You Can Write a Memoir (Paperback)

~ Susan Carol Hauser (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Today, more than ever before in modern times, the era of confession is upon us. Vast numbers of people are eager to spill the most minute details of their lives. The range is astonishing, from best-selling works by the celebrated...to the modest, self-published stories meant only for a handful of friends and relatives. For most, there is a desire to create a permanent record of their experiences and leave a legacy for their family." -- Time magazine

Product Description

Passionately encouraging readers to reclaim the precious moments of their personal histories, Hauser shows readers how to transform them into intimate, compelling narratives. Using inspired samples from her own work, as well as essays by her students, she illuminates the process of finding and conveying meaning in both their own life and the lives of their friends and families.

Readers will create their own memoir as they work through the exercises in each chapter, learning along the way how to:

* use details to tell stories vividly
* use sensory images to express feelings and beliefs
* uncover the values and meanings expressed in their stories
* find perspective by framing thoughts and feelings at different life stages
* trust the images and moments that come to them in memory.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898799988
• ISBN-13: 978-0898799989
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #665,088 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great help for getting started, October 18, 2001

By A Customer

I've wanted to write a memoir for some time, but really never considered myself much of a writer--regardless of how much I thought I might have to say. Sitting down and getting started was difficult--way too many negative thoughts and really no idea of how to start. This book helped me through that. I don't know if what I'm writing is great stuff (does anybody when they're just starting out?) but I'm getting it DONE, which for me is the hardest part. (Love the cover, too!)

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very basic information, August 28, 2001

By	Kathleen Rich-New, The Executive Woman's Coach (Cape Canveral, Florida) - See all my reviews

I found the information to be of limited value. If you are interested in figuring out how to decide if you have anything to write about, then the exercises may be of help. Ms Hauer provides brief guidelines on formatting dialogue, punctation and a chapter of the process of publishing your memoir. My money was better spent on Stephen King's "On Writing" and Tristine Rainer's "Your Life as Story".

5.0 out of 5 stars detailed and thorough, February 25, 2005

By	W. Kraeplin "former student and huge fan" (Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is extremely well-compsed and offers a thorough and helpful guide to someone interested in reclaiming memories and making them last forever in written form.

Hauser offers helpful techniques and uses examples from student essays and one of her own to illustrate writing techniques and styles, and also to "encourage you to look at writing --yours and that of others--in a certain way."

This book is not designed as a writing template to which you can conveniently attach your own memories. Instead, it urges you to search within yourself for your own style and voice.

Near the end Hauser offers this to potential writers everywhere: "reading a book about writing is, I imagine, a lot like reading a book about swimming: In the end, reading is not enough. To learn to swim, you have to dive into the water, get wet, sink frequently, and gasp for air now and then."

If you're interested in learning to develop your technique and style as a writer, I recommend this book.