Download or read book The Memoir Project written by Marion Roach Smith and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2011-06-09 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An extraordinary "practical resource for beginners" looking to write their own memoir—now new and revised (Kirkus Reviews)! The greatest story you could write is one you've experienced yourself. Knowing where to start is the hardest part, but it just got a little easier with this essential guidebook for anyone wanting to write a memoir. Did you know that the #1 thing that baby boomers want to do in retirement is write a book—about themselves? It's not that every person has lived such a unique or dramatic life, but we inherently understand that writing a memoir—whether it's a book, blog, or just a letter to a child—is the single greatest path to self-examination. Through the use of disarmingly frank, but wildly fun tactics that offer you simple and effective guidelines that work, you can stop treading water in writing exercises or hiding behind writer's block. Previously self-published under the title, Writing What You Know: Raelia, this book has found an enthusiastic audience that now writes with intent.
Download or read book Now Write Nonfiction written by Sherry Ellis and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2009-12-24 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An essential handbook for nonfiction writers, featuring the trusted personal writing exercises of today's masters of creative non-fiction, including Gay Talese, Reza Aslan, John Matteson, Tilar Mazzeo, and many more! Beginners and seasoned writers alike will relish the opportunity to use the top-notch writing exercises collected in Now Write! Nonfiction culled from the personal stashes of bestselling and critically-acclaimed nonfiction authors like legendary essayist Gay Talese (Thy Neighbor's Wife), New York Times-bestselling authors Ishmael Beah (A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier) Reza Aslan (No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam), and Tilar Mazzeo (The Widow Clicquot), 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winner John Matteson (Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father), creative nonfiction icon Lee Gutkind (Creative Nonfiction magazine), and many other top memoirists, journalists, and teachers of creative nonfiction, these exercises offer fresh ideas for every facet of creative nonfiction writing, from pushing through writers block to organizing a story, capturing character to fine-tuning dialogue, injecting new life into a finished piece to starting a new work from scratch. Now Write! Nonfiction will take you out into the field with creative nonfiction's master practitioners: *Peek inside Gay Talese's mind, as he shares the "writer's road map" he used to organize information for his classic book Thy Neighbor's Wife and his seminal essay "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold." *Learn from Reza Aslan why what you remember isn't as important as why you remember it the way you do *Explore the importance of cultural nuance in language with Ishmael Beah *Discover Lee Gutkind's simple trick, performed with a highlighter, that can help any writer identify whether their piece is truly showing action, or just telling An essential resource that will help writers of any level to hone their craft and get writing, Now WRite! Nonfiction offers over 80 quick, simple excersises trusted by top nonfiction writers to get their pen moving!
Download or read book Wired for Story written by Lisa Cron and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2012-07-10 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This guide reveals how writers can utilize cognitive storytelling strategies to craft stories that ignite readers’ brains and captivate them through each plot element. Imagine knowing what the brain craves from every tale it encounters, what fuels the success of any great story, and what keeps readers transfixed. Wired for Story reveals these cognitive secrets—and it’s a game-changer for anyone who has ever set pen to paper. The vast majority of writing advice focuses on “writing well” as if it were the same as telling a great story. This is exactly where many aspiring writers fail—they strive for beautiful metaphors, authentic dialogue, and interesting characters, losing sight of the one thing that every engaging story must do: ignite the brain’s hardwired desire to learn what happens next. When writers tap into the evolutionary purpose of story and electrify our curiosity, it triggers a delicious dopamine rush that tells us to pay attention. Without it, even the most perfect prose won’t hold anyone’s interest. Backed by recent breakthroughs in neuroscience as well as examples from novels, screenplays, and short stories, Wired for Story offers a revolutionary look at story as the brain experiences it. Each chapter zeroes in on an aspect of the brain, its corresponding revelation about story, and the way to apply it to your storytelling right now.
Download or read book Heating Cooling 52 Micro Memoirs written by Beth Ann Fennelly and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2017-10-10 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A surprisingly maximalist portrait of a life.” —New York Times Book Review The 52 micro-memoirs in genre-defying Heating & Cooling offer bright glimpses into a richly lived life, combining the compression of poetry with the truth-telling of nonfiction into one heartfelt, celebratory book. Alternatingly wistful and wry, ranging from childhood recollections to quirky cultural observations, these micro-memoirs build on one another to shape a life from unexpectedly illuminating moments.
Download or read book Stories I Tell Myself written by Juan F. Thompson and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2016-01-05 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hunter S. Thompson, “smart hillbilly,” boy of the South, born and bred in Louisville, Kentucky, son of an insurance salesman and a stay-at-home mom, public school-educated, jailed at seventeen on a bogus petty robbery charge, member of the U.S. Air Force (Airmen Second Class), copy boy for Time, writer for The National Observer, et cetera. From the outset he was the Wild Man of American journalism with a journalistic appetite that touched on subjects that drove his sense of justice and intrigue, from biker gangs and 1960s counterculture to presidential campaigns and psychedelic drugs. He lived larger than life and pulled it up around him in a mad effort to make it as electric, anger-ridden, and drug-fueled as possible. Now Juan Thompson tells the story of his father and of their getting to know each other during their forty-one fraught years together. He writes of the many dark times, of how far they ricocheted away from each other, and of how they found their way back before it was too late. He writes of growing up in an old farmhouse in a narrow mountain valley outside of Aspen—Woody Creek, Colorado, a ranching community with Hereford cattle and clover fields . . . of the presence of guns in the house, the boxes of ammo on the kitchen shelves behind the glass doors of the country cabinets, where others might have placed china and knickknacks . . . of climbing on the back of Hunter’s Bultaco Matador trail motorcycle as a young boy, and father and son roaring up the dirt road, trailing a cloud of dust . . . of being taken to bars in town as a small boy, Hunter holding court while Juan crawled around under the bar stools, picking up change and taking his found loot to Carl’s Pharmacy to buy Archie comic books . . . of going with his parents as a baby to a Ken Kesey/Hells Angels party with dozens of people wandering around the forest in various stages of undress, stoned on pot, tripping on LSD . . . He writes of his growing fear of his father; of the arguments between his parents reaching frightening levels; and of his finally fighting back, trying to protect his mother as the state troopers are called in to separate father and son. And of the inevitable—of mother and son driving west in their Datsun to make a new home, a new life, away from Hunter; of Juan’s first taste of what “normal” could feel like . . . We see Juan going to Concord Academy, a stranger in a strange land, coming from a school that was a log cabin in the middle of hay fields, Juan without manners or socialization . . . going on to college at Tufts; spending a crucial week with his father; Hunter asking for Juan’s opinion of his writing; and he writes of their dirt biking on a hilltop overlooking Woody Creek Valley, acting as if all the horrible things that had happened between them had never taken place, and of being there, together, side by side . . . And finally, movingly, he writes of their long, slow pull toward reconciliation . . . of Juan’s marriage and the birth of his own son; of watching Hunter love his grandson and Juan’s coming to understand how Hunter loved him; of Hunter’s growing illness, and Juan’s becoming both son and father to his father . . .
Download or read book Memoir Writing For Dummies written by Ryan G. Van Cleave and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-02-04 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fast and easy way to write your memoir Memoir writing is a growing phenomenon, and not just by celebrities and politicians. Everyone has a story to tell, and Memoir Writing For Dummies provides hopeful writers with the tools they need to share their life stories with the world and become published authors. With easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions—along with helpful tips and advice on how to get published—Memoir Writing For Dummies shows you how to put pen to paper and hone the craft of writing a truly compelling memoir. You'll get advice on how to explore your memories, map out your story, perfect your plot, setting, character, and dialogue, and so much more. Includes tips on getting over writer's block Guides you through every step of the writing and editing processes Covers the best ways to market a finished memoir Packed with proven tips and writing tricks of the trade, Memoir Writing For Dummies gives you everything you need to ensure your life story is never forgotten.
Download or read book Write That Memoir Right Now written by Kim Brittingham and published by Blackstone Publishing. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 75 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you want to put your life story down in words, where do you start? Exactly what story are you hoping to tell? How are you going to fill hundreds of pages? How do you plan it out? Memoirist, blogger, and writing teacher Kim Brittingham shares her insight into getting started with your writing and crafting your memoir. Starting with the basic questions every writer should ask themselves, such as why do you want to write a memoir; what story do you want to tell; what form should your story take; who is the audience; and most importantly, why does anyone care? Kim shares her experience and her wisdom, reviewing key aspects of the writing process, including characterization, plotting, theme, focus, point of view, editing, and revising. And she adds extra information on the business of getting published and ways to get your story read.
Download or read book The Complete Idiot s Guide to Writing a Memoir written by Victoria Costello and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-12-06 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Helps readers write memoirs, personal essays, and life stories of every length and type.
Download or read book How to Write a Memoir in 30 Days written by Roberta PHD Temes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-03-18 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How to Write Your Memoir in 30 Days provides the framework for writers enthusiastic about telling their story, but wondering how to begin. Step-by-step techniques, culled from writers’ workshops taught by the author, are presented in a welcoming, non-intimidating style. The prospect of writing a book is not daunting when compartmentalized into thirty discrete assignments: Days 1 – 5 include exercises to identify major themes. Days 6 – 10 include exercises about plot. Days 11 – 15 include exercises about personalities. Days 16 – 20 include exercises about experiences. Days 21 – 25 include exercises that analyze responses to events. Days 26 – 30 include exercises that structure the story of the memoir. The book also includes information about publishers and literary agents, as well as information and resources about self-publishing. It also includes quick “clear communication” lessons about spelling and grammar. Perfect for today’s society, where we are all accustomed to celebrating each of life’s passages with a blog post and comfortable sharing our innermost feelings, How to Write a Memoir in 30 Days is a fun, easy guide to writing the next great memoir.
Download or read book The Skin Above My Knee written by Marcia Butler and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2017-02-21 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The unflinching story of a professional oboist who finds order and beauty in music as her personal life threatens to destroy her. Music was everything for Marcia Butler. Growing up in an emotionally desolate home with an abusive father and a distant mother, she devoted herself to the discipline and rigor of the oboe, and quickly became a young prodigy on the rise in New York City's competitive music scene. But haunted by troubling childhood memories while balancing the challenges of a busy life as a working musician, Marcia succumbed to dangerous men, drugs and self-destruction. In her darkest moments, she asked the hardest question of all: Could music truly save her life? A memoir of startling honesty and subtle, profound beauty, The Skin Above My Knee is the story of a woman finding strength in her creative gifts and artistic destiny. Filled with vivid portraits of 1970's New York City, and fascinating insights into the intensity and precision necessary for a career in professional music, this is more than a narrative of a brilliant musician struggling to make it big in the big city. It is the story of a survivor. One of 2017's 35 over 35 One of the Washington Post's Top 10 Classical Music Moments of the Year
Download or read book Your Story Matters written by Leslie Leyland Fields and published by NavPress. This book was released on 2020-04-07 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Your Story Matters presents a dynamic and spiritually formative process for understanding and redeeming the past in order to live well in the present and into the future. Leslie Leyland Fields has used and taught this practical and inspiring writing process for decades, helping people from all walks of life to access memory and sift through the truth of their stories. This is not just a book for writers. Each one of us has a story, and understanding God's work in our stories is a vital part of our faith. Through the spiritual practice of writing, we can "remember" his acts among us, "declare his glory among the nations," and pass on to others what we have witnessed of God in this life: the mysterious, the tragic, the miraculous, the ordinary. With a companion video curriculum from RightNow Media, this is a "why not" book as opposed to a "how to" book. Leslie asks each of us an important question: "Why not learn to tell your story, in the context of the grander story of God?"
Download or read book Handling the Truth written by Beth Kephart and published by Avery. This book was released on 2013-08-06 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A memoir-writing guide offers writing lessons and examples for those interested in putting their memories down on paper, explains the difference between remembering and imagining, and describes the language of truth.
Download or read book A Letter from Paris written by Louisa Deasey and published by Scribe Us. This book was released on 2020-05-26 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A father's long-lost letters spark a compelling tale of inheritance and creativity, loss and reunion When Louisa Deasey receives a message from a Frenchwoman called Coralie, who has found a cache of letters in an attic, written about Louisa's father, neither woman can imagine the events it will set in motion. The letters, dated 1949, detail a passionate affair between Louisa's father, Denison, and Coralie's grandmother, Michelle, in post-war London. They spark Louisa to find out more about her father, who died when she was six. From the seemingly simple question "Who was Denison Deasey?" follows a trail of discovery that leads Louisa to the streets of London, to the cafes and restaurants of Paris and a poet's villa in the south of France. From her father's secret service in World War II to his relationships with some of the most famous bohemian artists in post-war Europe, Louisa unearths a portrait of a fascinating man, both at the epicenter and the mercy of the social and political currents of his time. A Letter from Paris is about the stories we tell ourselves, and the secrets the past can uncover, showing the power of the written word to cross the bridges of time.
Download or read book Hillbilly Elegy written by J. D. Vance and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER IS NOW A MAJOR-MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY RON HOWARD AND STARRING AMY ADAMS, GLENN CLOSE, AND GABRIEL BASSO "You will not read a more important book about America this year."—The Economist "A riveting book."—The Wall Street Journal "Essential reading."—David Brooks, New York Times Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for more than forty years, has been reported with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck. The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love,” and moved north from Kentucky’s Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually one of their grandchildren would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of success in achieving generational upward mobility. But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that J.D.'s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, never fully escaping the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. With piercing honesty, Vance shows how he himself still carries around the demons of his chaotic family history. A deeply moving memoir, with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.
Download or read book Writing Memoir Lit Starts written by San Francisco San Francisco Writers' Grotto and published by Abrams Noterie. This book was released on 2020-02-11 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fill-in book from the San Francisco Writers' Grotto, authors of the bestselling 642 Things series Focus on a single aspect of the craft of writing with help from the San Francisco Writers' Grotto. Writing Memoir starts with a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Julie Lythcott-Haims, who offers pointers for crafting a compelling narrative from your own experiences. The rest of the book consists of prompts and space to write, providing opportunities to reframe aspects of your life in thoughtful and interesting ways. Among other ideas, you'll be asked to write: a virtual tour of your hometown a description of what's in your purse or wallet right now a list of all the lies you've told an account of a historical event from your own lifetime, in a way that reveals something significant about yourself Perfectly sized to take to a café, on vacation, or on your morning commute, this book is designed for practicing your creative writing a little bit at a time. Special Features Paperback with textured cover stock, flaps, and a lay-flat binding Advice from a published writer, followed by fill-in prompts and space to write Part of the Lit Starts series, a collection of single-subject writing prompt books by the San Francisco Writers' Grotto Check out the other books in this series: Writing Action, Writing Character, Writing Dialogue, Writing Humor, and Writing Sci-fi and Fantasy.
Download or read book The Memoir Workbook written by C S Lakin and published by . This book was released on 2017-12-19 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stories are powerful, and humans have been telling stories since the dawn of time. Do you feel driven to share what you've gone through and the insights you've learned in life? Do you long to tell your story but don't know where to start? The Memoir Workbook will show you, step by step, all you need to know to tell a powerful and well-written memoir. With pen in hand, you'll mine your memories and begin to put them in a coherent order inside the pages of the workbook. Passages from memoirs and writing prompts will help you get your creative juices flowing. Whether you want to publish your story or write it for yourself, this unique workbook will help you learn the most effective ways to convey your life experiences onto the page. Inside, you'll learn these essential aspects to memoir writing: How to identify your unique story as well as the things that make your story universal The many ways memoir can be structured, with examples to help you decide how to lay out your story How to determine a beginning and an ending point Ways to bring your story to life with sensory detail What "voice" is and why it's important to write from the "mature self" How to craft distilled dialogue that is engaging and sounds natural How to protect yourself and others when you write your memoir What theme is and why you need one How to pick an appropriate title for your memoir Writing a memoir is a journey of the heart. The Memoir Workbook is a light that guides you along the path, from start to finish.
Download or read book Writing a Life written by Katherine Bomer and published by Heinemann Educational Books. This book was released on 2005 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Writing a Life, Katherine Bomer presents classroom-tested strategies for tapping memoir's power, including ways to help kids generate ideas to write about, elaborate on and make meaning from their memories, and learn craft from published memoirs.
