writing about your life - Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr

By Scott J. Pearson | November 25, 2023November 25, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Memoir has become a popular field in recent decades. The novitiate often thinks that anyone can write about their own life. The experienced one knows that this task is actually incredibly hard, both in penning the work and in emotionally admitting truth to yourself. Bestselling memoir author and writing professor Mary Karr writes about values and practices she finds helpful. Importantly, she cites other authors alongside her own experience to ground her work not just…

Writing-Communication

Old Friend From Far Away: How to Write Memoir

By Scott J. Pearson | September 4, 2023October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Natalie Goldberg has become a famous name among modern teachers of writing. In this short audiobook, she focuses on her process of writing memoirs. She talks about the delicate process of writing from memories and bringing out essential details that eventually form a narrative structure. The audiobook, narrated by the author, is incredibly short but power-packed at around 150 minutes. Goldberg’s main mode is to start writing first and then piece it together later. Along…

Biography-Memoir Indie Writing-Communication

We are the Words: The Master Memoir Class

By Scott J. Pearson | February 16, 2023February 16, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Writing a memoir seems deceivingly easy at first. Anyone can write about their own life, right? Yet crafting a good memoir – one that vividly communicates and mesmerizes with its words – is a difficult task. As this book’s title infers, a memoir consists of the writer’s life becoming the words, which in turn take on a life of their own. Its author Beth Kephart teaches writing at workshops and an Ivy League university (the…

Biography-Memoir Writing-Communication

Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the Past

By Scott J. Pearson | November 2, 2019April 1, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

William Zinsser is famous for being an excellent coach for writers. He has mastered the art of communicating through words. He has followed an alternative career path that has brought him success and fulfillment. He shares his insights in this memoir of his life while coaching the reader how to write about her/his own life. Zinsser’s style is humble and consistently strikes the right tone for sharing the memory. That skill – sharing memories –…