Writing from Life - How to turn your personal experience into profitable prose [Paperback]

Lynne Hackles (Author)

Book Description

Series: How to | Publication Date: August 15, 2008

This book will show how your own personal experiences can provide you with an endless supply of ideas for your writing - whether fiction or non-fiction. You will learn how to write about what you know - and you certainly know a lot. The good news is that the older you are, and the older you get, the more experiences you have had - so you'll always have something to write about. The author, Lynn Hackles, will show you how to make your own 'Raking up your past' file - using memories, lists, diaries, newspapers, smells, family trees, etc. And how to turn your own anecdotes recounted to friends and family into useful prose; and how to fashion the passed-down history of your ancestors into a family saga.With this book you'll also learn how to: sell a snippet of conversation; make money by sharing secrets; take your boss and your best friend and come up with a new character; sell one event in your life to several different markets; impart knowledge you didn't think you had to people who didn't know they needed it; and, use the emotions, traumas, joys and experiences of your own life to make your writing stronger and more saleable. With this book you'll never run out of ideas; writers block will be a thing of the past. AUTHOR BIOG: The first words Lynne Hackles ever sold netted GBP 2. Since then her motto 'never let truth get in the way of entertainment' has helped turn hundreds of personal experiences into stories which have sold in the UK and abroad. She leads writing workshops and runs tutorials for a leading correspondence school.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'I suggest you take it with you when you travel to work... You will begin thinking and often times those are the moments to begin a new journey. The book will prod you onward. Highly recommended.' www.london-morning-paper.co.uk

About the Author

The first words Lynne Hackles ever sold netted GBP 2. Since then her motto 'never let truth get in the way of entertainment' has helped turn hundreds of personal experiences into stories which have sold in the UK and abroad. She leads writing workshops and runs tutorials for a leading correspondence school.

Product Details

• Paperback: 186 pages
• Publisher: How To Books Ltd (August 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1845282418
• ISBN-13: 978-1845282417
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #819,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What any writer needs, November 25, 2010

By 

Grace Rostoker (San Diego, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Writing from Life - How to turn your personal experience into profitable prose (Paperback)

I was a wannabe writer for longer than I care to admit, having had fifteen minutes of fame with a short story published in a national magazine several years ago, and then for some time after that - zilch! I wish I had had this book back then, because after my flash in the pan success I didn't know what to do next. The plot for my story came to me out of the blue and begged to be written, but when I eagerly waited for inspiration to strike again .... .

Well, Lynne Hackles has now told me exactly what to do and her advice is both inspiring and realistic. I've heard the advice to 'write what you know' so many times but couldn't manage to translate that into practice because I really believed that I didn't 'know' anything sufficiently interesting. I certainly know better now, thanks to this book. It is packed with information and advice, and is written in such a down to earth, humourous style that you cannot help but enjoy the reading of it for its own sake, quite apart from the 'how to' aspect. I recommend that anyone who wants to write should buy this book. The notebook full of ideas that I now have as a result of reading it is worth the price of the book a hundred times over. Lynne Hackles - thank you!