face it: we've been reading plenty about the sex and angst and sexy angst of young men lately as well. Maybe all of us just need to learn to write as people, to tell the stories that are more important than the stuff of the social gaze (booze, drugs, arbitrary fornication...). Who cares? That's not sexy, it's not exciting, it's not scandalous.
Everybody has a story. In fact, everybody has hundreds of stories. You can tell your Lifetime story or your MTV story or your Penthouse Letters story, or you can tell a story that doesn't jump into a genre. Prattling on about the seediest moments of your life isn't interesting anymore.
Writing something that might not sell -- now that's brave.
Posted by erinjudge at February 2, 2005 12:30 PM
Comments
Sex-and-drug tales are pretty boring, but they're less boring than tales that don't have sex and drugs. I think people should never talk or write about themselves unless they're specifically asked to; and even then they should assume that the other person is just being polite.
Posted by: snjoseph ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.erinjudge.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 2, 2005 01:54 PM
Everyone has a story. 99.999% of them are mind-numbingly dull. Even ones that are genuine and are written "as people."
Posted by: Dee-Rob at February 3, 2005 01:16 PM
"Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else."
For those enjoying the musings of Miss Erin from the confines of four gray parition walls, I encourage you to visit despair.com for all your demotivational needs.
Posted by: Eric at February 4, 2005 01:51 PM
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