True to life : fifty steps to help you tell your story / Beth Kaplan ; cover illustration, Alanna Cavanaugh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kaplan, Beth, author.

Contributor:

Cavanaugh, Alanna, cover designer.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Creative writing--Study and teaching.

Creative writing.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (240 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Toronto ; New York : BPS Books, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In fifty informative and inspiring steps, Beth Kaplan shows you how to write your story in essay or book form by putting on your writer's hat, then your editor's hat, then digging down to bring out the passionate details of the story, and finally living the writing life. Steps include:* Read Like a Writer* Unleash the "I" Word* Claim Your Truth* Write from Scars, Not Wounds* Enter the MarketplaceEDITORIAL REVIEWS"This book is fabulous: a user-friendly, down-to-earth, accessible guide to writing that simplifies the complex without making it simplistic, taking readers through the mechanics from the initial brainstorm to the final edit."--Wendy Litner, Huffington Post writer, lawyer, writing student"I can't imagine a better distillation of Beth's wisdom and experience than this invaluable companion for writers, presented in clear, thoughtful steps that build on one another. True to Life is the perfect guide for beginners as well as veteran memoirists."--Chris Cameron, writer, editor, writing student"Go ahead, make me famous."--Wayson Choy, writing teacher and renowned author of The Jade Peony, Not Yet: A Memoir of Living and Almost Dying, and other books.

Contents:

Cover

Copyright Page

Dedication

Contents

Introduction

Put on Your Writer's Hat

1. Believe in your stories and your right to tell them

2. Allow yourself to begin

3. Try keeping a journal

4. Take note

5. Carve out a creative space

6. Make time

7. Choose your tools

8. Grant yourself solitude

9. Develop a routine

10. Preserve your family stories

11. Read like a writer

12. Unleash the "I" word

13. Stand up to the negative voice

14. Complete your baggy first draft

15. Make it matter

16. Start anywhere

17. Unblock

18. Check your work for runways

19. Break your story into scenes

20. Keep it to yourself-for now

21. Claim your truth

22. Unpack your suitcases

Put on Your Editor's Hat

23. Paint the picture with details

24. Develop your ear for dialogue

25. Beware of w*r*i*t*i*n*g* and jargon

26. Be sparing with adverbs, adjectives, similes, and metaphors

27. Avoid clichés and wishy-washy definers

28. Leave messages to Western Union

29. Pace your writing

30. Show, don't tell

31. Try out your light voice

32. Don't be nice

33. Build to a moment of change or reflection

34. Check your work for bows

35. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite

36. Review the rules of grammar

Dig Down

37. Open the doors to the dark and deep

38. Determine what your story is really about

39. Write from scars, not from wounds

40. Be concerned about discretion

41. Take your time

42. Chart your course from one to ten

43. Finish

The Writing Life

44. Join a writers' group or class

45. Enter the marketplace

46. Consider self-publication

47. Forget about money, fame, and bestsellers

48. Relish your age

49. Cherish your body

50. Keep going

Conclusion

P.S. More Wayson words

Information on submitting essays and articles.

Selected books on writing

Books About Writing and Creativity

Books of Essays and Interviews

Books on Journal Writing

Books on Writing Technique and Getting Published

Some recommended memoirs

Canadian

Other

About the Author.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed August 31, 2014).

ISBN:

1-927483-92-1

1-927483-91-3

OCLC:

891400285