My Account Log in

1 option

True stories : guides for writing from your life / Rebecca Rule & Susan Wheeler.

Van Pelt Library PN147 .R76 2000
Loading location information...

Available This item is available for access.

Log in to request item
Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Rule, Rebecca.
Contributor:
Wheeler, Susan, 1936-
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Authorship.
Journalism--Authorship.
Journalism.
Physical Description:
xii, 284 pages ; 23 cm
Place of Publication:
Portsmouth, NH : Heinemann, [2000]
Summary:
We all have stories to tell about our lives and the lives of people we know. Rule and Wheeler help new and experienced writers commit those stories to paper. With passion and humor, they describe the writing process, from the inkling of a subject, to drafts, to a final product.
Contents:
Dare to take yourself seriously 19
You are your own best subject 20
Ways writers write 22
Jot down random ideas 25
Finding good subjects 26
More on how writers collide with, stumble on, and sniff out subjects 34
Hot topics 41
Tackle your best subject now 43
No life is boring 44
Write to discover, not to rehash 46
The no-critics-allowed notebook 53
How-To Techniques 55
Why learn craft 57
Leads 59
Titles 66
Using conflict, tension, and questions 69
Finding an angle into your subject 74
Be specific 78
Create an experience for your reader 83
When to show and when to tell 85
Scenes 87
Playing with time, or the day grammaw died 103
Expanding time 108
The nursing home 110
Compressing time 115
Use and misuse of chronology 119
Leaping ahead or back in time 122
Stringing a subject along: a way to look at structure 125
Finding meaning 129
Endings 138
Writing about people 141
Writing about places 147
Exploring with metaphor 151
Using your life as you write about reading 154
Passion on the page 162
Advice About Process 171
Take risks and fail: all writers belly flop 173
Writing habits: "one God damned word after another God damned word" 175
Voice 178
How to revise 184
A reviser's checklist 192
Editing 196
Radical surgery 197
Fine-tuning 204
Ethics and The Writer's Life 211
Writing as reflection 213
Tell the truth 214
Finding the courage to tell the truth 217
Breaking the rules 220
Stretching the boundaries of nonfiction 221
Revealing other people's secrets 227
Bypassing writer's block 231
Writing workshops 236
Protect your right to write 240
Keep the faith, keep going 242
Their Stories 243
"The Painting Lesson" / Emile Birch 245
"Tracks" / Alan DeCosta 248
"To Paris, Please" / Sybille Goldberg 250
"Backstroke" / Donna J. Kuethe 257
"Saying Kaddish for Peter" / Michael Lowenthal 259
"Canning Jars" / Sandell Morse 263
"Mildred's Snowdrops" / Hillary Nelson 267
"Visitation" / Pat Parnell 272
"A Father's Eyes" / Stephen Schultz 275
"Rabbit Doll" / Pat Wilson 278.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages [281]-284).
ISBN:
0325000468
OCLC:
42027461

The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.

Find

Home Release notes

My Account

Shelf Request an item Bookmarks Fines and fees Settings

Guides

Using the Find catalog Using Articles+ Using your account