How to write your personal or family history (if you don't do it, who will?)
Book - 2017
Wiebe has written a practical-- and encouraging-- how-to book that will help beginning memoir writers get started collecting the stories of their lives. She gives hints for recalling distant memories and tracking down family heirlooms, as well as exercises to prod the memory, and advice on looking at the broad scope of a well-lived life.
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- Subjects
- Genres
- Handbooks and manuals
- Published
-
New York, NY :
Good Books
[2017]
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Physical Description
- xiv, 214 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 24 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references.
- ISBN
- 9781680991826
- Foreword
- Preface
- Chapter 1. You Have a Story Waiting to Be Told
- A Few Beginning Tips
- Chapter 2. Putting Together the Puzzle of Life
- Who Is Your Audience?
- What Is Your Purpose?
- What Is Your Theme?
- Chapter 3. Getting Started on Writing About Yourself
- Where Will You Find Information to Write About Yourself?
- Getting Motivated
- Chapter 4. Writing About Other People
- Why Write a Biography?
- Main Characteristics of Biography
- Important Sources to Investigate
- Chapter 5. Choose a Theme and Plot
- Chapter 6. Stories Are Always Winners
- What Is the Subject Matter of Personal Narrative or Story?
- What Makes a Great Story?
- What Is a Story?
- Chapter 7. Becoming Comfortable with Your Family's Story
- Chapter 8. One Life, Many Stages
- Stage 1. Connecting with the Early Years
- Stage 2. Tracing Denning Moments in Adolescence
- Stage 3. Finding the Markers in Young Adulthood
- Stage 4. A Look at the Middle Years (Not Middle Age)
- Stage 5. Retirement and Beyond
- Chapter 9. History Happens to Everyone
- Echoes of the Great Depression
- Exploring War Experiences
- Exploring the Resources of the 1950s and 1960s
- Exploring the Resources of the 1970s and Following Decades
- Chapter 10. Memories Are Also Made of These
- The Works of Our Lives
- Writing About the Life Others Don't See
- Writing About Relationships with People
- The Best or Worst Time of Your Life
- Folklore Improves the Flavor
- Chapter 11. Optional Writing Tasks
- How to Give Away What Can't Be Counted or Measured
- Writing Your Last "Writes"
- Chapter 12. Final Hurdles to the Finished Product
- Hurdle 1. The Temptation to Quit
- Hurdle 2. Making Your Writing More Readable and Interesting
- Hurdle 3. Revising and Polishing
- Hurdle 4. Publishing
- Additional Resources
- About the Author