It was the mother who told Thelma she was a "born storyteller." This was false. She had a phenomenal recollection of detail- what any true writer could have done with that!- but no sense of what made a story worth telling. As they waded through baked trout, artichoke hearts, and a not-bad Chablis, Thelma rambled through a childhood recorded but not really taken in. Listening to her was like viewing someone's vacation slides. Of course, Thelma had a story- everyone has a story- but she did not seem to know what it was, and didn't know she didn't know. Knowing what your story is, Amy was fond of telling her classes, was what separated writers from everybody else.

-from Amy Falls Down
by Jincy Willett