Fearless Confessions

A Writer's Guide to Memoir

By: Sue William Silverman

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Paperback | 1 June 2009

At a Glance

Paperback
272 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.23 x 15.24 x 1.91

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Everyone has a story to tell. "Fearless Confessions" is a guidebook for people who want to take possession of their lives by putting their experiences down on paper--or in a Web site 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 and will be useful to both beginners and more accomplished writers.

The rise of interest in memoir recognizes the power of the genre to move and affect not just individual readers but society at large. Sue William Silverman covers traditional writing topics such as metaphor, theme, plot, and voice and also includes chapters on trusting memory and cultivating the courage to tell one's truth in the face of forces--from family members to the media--who would prefer that people with inconvenient pasts and views remain silent.

Silverman, an award-winning memoirist, draws upon her own personal and professional experience to provide an essential resource for transforming life into words that matter. "Fearless Confessions" is an atlas that contains maps to the remarkable places in each person's life that have yet to be explored.

Industry Reviews

Fearless Confessions is a must. Silverman's discussion of the Voice of Innocence and the Voice of Experience is sure to become a classic. This book is truly indispensable. - Suzanne Paola, author of Tell It Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative Nonfiction ""I have long adored Sue Silverman's writing and her generous spirit, which comes through amply in this volume. What I especially appreciate is her unwillingness to compromise. To her, as to all good writers, this is above all an artistic endeavor, though writing can certainly have therapeutic value as well. But this how-to book should not be confused with a self-help book. Above all, it's about the art."" - Robin Hemley, Director, Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa

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Preface	p. xiii
The Longest Paragraph	p. 1
Writing Exercises
Savory Words: The First Bite of Your Story	p. 10
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,"	p. 21
Writing on Key: A Few Notes about Theme	p. 23
False Starts
Starting True
The Colors We Choose
Writing Exercises
For Your Reading Pleasure: "Rob Me Again,"	p. 32
Plotting Your Life	p. 35
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,"	p. 47
Between Innocence and Experience: Finding Your Voice(s)	p. 50
Using Multiple Voices
Your Everyday Voice and Your Literary Voice
Guiding Voices
Writing Exercises
For Your Reading Pleasure: "The Visit,"	p. 66
Mock Moons and Metaphor: Crafting Memoir into Art	p. 68
Finding Your Metaphors
The Metaphoric Memoir
Metaphor: A Window onto the World
Writing Exercise
For Your Reading Pleasure: "Tetanus, You Understand?"	p. 79
Writing in Style	p. 83
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,"	p. 97
Marketing Your Memoir	p. 98
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
Confessional and (Finally) Proud of It	p. 112
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
The Meandering River: An Overview of the Subgenres of Creative Nonfiction	p. 143
Biography
Autobiography
Immersion
Memoir
Personal Essay
Meditative Essay
Lyric Essay
Toward the Sea
Waters Ebb and Flow
Three Confessional Essays	p. 158
"From Process to Product: Using Print-on-Demand to Publish,"	p. 158
"Gazing: Writing from the Womb,"	p. 163
"The Weight of a Word,"	p. 169
For Your Reading Pleasure: Four Full-Length Essays	p. 174
"Independence Day, Manley Hot Springs, Alaska,"	p. 175
"After the Dash,"	p. 183
"The Beautiful City of Tirzah,"	p. 189
"The Pat Boone Fan Club"	p. 201
Reading List of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction	p. 212
Works Cited	p. 231
Biographical Notes	p. 235
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Fearless Confessions

A Writer's Guide to Memoir

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in Creative Writing & Creative Writing Guides

On Writing

A Memoir of the Craft

The Story Writer's Handbook

Adventures in Creative Writing

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel

The Last Book On Novel Writing That You'll Ever Need

Write a Must-Read

Craft a Book That Changes Lives—Including Your Own

The House That Joy Built

The beautiful & inspiring new book about creativity & overcoming our fears from the bestselling author of The Lost Flower

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

From the Man Booker Prize-winning, New York Times-bestselling author of Lincoln in the Bardo