Writing from personal experience : how to turn your life into salable prose
(Book)

Includes index.

Nancy Davidoff Kelton takes you step by step through getting it down and getting it out. Through this guide's thirty-nine chapters, you'll learn how to write your life, and how to prepare, submit and sell your story. You'll get solid advice on ideas - how to spot them, enjoy them and jot them down; first drafts, and the value in simply telling the story and revising later; establishing a writing routine, and keeping it; the hows and whys on keeping a journal; using humor to share personal stories; preparing manuscripts; networking - when it helps, when it doesn't, and handling rejection, and acceptance. A teacher and a writer, Kelton enriches these pages with her own personal experiences. The book is filled with anecdotes from Kelton's life and career. You'll soon be gently prodding your memories and emotions with the book's exercises, such as writing an open letter that shares your deepest thoughts, a character sketch of someone who touched your life, or a memory from childhood.