Writing About Your Life: A Journey
into the Past by William Zinsser
First Rate
This highly original book by William Zinsser, author of the classic guide On
Writing Well, tells you how to write about the people and places and events
in your life that have been important to you—whether you’re writing a
memoir, a family history or just a recollection of experiences you’d like to
preserve or more fully understand. Zinsser’s method is to take you on a
memoir of his own: 13 chapters in which he recalls dramatic, amusing and
often inspiring moments in his long and unusually varied life as a writer,
editor, teacher and traveler.Along the way in these memoirs William
Zinsser pauses to explain the technical decisions he made as he wrote
them. They are the same decisions you’ll have to make as you write about
your own life: matters of selection, condensation, focus, attitude, voice and
tone. Written with elegance, warmth and humor, Writing About Your Life
gives you the tools to organize and recover your past and the confidence
to believe in your life narrative. It also gives you permission—through the

example of a life enriched by change and risk—to make bold life choices of
your own.
Personal Review: Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the
Past by William Zinsser
There was criticism in the reviews here at Amazon from someone who
thought this was "nothing but a book of introspection." (I couldn't disagree
more.) Yet, in the same review she said, "You learn to write from imitating
good writing." Well, there is no better way that I know of, to learn about
memoir writing than by reading a well-written memoir - with writing at its
core! These essays from Zinsser form Exhibit A that well-written memoir is
simply about telling your story with good, spare writing. He stresses that
one must "get it down." That doesn't mean you must sit down and write
your full-blown story, but write your story as the memories come - just get it
down; no need to think you must sit and write it ALL right away. These
essays are beautifully written and are perfect examples of what quality
memoir writing is all about. He teaches by showing, and Zinsser is a
master at telling stories that work his own memories in while weaving a
basic course in How To Write.
If you're interested in writing your story, whether in long-form or in essay
form that captures the essence of a life, this book is a must-read.
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