Fearless Confessions : A Writer's Guide to Memoir.

Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- ONE: The Longest Paragraph -- Writing Exercises -- TWO: Savory Words: The First Bite of Your Story -- Don't Just State Your Story - Reveal Your Story -- Move Readers with Active Words -- Following a Sensory Trail -- Writing Exercises -- A Note on Genre -- For Your Reading Pleasure: -- "Candy Cigarettes," -- THREE: Writing on Key: A Few Notes about Theme -- False Starts -- Starting True -- The Colors We Choose -- Writing Exercises -- For Your Reading Pleasure: -- "Rob Me Again," -- FOUR: Plotting Your Life -- Finding the Arc of Your Story -- Motivating Your Plot -- Thunderous Plots -- The Structure of Plot -- Crossing the Finish Line -- Turning Real Life into Art -- Writing Exercises -- For Your Reading Pleasure: -- "Scavengers," -- FIVE: Between Innocence and Experience: Finding Your Voice(s) -- Using Multiple Voices -- Your Everyday Voice and Your Literary Voice -- Guiding Voices -- Writing Exercises -- For Your Reading Pleasure: -- "The Visit," -- SIX: Mock Moons and Metaphor: Crafting Memoir into Art -- Finding Your Metaphors -- The Metaphoric Memoir -- Metaphor: A Window onto the World -- Writing Exercise -- For Your Reading Pleasure: -- "Tetanus,You Understand?" -- SEVEN: Writing in Style -- Your Story, Your Style -- The Muscular Sentence -- More Than Just And -- Not To Be -- Dialogue in Memoir -- Past or Present Tense? -- These Boots Are Made for Writing -- Writing Exercise -- For Your Reading Pleasure: -- "The Man behind the Shower Curtain," -- EIGHT: Marketing Your Memoir -- Getting Started -- Publishing Outlets: Pros and Cons of Each -- How to Decide What's Best for Your Book -- Promoting Yourself as a Professional Speaker -- Web Opportunities for Your Memoir -- The Importance of All Our Voices -- Writing Exercises -- NINE: Confessional and (Finally) Proud of It -- Western Civilization in an Eggshell.

One Secret, One Word, at a Time -- Word by Word -- The Courage to Show This to Your Mother (Penance Optional) -- Truth and Memory in Memoir -- What Readers Understand about Memoirs -- What the Media Doesn't Understand about Confessional Stories -- A Hysterical [sic] History of Criticism -- Writing Exercises -- APPENDIX ONE: The Meandering River: An Overview of the Subgenres of Creative Nonfiction -- Port of Call 1: Biography -- Port of Call 2: Autobiography -- Port of Call 3: Immersion -- Port of Call 4: Memoir -- Port of Call 5: Personal Essay -- Port of Call 6: Meditative Essay -- Port of Call 7: Lyric Essay -- Toward the Sea -- Waters Ebb and Flow -- APPENDIX TWO: Three Confessional Essays -- "From Process to Product: Using Print-on-Demand to Publish," -- "Gazing: Writing from the Womb," -- "The Weight of a Word," -- APPENDIX THREE: For Your Reading Pleasure: Four Full-Length Essays -- "Independence Day, Manley Hot Springs, Alaska," -- After the Dash," -- "The Beautiful City of Tirzah," -- "The Pat Boone Fan Club," -- APPENDIX FOUR: Reading List of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction -- Works Cited -- Biographical Notes.

A guidebook for people who want to take possession of their lives by putting their experiences down on paper, or on a website or e-book. Enhanced with illustrative examples from many different writers as well as writing exercises, this guide helps writers navigate a range of issues from craft to ethics to marketing.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.