2009 Writing Wrap-Up

2009 marked my first year writing more regularly. I had always done well with the deadline provided by National Novel Writing Month and National Novel Editing Month, but I had trouble outside of these and the other mini-challenges I set for myself. So in 2009 I signed...

Crafting Stories from our Vast Experiences

I’m thick into National Novel Writing Month, but I saw this book at a friend’s house, scanned the introduction, and have to record this great description of “story” versus “experience”: There is a difference [between story and...

How to Write a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

In my search for books on how to write a non-fiction book proposal, I came across 6 that I found helpful: How To Write a Book Proposal, by Michael Larsen Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody can Write, by Elizabeth Lyon The Fast Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction...

On Traumatic Memoir

This explains so much! [T]rauma-based accounts are often private salvage operations. Rather than assuming continuity, they must, at the deepest level, reflect and somehow compensate for its destruction. For a trauma is a rupture, a break … whether brought on by a...