How to Write the Story of Your Life
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List Price: $14.99 $14.69 $ 0.30 ( 2% ) Writers Digest Books Frank Thomas
Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 808.066920EAN: 9780898793598ISBN: 0898793599Label: Writers Digest BooksManufacturer: Writers Digest BooksNumber Of Items: 1Number Of Pages: 230Publication Date: 1989-08-15Publisher: Writers Digest BooksStudio: Writers Digest Books
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Editorial Reviews:
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Easy ReadComment: Still reading, but, it's a pretty easy read. Was recommended by my Uncle who used this book to help him write his own life story which has been published. After reading my Uncles book, I was really impressed in how he put it all together, and he attributes it all to reading this book, which gives me the confidence to do the same. After all, we all have a story to tell, do we not?Customer Rating: Summary: No one can write your story like you can, Write it!!Comment: Everyone needs to write the story of their life. My parents did not write their's which makes me sad because their story will never really be told. But by writing my own story, I was able to write some of theirs from my perspective and how they influenced my life and helped make me become who I am. As a new author, myself, I was cautioned about including a section at the end of the book, about the story of my life. I can tell you that I receive as many comments about "my story" as I do about the content of my book, which is a business book. Ask yourself why is reality TV so popular? Write the story of your life using the easy techniques outlined so well in this book, the loved ones you leave behind will appreciate it!
Customer Rating: Summary: A Dated "Memoir Writing for Dummies"Comment: Had Thomas written this a decade or so later, it would have been a great inclusion in the "For Dummies" series. He uses lots of lists and fills his chapters with idea starters for anyone interested in documenting his or her own life for posterity. Given that many who seek to write their own memoirs will not have any real writing background or training, Thomas provides a good range of basic writing hints as well.
Customer Rating: Summary: Well organized; great promptsComment: This is a great read for those interested in writing their life story. Mr. Thomas goes from early childhood through retirement, so having been born in the 1970s, some of the information did not apply personally. However, it is still well worth the reading. He has specific prompts, and works with small "chunks" of life. Entwined are guides to good writing, and other aspects of writing a great story.Customer Rating: Summary: A Must Read For AutobiographersComment: I've worked most of my adult life as an actor. One of my grandchildren was watching television and saw an old movie in which I appeared. "Grandpa, is that you?" After having to explain what I did for a living, it occurred to me that I was no different. I knew very little about my ancestors. At the time, I didn't know what my own grandfather (who died before I was born) did for a living. I wanted to make sure that future generations of my family know that I existed and what I did for a living. It was then that I realized how important it was to write my life's story to preserve my legacy.Of all the books I researched when I first set out to undertake this task, I found Frank P. Thomas' "How to Write the Story of Your Life" to be among the most concise and most helpful. It became my constant companion as I spent those long hours at night in my study pounding away on my keyboard or sitting at the dining room table handwriting a vignette to be added to the book.
Thomas' book is laid out in an easy-to-read format, lending itself not only as a step-by-step guide, but sectionalized in such a way as to be used as a handy research resource manual. There is a lot of sound advice contained within his book that I found to be highly effective. For example, it helps not to ignore news and current events occurring during the telling of one's life, even if you don't actually relate the news items directly. By spending a few hours in the library to research certain magazine articles and newspaper headlines from a particular period, I found my memory banks were stimulated and I was often able to capture a flavor of the political climate, social mores, fashions, and/or cultural fads of the time. Those influences were incorporated into the events of my life. Sometimes I was able to relate to current events of the time directly, which helps to allow readers to identify with you personally.
Another important lesson I learned was that in order to capture and maintain a reader's attention, you must stimulate as many of his/her senses as you can. Therefore, I found myself going through my text trying to find places where I could introduce stimuli to sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell.
This is but a mere sampling of the invaluable direction I received from Thomas. The result was my autobiography was published under the title "Surrender the Jealous Mistress" (available through amazon.com), which I'm told is engaging and reads like a novel. If that's true, then I attribute a large portion of that compliment to Frank Thomas' sound advice and guidance.
No matter how insignificant you may perceive it to be (it's not), I encourage you to attempt to write your life's story. Once that decision is made, I highly recommend obtaining a copy of Frank Thomas' book, "How to Write the Story of Your Life," to guide you through the process.
