Are family members asking you to write down your stories?
Do people say you should write a book about your life experiences?
Do you have life stories you want to get from your heart onto the page?
Are you an aspiring memoirist who doesn’t know where to start?
Would you like support as you begin writing a life review or an ethical will?
Are you ready to unleash your creative spirit and begin writing the stories of your life?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, then How to Begin Writing Your Life Stories: Putting Memories on the Page is for you. In this practical and friendly book, memoirist, teacher, and writing coach Sara Roahen guides aspiring memoirists and life story writers through the basics, such as:
- Life story and memoir formats
- Where to conduct research on your own life
- How to write to your intended audience
- How to generate story ideas
- The difference between honesty and fact
- How to show, not tell
- How to incorporate photos into your stories
- How to organize your stories once you’ve written them
But How to Begin Writing Your Life Stories: Putting Memories on the Page is more than just a how-to manual. Roahen also digs into her emotional toolbox and her own life experiences to offer tips on how to write lovingly but honestly about difficult people, how to manage the big emotions that can arise when we reflect on our lives, and—most importantly—how to keep writing.
The final chapter of How to Begin Writing Your Life Stories: Putting Memories on the Page includes six extensive writing prompts to get you started on your own life story writing journey.
YOU are the only person who can tell your story. Let’s begin today!
Sara Roahen, a memoirist herself (Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table), strongly believes everyone has a story to tell and an inner storyteller capable of writing it down. It's that philosophy, developed while teaching life story writing classes to adults from all backgrounds, that inspired her to write How to Begin Writing Your Life Stories: Putting Memories on the Page. Through her classes, and as an editor and writing coach, Sara has helped many students and clients achieve their dreams of writing their personal stories and, in some cases, publishing memoirs. Her approach is gentle but affirming: Writer's block is a solvable, temporary condition; creative inspiration is all around. When she isn't writing or talking about writing, Sara can usually be found tinkering in the kitchen. She coedited The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook, and her food writing has been published widely, including in the Los Angeles Times, Bon Appétit, Tin House, and Oxford American. Sara lives in California, where she cofounded Demitasse Press with photographer and designer Dorka Hegedus. Learn more about Sara's work and services at www.sararoahen.com.
