Want to use your life story to inform your fiction?

This new book by Ruta Sepetys, You: The Story, is a great tool for those who want to use their own life experiences to inform their fiction writing.

reviews, memoir & writingDawn M. RoodeJuly 2, 2023book review, fiction inspired by my own life, using your life story to write fiction, how to make my fiction writing seem realComment

Life (and life writing) lessons from a WSJ obituary writer

Why leave your legacy in the hands of someone else? Try your hand at writing your own obituary with these tips—it just may be the start of your mini memoir.

memoir & writingDawn M. RoodeApril 3, 2023book review, how to write about my life, easy ways to tell my life story, how do i start writing my life story, lessons from an obituary writer, review of yours truly an obituary writers guide to telling your story Comment

Two great resources to help you write an ethical will

Ethical wills—also called legacy letters—are great ways to pass on values and life lessons to your descendants. These two books will help you create your own.

reviews, memoir & writingDawn M. RoodeMarch 6, 2023how to write an ethical will, resources for writing your own legacy letter, preserving your stories for the next generation, book reviewComment

“To Write the Past”: A supportive companion for thoughtful memoirists

This small yet dense self-published book comprises nine essays in which writer Sara Mansfield Taber aims to answer “the questions that plague the memoirist.”

reviewsDawn M. RoodeSeptember 12, 2022book review, memoir writing books, to write the pastComment

Most anticipated memoir & craft books of 2022

Personal historian Dawn Roode of Modern Heirloom Books lists her most anticipated books of 2022 for fans of memoir and the craft of writing. Mark your faves!

reviews, memoir & writingDawn M. RoodeJanuary 9, 2022memoir recommendations, books about writing, the craft of writing your life, book review Comment

Three writers use vignettes to craft moving memoirs

Memoirs by Sarah Manguso, Beth Ann Fennelly, and Beth Kephart each weave together short narratives to create evocative, textured self-portraits of the writers.

memoir & writing, reviewsDawn M. RoodeOctober 12, 2021writing vignettes, how to write vignette for memoir, memoir inspiration, memoir recommendations, book reviewComment

Book recommendation: “Life Is in the Transitions,” by Bruce Feiler

Bruce Feiler's latest book, Life Is in the Transitions, offers up a helpful toolkit for dealing with life's curveballs through a lens of storytelling.

reviewsDawn M. RoodeJuly 29, 2020book review, life is in the transitions, bruce feilerComment

The vignette: What to read to be inspired

Memoir reading suggestions to inspire your own vignette-style life story writing, from Annie Dillard and Kelly Corrigan to Robert Fulghum and Sandra Cisneros.