Theo Pauline Nestor
Tag Archives: Memoir
The Thing You Least Want to Write About
In a June 2017 Fresh Air interview, Roxane Gay shared that her book, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, “felt necessary to write because it was the book I wanted to write the least.” She goes onto explain: “When I was thinking about what to do next in terms of nonfiction just before Bad Feminist came out, I thought You know, I’d really never want to write about fatness. And in that moment I knew that’s something I have to write about.” Continue reading
5 Reasons You Need an Author Website Before the Book Deal
My best advice for writers wishing to sell their books: Act as if the book deal is already yours. If you can pretend it’s a done deal, you’ll be more motivated to do the work of building a platform. Besides … Continue reading
Posted in More Stuff for Writers, platform building
Tagged audience, author website, Memoir, platform building, websites, Writing
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Help! I want my short writings to cohere into something publishable!
A question my clients and students often ask: “What can I do with all the bits and pieces I’ve written?” If you’ve written to prompts over a number of years, you may feel like you’ve written quite a bit without … Continue reading
Posted in More Stuff for Writers, triptych, writing advice, writing prompts, Writing Tips
Tagged essays, Memoir, writing activities
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Is My Manuscript Ready to Send Out?
One of the questions I get asked quite often: Is my book (or book proposal) ready to go out to agents and editors? Unless it’s clear the writer is jumping the gun, this is a tricky question to answer. True benefits abound from jetting out into the world, even prematurely. Most significantly: If the work is circulating, air is getting in and often giving life new ideas, leads, and connections.The downsides are obvious–chiefly, a half-baked project blowing your shot with someone you value and self-recrimination for overeagerness raining down shortly after rejection’s sting. Here are some questions you could ask yourself if you are on the verge of clicking “Send.” And hopefully, your answers will bring you to the right decision–or at least a bit closer. Continue reading
Inspired by Taylor Swift: The Eras Writing Prompt
Last post I wrote about how Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert in Glendale last weekend made me think about the challenges of writing about our past selves. And that made me remember a writing prompt I created a while back … Continue reading
How to Write a Memoir Book Proposal (That Stands a Chance)
Learn how to write a memoir book proposal. Continue reading
Posted in Memoirists, More Stuff for Writers, Publishing, Webinars, Writing Tips
Tagged advice, book proposals, literary agents, Memoir, Publishing, Writing, writing advice
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What I’m Digging Right Now
Moonlight and all the conversations surrounding this film. I’m touched by the autobiographical impulse behind Moonlight; the vulnerability of the writer and the director, Tarell Alvin McCraney and Barry Jenkins, and the complexity of the protagonist, Chiron; and the simple … Continue reading
“I want to double down on me.”
I’ve been pretty obsessed with Jill Soloway’s series Transparent this winter break, which led me to reading Ariel Levy’s fabulous profile of Soloway in The New Yorker titled “Dolls and Feelings.” There are a dozen reason why any emerging writer should read this profile, but the juncture of Soloway’s story that keeps replaying in my head is the one at which her career was at its lowest point and she made the decision to “double down” on herself. Continue reading
Posted in Cheryl Strayed, More Stuff for Writers, Writing Tips
Tagged Cheryl Strayed, emerging writers, Jill Soloway, Memoir, Transparent, Writing
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Registration now open for January Memoir Essentials Webinar with Theo Pauline Nestor
This course has now passed but it is still possible to register and receive recordings of all four sessions as well as the corresponding handouts. To register, pay via the pink Pay Pal button below. “What happened to the writer … Continue reading
Posted in Memoir 101, More Stuff for Writers, Webinars
Tagged Memoir, memoir writing, webinars
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What I Learned About Life and Writing Onstage with Cheryl Strayed
A few weeks ago I did an onstage conversation with Cheryl Strayed here in Seattle about her new book, Brave Enough, a collection of quotes that yield up her trademark no-nonsense wisdom. The entire experience was a Dear Sugar Boot … Continue reading
Posted in Author Interviews, Cheryl Strayed, Memoirists, More Stuff for Writers
Tagged advice, Brave Enough, Cheryl Strayed, Dear Sugar, Memoir, Writing
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Writing Is My Drink 