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William Zinsser

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Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the Past Paperback – March 10, 2005

by William Zinsser (Author)

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An ingeniously constructed teaching memoir from the author of the bestselling On Writing Well -- "You learn without knowing it." (Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes)

Written with elegance, warmth, and humor, this highly original "teaching memoir" by William Zinsser--renowned bestselling author of On Writing Well gives you the tools to organize and recover your past, and the confidence to believe in your life narrative. His method is to take you on a memoir of his own: 13 chapters in which he recalls dramatic, amusing, and often surprising moments in his long and varied life as a writer, editor, teacher, and traveler. Along the way, Zinsser pauses to explain the technical decisions he made as he wrote about his life. They are the same decisions you'll have to make as you write about your own life: matters of selection, condensation, focus, attitude, voice, and tone.

Print length

240 pages
Language

English
Publication date

March 10, 2005
Dimensions

5.75 x 0.9 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

1569243794
ISBN-13

978-1569243794
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"William Zinsser is a born teacher. This book, full of charm and ingenuity, cannot fail to delight and instruct the would-be writer of personal narrative."

About the Author

William Zinsser began his career with the New York Herald Tribune and wrote regularly for leading magazines. His seventeen books, in addition to On Writing Well, include Writing to Learn, American Places, Mitchell & Ruff: An American Profile in Jazz, and Easy to Remember: The Great American Songwriters and Their Songs. He taught writing at Yale and at the New School. William Zinsser died in 2015.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Da Capo Press (March 10, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1569243794
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1569243794
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 0.9 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #20,172 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9 in Authorship Reference
- #11 in Rhetoric (Books)
- #38 in Fiction Writing Reference (Books)

Customer Reviews:
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William Zinsser

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William Zinsser, a writer, editor, and teacher, is a fourth-generation New Yorker, born in 1922. His 18 books, which range in subject from music to baseball to American travel, include several widely read books about writing.

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction, first published in 1976, has sold almost 1.5 million copies to three generations of writers, editors, journalists, teachers and students.

Writing to Learn which uses examples of good writing in science, medicine and technology to demonstrate that writing is a powerful component of learning in every subject.

Writing Places, a memoir recalling the enjoyment and gratitude the places where William Zinsser has done his writing and his teaching and the unusual people he encountered on that life journey.

Mr. Zinsser began his career in 1946 at the New York Herald Tribune, where he was a writer, editor, and critic. In 1959 he left to become a freelance writer and has since written regularly for leading magazines. From 1968 to 1972 he was a columnist for Life. During the 1970s he was at Yale, where, besides teaching nonfiction writing and humor writing, he was master of Branford College. In 1979 he returned to New York and was a senior editor at the Book-of-the-Month Club until 1987, when he went back to freelance writing. He teaches at the New School and at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is an adviser on writing to schools, colleges, and other organizations. He holds honorary degrees from Wesleyan University, Rollins College, and the University of Southern Indian and is a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library.

William Zinsser's other books include Mitchell & Ruff, a profile of jazz musicians Dwike Mitchell and Willie Ruff; American Places, a pilgrimage to 16 iconic American sites; Spring Training, about the spring training camp of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1988; and Easy to Remember: The Great American Songwriters and Their Songs; and he is the Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir. A jazz pianist and songwriter, he wrote a musical revue, What's the Point, which was performed off Broadway in 2003.

Mr. Zinsser lives in his home town with his wife, the educator and historian Caroline Zinsser. They have two children, Amy Zinsser, a business executive, and John Zinsser, a painter and teacher.

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4.6 out of 5

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Edward A. Joseph

Master Teacher

Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2005

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In Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the Past, William Zinsser uses the main technique of the master teacher: he demonstrates what he is trying to teach.

In the first of a series of mini-memoirs about his life, Zinsser tells the story of a phone message left on his answering machine from a woman who has a question about a paint primer that Zinsser's father had manufactured years before. In referring to an article he wrote about the message and the phone call that followed, the author shows how the work dealt with a number of themes: fathers and sons, family expectations, and filial duty, among others.

He tells us that he did not start out to write about these themes, but that they naturally evolved from the message and the phone conversation that followed. He then connects this to the two main premises of the book:

1. "Beware of deciding in advance how your memoir or family history will be organized and what it will say."

2. "Write about small self-contained incidents that are still vivid in your memory."

Zinsser uses this technique throughout the book; he shares an incident from his past, and then emphasizes a particular point about memoir writing.

Besides the teaching aspects of the book, another strength is the writing maxims sprinkled throughout. Some examples:

"Go with what interests and amuses you. Trust the process, and the product will take care of itself."

"Too short is always better than too long."

"All writers are embarked on a quest of some kind, and you're entitled to go on yours."

"Look for the human connection as you make your journey. Connect us to the people who connected with you."

"All writing is talking to someone else on paper. Talk like yourself."

In addition to helpful maxims, Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the Past reflects Zinsser's articles of faith (as stated in his signature work, On Writing Well) about what good nonfiction writing exhibits: humanity, clarity, simplicity, and vitality.

With so many books available on this topic why choose Writing About Your Life? Because William Zinsser is a master teacher. Reading Writing About Your Life (and On Writing Well) would be an excellent preparation for anyone thinking about writing a memoir.

106 people found this helpful

Helpful

Rosa DeBerry King

A Positive and Inspiring Writing Memoir

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2018

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What I thought would be an instruction manual on how to write memoirs turned out to be a moving memoir about the author’s life. Embedded in a series of short narratives, many of them excerpts from previously published articles, are William Zinsser’s comments that illustrate how and why his approach to writing one's story is positive and effective. I discovered through reading this book about writing about your life, that I was increasingly immersed in the author’s life experiences. One of my favorite quotes toward the end of the book is, “Most people are some kind of pilgrimage, whether or not they recognize it as such. If you put your writing in the form of a quest you will make a connection with your readers that will surprise you with its power.” I came away wishing I could have met Mr. Zinsser, who led such a rich life, or sat in any of his inspiring class lectures to hear his stories in person. Short of that, I will refer back to this book to revisit its many lessons.

9 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Interesting and Moderately Helpful

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2013

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Zinsser's stories are interesting, indeed, and because I'm working on my memoirs, I found it quite helpful. The reason I didn't give it five stars is because the title is a bit misleading. The book probably isn't as dry as some "instructional" books, but I had to wonder if Zinsser used this book as a pretext for his real aim -- writing about his own life.

If you enjoy reading the interesting personal recollections of a highly respected writer who has led a fascinating life, I recommend this book highly. You'll pick up some writing tips along the way.

But if you want a point by point instructional book about memoir writing, there must be something out there that would be more immediately helpful by giving examples: "This is the wrong way to do it; this is the right way to do it."

Writing well is a skill that must be practiced, and I can't think of a better way to improve your writing than by reading Zinsser's book "On Writing Well." That I would give five stars.

4 people found this helpful

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M. L. Asselin

A Sort of Copybook for Writers

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2014

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William Zinsser’s charming “Writing about Your Life” is less a how-to book in writing creative autobiography than it is well-told stories of fascinating moments in the author’s life. Early on in the book, these remembrances serve as illustrations for Zinsser’s points about memoir writing. As the book continues, there is less instruction and more storytelling.

Zinsser notes at the start of Chapter 3, “The problem is that an interesting life doesn’t make an interesting memoir. Only small pieces of a life make an interesting memoir. The rest is just getting through the day....” This book is chockablock with engaging and amusing “pieces of a life.” To be sure, Zinsser offers solid, useful advice on writing, e.g., that “ultimately it’s people--memorable people--who make certain places stick in our minds forever. Look for those people, wherever you go, and tell us how their story intersected with your life” (p. 79). But it’s really the author’s anecdotes about meeting memorable people in fascinating places that captivated this reader. A writer would do well to absorb the advice, and mostly, just imitate the master.

15 people found this helpful

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Gerard Coulombe

One of the Best Books on Memoir writing: That's the TRUTH!

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2016

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I have read many books about how to write memoir, or how to write about yourself. The answer is given in this highly readable book.
Read this book, and if what you have in mind is to write about your life, the answer is simple, Write about what you know about your life. Don't write any old thing or about it all from the time you were born until the time you think you have figured out how it will all probably end.
Write instead about those ever memorable events in your lifetime to date that taught you a valuable lesson or made you more humble for the experience you had occasion to share. Your life is not a totality of "this happened and then this happened, forevermore." It's the best stories, shared or experienced, that you recall and tell with splendor and modesty. Better yet, read the book, and you will learn what I mean.

41 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

A. Strasser

The Book Doesn't Keep Its Promise

Reviewed in Germany on July 14, 2019

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After 100 pages I put the book aside. One learns a lot about Zinsser's life (which, frankly, hardly interests me), but almost nothing about writing memoirs - the reason why I bought this book. In my eyes, the book doesn't keep its promise: to be a book that teaches you how to write memoirs.

One person found this helpful

Dianne Hardwick

basically confidence building.

Reviewed in Australia on March 11, 2023

Verified Purchase

This book makes you think about your memoir from a different angle. It encourages you to develop a theme and avoid creating a list of “facts” about what you did and instead, explore the world of how you felt and thought about your experiences. It encourages you to test the rules and accept challenges and change.

PattyLynn

Surprisingly, a page turner

Reviewed in Canada on November 17, 2013

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I was expecting this book to be dry and technical. Perhaps that's because most how-to books are written that way. I bought it and then put it on a shelf for a while with other books on writing I had not read. Then one day I picked it up thinking that when I spend money on a book I should at least open it. I read most of the sections except on writing sports and a couple of other specialized sections that didn't interest me. However, even thought I didn't particularly want to read about travel writing I perused that section and found it extremely interesting and entertaining. This is because Zinsser puts sparkle and humour in his writing. I enjoyed the examples he used of cliché and dry, sterile writing. As well, in some cases I was happy to find out that some things I'm doing are good, so the focus wasn't entirely on what I was doing wrong. In that sense, the book encouraged me a great deal. I especially enjoyed the section on memoir writing as this is a project of mine. He was able to make it seem less daunting of a project, giving licence to leave stuff out and present only the memories that are significant, vivid, and further the main point in writing the piece. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to improve his/her writing.

6 people found this helpful

The Evil Baron Pete

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 30, 2014

Verified Purchase

Excellent definitive life writing manual recommended by tutors.

edward mccann

FIRST CLASS TEACHER

Reviewed in Canada on July 16, 2015

Verified Purchase

WZ was a writer and teacher I would have liked to meet in person. BUT, this wonderful book is a substitute.

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