Synopses & Reviews
An instructive, inspiring, and refreshingly irreverent guide that shows aspiring writers how to cast off self-doubt and concoct a stellar memoir.
The award-winning author of an autobiographical newspaper column, Adair Lara has written more than ten books, including the memoir Hold Me Close, Let Me Go. Packed with insight and humor, Naked, Drunk, and Writing is the culmination of her extensive experience as a writer, editor, and teacher. She coaches readers through all of the stages of memoir writing using interactive exercises, illuminating examples, and anecdotes. Writers learn how to take small, manageable steps to break out of their shells and transform themselves into skilled storytellers.
Synopsis
A personable and funny book on how to write about your life in essay and memoir, by Adair Lara, whom Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird) calls San Francisco's legendary writer and teacher
Synopsis
Originally published: San Francisco: Scottwall Associates, 2009, under title Naked, drunk, and writing: writing essays and memoirs for love and for money.
About the Author
ADAIR LARA wrote a twice-weekly column for the San Francisco Chronicle for twelve years, taught in the MFA program at Mills College, and won the Associated Press Award for Best Columnist in California. She leads sold-out writing workshops in San Francisco, CA.
Table of Contents
Part I: Writing Down Your Stories
1 one That Which Is Most Personal Is Most Common 2
two Hot Heart, Cold Eye: The Inconvenient Importance of Craft 8
Part II: The Personal Essay 11
three Elements of the Successful Essay 12
KEEP IT SMALL | 13
WHAT QUESTION DRIVES YOUR ESSAY? | 14
WRITE ABOUT THE MOMENT SOMETHING CHANGED | 15
BUILD THE ESSAY | 19
OUTLINE THE ESSAY | 22
WRITE THE EPIPHANY | 24
four What’s Your Angle? 34
YOU HAVE A SUBJECT—BUT DO YOU HAVE AN ANGLE? | 35
HOW TO FIND AN ANGLE | 37
HOW TO USE SETUP | 40
Part III: Techniques and Practices for Essay and Memoir 43
five Tone: How to Assert a Specific Temperament 45
ARE YOU FUNNY? | 47
BE A SCREWUP | 54
WATCH YOUR TONE | 56
FINDING YOUR VOICE: DO YOU SOUND LIKE YOU? | 59
six Image: The Luminosity of the Particular 62
USE YOUR SENSES | 65
BUILD IMAGES WITH SPECIFIC DETAILS | 69
THE DREAD NECESSITY OF INNER EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPE | 75
seven How to Trick Yourself into Writing 80
APPLY PART A (BUTT) TO PART B (CHAIR) | 82
WRITE EVERY DAY | 85
NO TIME TO WRITE? CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY | 86
LOWER YOUR STANDARDS | 87
eight It Takes a Village: Working with Other Writers 90
HOW WRITING PARTNERS MAKE YOU WRITE | 91
HOW THE WRITING PARTNERSHIP WORKS | 93
TAKE CLASSES | 96
JOIN A GROUP | 98
FEEDBACK: HOW TO GIVE IT | 100
FEEDBACK: HOW TO TAKE IT | 104
nine Revising Rewriting Your Work 108
STEP BACK FROM YOUR DRAFT | 110
FIX THE BEGINNING | 112
FIX THE ENDING | 114
FIX IN GENERAL | 116
FIX THE SENTENCES | 121
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU’RE FINISHED? | 126
Part IV: The Memoir 127
ten Planning Your Memoir 128
WILL YOUR IDEA WORK? | 129
USE REFLECTIVE VOICE | 134
DO YOUR REASEARCH| 141
ORGANIZE YOUR MATERIAL | 144
WRITE A DISCOVERY DRAFT | 145
eleven What Goes In, What Doesn’t 148
IDENTIFY YOUR DESIRE LINE AND OBSTACLES | 148
DETERMINE THE PIVOTAL EVENTS | 151
DRAW THE ARC | 154
STRENGTHEN THE ARC | 158
WHY IT’S CALLED CREATIVE NONFICTION | 163
HIRE AN EDITOR | 164
CONSIDER A NONCONVENTIONAL STRUCTURE | 166
twelve How to Write Narration and Scene 168
THE USES OF NARRATION | 168
WRITE COMPELLING SCENES | 170
BRING YOUR MOM TO LIFE | 175
USE DIALOGUE | 180
Part V: Getting Published 183
thirteen Words for Money: Selling Your Essays 184
WHERE TO FIND A MARKET | 188
HOW TO FIND HOOKS | 193
A WORD ABOUT RIGHTS | 195
HOW TO SUBMIT | 196
HOW TO HANDLE REJECTIONS | 200
HOW TO HANDLE ACCEPTANCES | 202
GET YOUR WORK OUT THERE | 203
fourteen Publishing Your Memoir 204
FIND AN AGENT | 205
PREPARE TO OBSESS OVER THE QUERY LETTER | 207
PUT TOGETHER THE PROPOSAL | 209
YOUR NEW JOB: PROMOTING YOUR BOOK | 213
SHOULD YOU SELF-PUBLISH? | 215
WHAT IF MOM READS IT? | 218
CONSIDER YOUR OPTIONS | 220
What You Get When You Write from Life 225
Appendix 231
READING LIST | 231
USEFUL TEXTS | 231
WRITING EXERCISES | 232
TRICKS OF THE (COMPUTER) TRADE | 241
Contributors 243
Index 244
About the Author 248