Customer Reviews

How to Write Your Own Life Story: The Classic Guide for the Nonprofessional Writer

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More than seven years ago I decided to get some folks together to write our life stories. I haunted bookstores looking for the ideal book, and when I came across Lois Daniel's book, I knew it was the right one. That was her Third Edition. The updated Fourth Edition presents the same material, plus a couple of extra chapters.

The book has been ideal for our purpose. Lois Daniel's approach to writing about your life is to suggest that you write in bits and pieces, rather than starting with your birth and what I call "plowing through your life" from birth to the present day. That can be a chore for many; whereas writing about interesting incidents becomes an enjoyable challenge.

Grandma Moses, in her autobiography, wrote, "I have written my life in small sketches, a little today, a little yesterday, all the things from childhood on through the years, good ones and unpleasant ones, that is how they come out and that is how we have to take them."

That is the approach suggested by Lois Daniel. And the author makes it easy for persons who shy away because, they say, "I'm no writer." She suggests that you need not be a "writer", but merely to "write as you talk."

Our weekly class is now entering its eighth year, with 43 participants, both women and men. Since the class started, the members have purchased between 250 and 300 of her books, and, without exception, they are pleased. They find the book to be interesting, while at the same time it provides many suggestions and examples to motivate the writer.

I have taught memoir courses from this book, so examined most others in the field of writing one's own life story. This was the first, and I think, the best. Author makes the task manageable with "get started" topics that trigger memories, inspiring samples from her real-life writing classes, and helpful tips. Perfect if you have an elderly parent or grand- who should record his/her life for family archives...or if you want to do it yourself.

I am teaching a life history class for the first time and am using Lois Daniel's book as part of my curriculum. I like the fact that she breaks down the book into categories and reminds you that you do not have to write in chronological order or even whole categories at once. She is informal and supportive, gives many writing examples and even has a section about do's and don'ts. She also does not restrict her teachings to only older individuals, but encourages younger people to begin their stories as well. Her categories are rather broad and so I am using this book in conjunction with "Legacy" by Linda Spence, which has individuals put down their story in the form of answers to questions. Between both books I feel I now have a good handle on not only teaching my class, but also starting my own life story for my child.

Using the method of writing bits and pieces as you remember them rather than chronologically, the author gently encourages you to write your story whether you believe you are a writer or not.

Lois Daniel taught classes specifically dealing with writing memoirs, and life stories, not only to older generations, but to younger ones as well. As a young adult, I found this book to be helpful with gathering thoughts/memories and piecing them together. This is a great book to start anyone off with, if they want to write an autobiography or memoir. Hopefully within the next few years, I'll be publishing my :crosses fingers: BEST SELLING autobiography. We'll see though!
-Jerri L. Butler

My only "issue" with this book is that it wasn't what I was looking for. BUT, it may be just what you need! The author provides an encouraging step-by-step process to take you from being overwhelmed to being expressed. The meat of the book is in the explanation of the writing process; the remainder of the book is anecdotal, sharing from other autobiographies.

Great gift for that person in your life who loves to read but hasn't taken that leap to write yet.

This extremely informative book gave me a pattern to use, when writing my story. I never realized how many places that I had seen and how many exiting things I had done until the whole story began to unravel on paper, right before my eyes ! Try it ! It's great !

this book surprised me, was not expecting such a precise and enjoyable book. It has helped me a lot and is a must for anyone writing a autobiography.

I teach a class on "How To Write Your Life Story" and have found that this book goes along with what I teach very nicely. This book is an easy guide for someone who wants to record their life story for family and friends. Several of my students bought this book as a supplement to my class. I highly recommend it!