Other Memoir Structures

Thematic Organization

Is there a way that your story might be organized thematically? What themes or topics might you investigate in each chapter?

Here’s a list of possible themes:

  • the feminism (consciousness-raising group, feminist therapists, activism, classes I taught and others I involved in the community)
  • community (Transactional Analysis, international, women, local; women’s business community; Money and You community; Geneva group; dialogue group)
  • mentors and awesome teachers
  • spiritual growth (Jean Houston, Lawrence LeShan, Howard Bad Hand)
  • corrective parenting (codependency, addiction)
  • writing and publishing
  • earning validation
  • marriage as partnership
  • early encounters with remarkable people (Carl Sandberg, Eleanor Roosevelt, Tom Leher, Martin Luther King, Fritz Perls, Jim Simpson, Siegelman, Virginia Satir, Stan Groff)

 

On reflection, there are too many themes to include in any one chapter. They might be sections of the book. I might choose just a few of them.

 

Essayistic Organization

If you were to organize your memoir around essays, what would be the uniting thread? How could you keep the reader’s interest between essays? List here some of the anecdotes you might include in each essay:

The themes would be around accepting invitations or directions or opportunities to learn and grow and learning to live with the consequences of each adventure.

Early ones

  • moving from lab work into teaching with minimal credentials
  • couples therapy with Stan Lipkin
  • the loss of the first baby
  • Jon wanted a divorce to marry his co-therapist who was just like me

more professional milestones

  • learning transactional analysis and becoming a therapist accidentally
  • learning passivity theory, encounters with the Schiffs and becoming a translator and teacher of this material
  • creating and running a therapy and training business
  • destroying and transforming the business
  • becoming a feminist and transforming relationships and community
  • navigating a marriage and business partnership and a family
  • weekend and weeklong conferences and workshops as a way of life
  • learning about marketing keep a business alive, growing and thriving
  • helping create the coaching community in Denver
  • coaching is different than therapy
  • business consulting
  • writing and publishing
  • learning Internet marketing skills – going online
  • discovering Logosynthesis and living the afterward

Unique Structure

Is there a way for you to tell your memoir using a more creative structure – I. E., Breaking down your story based on the houses you lived in at different times in your life or the different romantic relationships you’ve had?

A more creative way to structure my story would be to….

Organize around peak experiences that are turning points

  • decision to attend TA conference and share babysitter
  • decision to continue to learn TA in use in school
  • workshop with Fanita English and Natalie Haimowitz
  • moving to Colorado and starting DATAS (Denver Area Transactional Analysis Seminar)
  • skinny-dipping at Mount Madonna
  • Visiting Barbara going to Cathexis and inviting group to stop here during their move to California (1971)
  • 1972 Winter conference in Colorado workshop with Bob and Mary Golding
  • 1972 RMTAA (Rocky Mountains Transactional Analysis Associates, Inc.) started with Jon, Maggie, Terry and me
  • deciding to get certified, getting supervision and practice and training with Warden Rimel and Jon
  • 1970 yoga class started (Judy Wilkes suggested we go together) beginning of body awareness
  • the Little Rock project – transactional analysis in schools

Transformation points would be where I change directions but it was mostly cumulative. It’s important to note why each thing mattered and how it contributed to change and transformation

  • themes: physical,
  • intellectual (TA),
  • spiritual (Jean Houston, Larry LeShan, Howard Bad Hand)
  • social (communities), couples (passivity and feminism),
  • business (RMTAA, us, women business community, internet marketing, Logosynthesis),
  • writing (for professional awareness, business promotion newsletter, and books)
  • I TAA as an incubator and touchstone
  • addiction and codependency
  • marketing business
  • learning copywriting

 

Another theme and possibly an organization for the book

Mentors, Teachers, Co-Learners, Role models

  • parents and aunt Vivian and Ruth Landsman
  • Natalie Haimowitz – modeled full partnership in marriage and personal mentoring
  • Fanita English – model stroking the good, equal to Dave Kupfer, personal mentoring
  • Muriel James – first model – first awareness of powerful women – intellectual mentor
  • Carol Solomon – sassy poke led to transformation, co-learner and friend
  • Dorothy Jongeward – business and organization ideas, writing and mentoring
  • Bob and Mary Golding – especially Mary powerful professional woman and powerful relationship, always nurturing my growth and acknowledging me as a therapist and colleague
  • ISSIP – peer group (international society for the study of innovative psychotherapy)
  • Richard Underhill – I taught him TA and he taught me OD consulting, student, teacher, model, friend
  • Hogie Wyckoff/Ms. magazine/CR group/feminist therapists – feminist transformation
  • Jackie Schiff – teacher, mentor, cult, ethics case leading to ethics study
  • Marty Groder teacher – wild creativity – letting go and telling the unvarnished truth
  • Ruth McClendon – organization challenge, friend
  • Harry Boyd – first reading financial reports, later friend
  • Jean Houston – transformation, The Mystery School
  • Larry LeShan – a larger vision, compassion, intellectual challenge, psychic healing
  • Howard Bad Hand – grounding and mentoring, the Tao Te Ching
  • Donna Jara– writing teacher, TA student, friend
  • Cal Bennett – wisdom, high level achiever, learner,, student and teacher and friend
  • women’s business community – growing together
  • Jean Yancey – 25 years ahead of me speaker role model
  • Jamaica gang – Felipe, Dianne, Ravi, Lucy and many more
  • writing mentors – Graham Barnes first invitation, feminist book, Muriel James
  • Bart Knapp – PhD mentor and Mary O’Reilly Knapp also mentor and friends
  • George Knipple – MD introduced body components of therapy
  • Bill Holloway – organization mentor, later ran away
  • Marshall Thurber – money and you, super learning, workshop design, narcissist
  • DC (Dame Doria) Cordova – many things organizer, Rachel’s mentor, spiritual breakthrough