Writing Life Stories and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more


or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
Kindle Edition
 
   
Sell Back Your Copy
For a $0.56 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Writing Life Stories: How To Make Memories Into Memoirs, Ideas Into Essays And Life Into Literature
 
 
Start reading Writing Life Stories on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Writing Life Stories: How To Make Memories Into Memoirs, Ideas Into Essays And Life Into Literature [Paperback]

Bill Roorbach (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

List Price: $16.99
Price: $9.00 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $7.99 (47%)
  Special Offers Available
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it delivered Tuesday, January 31? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
Textbook Student FREE Two-Day Shipping for Students. Learn more

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $8.55  
Paperback $9.00  

Book Description

1582975272 978-1582975276 July 1, 2008 2
Turning the engaging, untold stories of one's life into vivid personal essays and riveting memoirs is both an art and a learned skill. Bill Roorbach's friendly instruction and stimulating exercises teach writers how to: open up memory, access emotion and discover compelling material; shape scenes from experience, as life events become plot lines; and, populate stories with the fascinating, silly, and maddening "characters" that surround them.This book is full of innovative techniques that prove that real stories are often the best ones.

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Buy $50 in qualifying physical textbooks, get $5 in Amazon MP3 Credit. Here's how (restrictions apply)

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University $9.46

Writing Life Stories: How To Make Memories Into Memoirs, Ideas Into Essays And Life Into Literature + Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University


Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bill Roorbach has published six books (both award-winning fiction and nonfiction) and makes appearances at colleges and conferences across the country. He holds the Williams H.P. Jenks Chair in Contemporary American Letters at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, MA.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Writers Digest Books; 2 edition (July 1, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1582975272
  • ISBN-13: 978-1582975276
  • Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

 

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Much better than I expected., December 16, 2009
By 
S. Andrews (Richardson, Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Writing Life Stories: How To Make Memories Into Memoirs, Ideas Into Essays And Life Into Literature (Paperback)
When I found this book, I was in search of the perfect genre for two stories swirling through my head. The stories that I wanted to write did not seem to fit any particular genre until I read this book on memoir and personal essay. Like many people, I believed that memoirs where restricted to the lives of the famous. This book opened up a whole new world to me by defining memoir and showing how it is developed.

At times the author seemed unorganized and the book lacked the structure I normally preferred in an instructional book. As I continued to read, I discovered that he was in control and teaching me the skills needed for this unique style of writing.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Jump-start to Writing, November 3, 2009
This review is from: Writing Life Stories: How To Make Memories Into Memoirs, Ideas Into Essays And Life Into Literature (Paperback)
I'm reviewing this book even though I'm only a third of the way through it. First, this book isn't one to just read through. Bill has included writing exercises in each chapter that are designed to allow you "access to memory, access to material, access to ideas, access to the unconscious, and finally, access to meaning" in your writing (Roorbach, p. 7).

I'm trying to do the exercises in order, but I'm not being too strict with myself about adhering to a schedule. I've found one exercise (chapter 4, "On...") that I like so much that I've done it three times, and I think it really is prodding me to examine some personal thoughts through writing. I have no doubt that this book is helping me to get at the core issues that I really want to write about.

Bill's writing voice makes for easy, enjoyable reading, and sometimes I find it a bit hard to stop reading and do the exercises. But, I do think they're worthwhile. There are 11 chapters: 1 Getting Started; 2 Memory; 3 Scenemaking; 4 Big Ideas; 5 Characters and Character; 6 Stage Presence; 7 Finding the Facts; 8 Metaphor and Meaning; 9 Saying it Right; 10 Building a Building; and 11 Getting Published.

This book has earned a permanent slot on my bookshelf and I think it's going to be one of those books that get revisited on a regular basis.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow Writing Life Stories, December 5, 2009
By 
Logan Fisher (Queensbury, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Writing Life Stories: How To Make Memories Into Memoirs, Ideas Into Essays And Life Into Literature (Paperback)
This is the book that I have been searching for for a long time. As a busy mom of three, I needed a "teaching book" that would give me concrete activities that I could work into my writing time. Reading this book and working on the subsequent "assignments" gives purpose to my very short writing time that I can squeeze into a day. If you are interested in writing memoir, but don't know where or how to start...this is the book for you.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews






Only search this product's reviews



Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
war lance, high exposition, generic disclaimer, exercise nine, dear writer
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Gow Farris, Mindy Mallow-Dalmation, Nicholson Baker, Kristen Keckler, Augusten Burroughs, Phillip Lopate, Janet Bellweather, Jeannette Walls, Annie Dillard, Ohio State, The New Yorker, The Glass Castle, Temple Stream, Joyce Johnson, Scott Russell Sanders, Prozac Nation, Crazy Horse, Janet Malcolm, Doctor Smith, Minor Characters, The Great Gatsby, Kim Wozencraft, Ian Frazier, Tobias Wolff, The Atlantic
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums





Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject