Category Archives: writing skills

Writing memoir and life stories: Not just what happened

When writing your stories, don’t make them a laundry list of what happened and when. That’s important, but there’s more to the stories than that, especially if you want to make them more interesting. You are the main character of … Continue reading

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Travel Writing – Smiles and Spices and more

The other month I read Smiles and Spices: Journeys and Encounters in East Asia by Carrie Riseley of Tasmania. She’s also lived in Australia, Japan, and England. Carrie is way braver than me. She goes off wandering in strange countries … Continue reading

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Memoir Writing Takeaways from J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy

Now that J.D. Vance and his Hillbilly Elegy memoir are big in the news again, I’ve been reading reactions (pre-VP GOP nomination) to his story of escaping Appalachia by people who have actually lived in or studied Appalachia. Vance’s story … Continue reading

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