Writing From Life: 2nd edition (How to Books)

I was a wannabe writer for longer than I care to admit, having had fifteen minutes of fame with a short story published in a national magazine several years ago, and then for some time after that - zilch! I wish I had had this book back then, because after my flash in the pan success I didn't know what to do next. The plot for my story came to me out of the blue and begged to be written, but when I eagerly waited for inspiration to strike again .... . Well, Lynne Hackles has now told me exactly what to do and her advice is both inspiring and realistic. I've heard the advice to 'write what you know' so many times but couldn't manage to translate that into practice because I really believed that I didn't 'know' anything sufficiently interesting. I certainly know better now, thanks to this book. It is packed with information and advice, and is written in such a down to earth, humourous style that you cannot help but enjoy the reading of it for its own sake, quite apart from the 'how to' aspect. I recommend that anyone who wants to write should buy this book. The notebook full of ideas that I now have as a result of reading it is worth the price of the book a hundred times over. Lynne Hackles - thank you!

I was very dissapointed to see that the book I received, was quite destroyed....

Okay, cards on the table - I am one of the many writers whom Lynne quotes in this book. However, what struck me as I read through it was that it is packed with plenty of practical exercises. Whether you are starting out as a writer, a member of a writers' circle (there's some great exercises here that can be carried out at a group meeting) or a writer who has been dabbling for years, you will be inspired by Lynne's advice. Reading through, I've jotted down five ideas immediately and I know that more will come when I tackle Lynne's exercises again. This is a book you can return to time and time again. The great thing about memories is the more you remember, the more they trigger. Start off with the quick wins first, Chapter 2 tells you all about writing letters to magazine letters pages. Lynne explains how even those of us with the most boring of lives have something interesting to draw upon. And this doesn't just mean biographies and memoirs (although she covers this in Chapter 5). One life expereince sold to a letter's page will cover the cost of this book several times over. We've all expereinced life - now let your life give you a new life as a writer.

For anyone starting out in writing the question of what to write about is a first consideration. This book helps you put personal experience to good use to produce both factual and fictional writing. We may not all have a book in us but our personal experience is unique and this book will help you to identify its potential.

The advice is sound, but much of it should already be self-evident to anyone capable of writing for money. I can see scope for improvement in both content and the use of the English language (the latter of which is worrying in a work intended to help the budding writer). A work that is undoubtedly helpful - and apparently successful - could have been a better book than we have here. I find Bill Roorbach's book more to my taste and more substantial in its content. In fairness, however, I believe Ms Hackles's advice will prove clearer and more to the point for those who don't want to go to the lengths that Roorbach advocates. Perhaps the answer is to buy both. And no, I have no financial interest in either. Writing Life Stories: How to Make Memories into Memoirs, Ideas into Essays and Life into Literature

I bought this because I hoped it would be useful in giving me ideas for the creative writing classes I facilitate and it has been invaluable. I have often found members of the group have lots of personal experiences and memories on which to draw but somehow once written up they don't seem to go anywhere. This book shows how to tweak, lie, embellish or otherwise twist the bones of memories into pieces of writing which may well be marketable either as non-fiction or fictionalised as short stories. The book is well laid out and easy to follow. There are excercises and, perhaps most important of all, examples to illustrate the points she is making. For instance someone had written a piece of memoir which, had it been embellished, could have become a publishable short story but the writer did not want to change any of the facts so it remained a piece of not very gripping memoir. I will use this book often. Reviewed by Mary Smith No More Mulberries