They Made Me Part of History
About this episode
Laura Davis shares a final deleted scene from her memoir, discussing the editorial choices behind cutting significant content and the impact of family and history on storytelling.
PODCAST SHOW NOTES Episode Title: They Made Me Part of History: A Final Deleted Scene from the Cutting Room Floor Episode Description: Some stories are too good to lose—even when they have to go. In this special episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis shares the final deleted scene from her award-winning memoir, The Burning Light of Two Stars . It's a piece she fought to keep, shaped with care, and ultimately had to release. What remains is a story that illuminates not just a family, but an era—and the quiet, ordinary moments that place us inside the extraordinary. What Laura Covers in This Episode: The painful editorial decisions behind cutting 30,000 words from a completed memoir draft Why even a perfectly written scene must go if it doesn't serve the core throughline The relationship between ruthless cutting and creating a "page-turner with real momentum" A vivid personal narrative set against two watershed moments in American history How childhood memory, sensory detail, and family values intersect in memoir The role of parents in shaping a child's moral imagination and sense of witness Episode Highlights: The Story Behind the Story — Laura sets the scene…
More episodes of The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis Podcast
- Middle age feels permanent and endless—until it ends
- Pause for Peace: Small Pleasures
- Two Hundred Days of Photographs
- Pause for Peace: Loving in a Broken Time
- The Work I Am Not at Liberty to Quit
- Pause for Peace: Pray for Peace
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis Podcast podcast page.