what are good books to aid in writing an autobio/memoir?

satyesu · May 22, 2010

i've had recommendations but find amazon's kindle store limited. Are YOUR LIFE AS STORY (Tristine Rainer) and Natalie Goldberg's OLD FRIEND FROM FAR AWAY: How to Write a Memoir worth looking for on other sites, or are there better ones amazon kindle might have?

Chrisla · May 23, 2010

I don't know what might be available on Kindle, but a couple of other good books are Writing Memoir by Judith Barrington and Writing Life Stories by Bill Roorbach.
There are some threads in this forum, too, that discuss resources, but I can't rememember the names of them. With a little browsing, they shouldn't be too difficult to find.

Mandee · May 27, 2010

I have read numerous books about writing memoir. My favorites are:

William Zinsser - Writing About Your Life
Anne Lamott - Bird by Bird
Lou Willett Stanek - Writing Your Life: Putting Your Past on Paper

Enjoy!

jerrywaxler · May 30, 2010

Depends on what you want

If you are looking for a good book from a psychological standpoint, one of the best I've seen is by Linda Joy Myers, "Writing your healing story." One of my favorite is a simple step by step guide by me "Learn to Write your Memoir" available from my website.

Jerry

Nandi · Jun 2, 2010

Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art by Judith Barrington was probably the most useful of the many such books I've read.

Another useful one, geared to fiction writers but containing great information, is Noah Luekman's The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile

Newport2Newport · Jun 22, 2010

Agent Rachelle Gardner recently tweeted, "Please don't submit your memoir until you've read 20 good memoirs and 5 books on writing memoir - and learned from them."

She elaborated on that in a blog entry, posted earlier this morning. It's brief but illuminating, especially since she offers up a list of books on writing memoir, as well as some of her favorite memoirs. Her readers' follow-up comments are also interesting...

Link: Resources for Writing Memoir

Gamien · Jun 22, 2010

His first book was mentioned earlier, and I would also add his latest addition Writing Life Stories

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what are good books to aid in writing an autobio/memoir?

satyesu

Chrisla

practical experience, FTW

Mandee

Daughter, Sister, Mother, & Aunt

jerrywaxler

Nandi

Newport2Newport

Gamien