The Heart and Craft of Writing Compelling Description needs a new name. It should be called Every Writer's Bible. It needs to be read and reread. It needs to be carried around with you. It needs to get worn and tattered with underlines and margin notes because you keep referring to it so often. Author Sharon M. Lippincott likes the word savor a perfect word for this book. It's one to be savored throughout all your writing endeavors no matter in which genre you write: nonfiction, life story, memoir, fiction. You'll find what you're looking for to help you write better descriptions in this book. This wonderful resource is an anthology of Sharon Lippincott's posts from her blog, The Heart and Craft of Life Writing. She says, I find the topic of writing description endlessly fascinating and will continue to explore and post about it as long as my fingers keep moving. Meanwhile, use the tips in this anthology to practice writing and stretching your imagination. Your writing … [Read more...]
Writing Life Stories
We were out to dinner with our friends Patti and Pat the other night and Patti shared with me that she's taking a writing class at her church. I've never known that Patti had an interest in writing, so I was fascinated to know that this is a class in lifestory writing a topic that's been very much on my mind lately. I also discussed it with a friend who works at the Jewish Home for the Aging in Los Angeles, suggesting they offer a class for the folks who live there. As people age, we mustn't lose their stories. We must find a way to record and save their stories for future generations. I would love to teach the class should the Jewish Home decide to offer it. Writing life stories has become all the rage. We're in the so-called Memoir Revolution with volumes written about how to write your life story or memoir and how to produce it into a book. One in particular is Sharon M. Lippincott's The Heart and Craft of Lifestory Writing: How to Transform Memoires into Meaningful Stories. I've … [Read more...]
Sharon Melton Lippincott – My first guest
I'm so honored to have Sharon Melton Lippincott as my first guest. We met a few months ago when we both participated on a Google+ hangout, and we have found a mutual connection regarding memoir and lifestory writing ever since. Sharon wrote a wonderful review of my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On for the Story Circle Book Reviews, which I'm sure helped catapult it to the Story Circle Editors' book pick for November. Thank you so much, Sharon, for being here today. And that you chose to write about reading my book is a huge bonus! A Writer's Read on Leaving the Hall Light On by Sharon Melton Lippincott About five years ago I responded to a challenge and began posting reviews of books on Amazon and other sites, unaware that doing so would change the way I read and ultimately the way I write. Over sixty reviews later, I can honestly say that the enjoyment and value I get from reading has at least tripled. This enhanced reading mode led me to notice many fascinating aspects of … [Read more...]
Introducing my guests
For a change of pace I'm going to devote the next three weeks to the voices of other wonderful and experienced writers and publishers. I've asked eight people whom I've either met personally or online to tell you about their writing, publishing, and marketing experiences. I feel so fortunate that they have agreed to be my guests here on Choices. I hope you will keep coming back for more and more. You'll find the information interesting and very helpful to your writing lives. Here's my guest lineup in order of appearance: Sharon Lippincott November 26 Sharon is the author of The Heart and Craft of Lifestory Writing, knows she's been successful. Her insightful questions and observations have challenged people in many areas for decades. Today they are primarily aimed at students in her lifestory and creative writing classes along with readers of her blog, forum posts, book reviews, and other publications. Kathleen Pooler November 29 Kathy is a … [Read more...]
