Write It All Down: How to Put Your Life on the Page

Description

Tackle the challenges of memoir writing and share your story. 'Cathy is the person who first told me to write about my mental health when I was nervous to do so. She is a great writer herself and this is brilliant.' - Matt Haig, author of Reasons to Stay Alive Why do we want to write and what stops us? How do we fight the worry that no-one will care what we have to say? What can we do to overcome the obstacles in our way? Sunday Times bestselling author Cathy Rentzenbrink shows you how to tackle all this and more in Write It All Down, a guide to putting your life on the page. Complete with a compendium of advice from amazing writers such as Dolly Alderton, Adam Kay and Candice Carty-Williams, this book is here to help you discover the pleasure and solace to be found in writing; the profound satisfaction of wrestling a story onto a page and seeing the events of your life transformed through the experience of writing a memoir. Perfect for seasoned writers as well as writing amateurs and everyone in between, this helpful handbook will steer you through the philosophical and practical challenges of writing, whether you're struggling with writers block or worrying what people will say. Intertwined with reflections and exercises, Write It All Down is at once an intimate conversation and an invitation to share your story.

Cathy Rentzenbrink is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller The Last Act of Love, A Manual for Heartache, Dear Reader: The Comfort and Joy of Books and Everyone Is Still Alive. It took her twenty years to wrestle her own life story on the page and she loves to use what she has learnt about the profound nature of writing the self in the service of others. Cathy has taught for Arvon, Curtis Brown Creative, at Falmouth University and at festivals and in prisons, and welcomes anyone, no matter what their experience, education, background or story. She believes that everyone's life would be improved by picking up a pen and is at her happiest when encouraging her students to have the courage to delve into themselves and see the magic that will start to happen on the page.

A gentle, wise and witty book that will take you by the hand and guide your words onto the page - I truly wish I'd read it before I began to write. -- Raynor Winn, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Salt Path and The Wild Silence Cathy has an extraordinary gift for helping people tell their stories and you need this gently inspirational book in your life. -- Nina Stibbe, author of the award-winning Love, Nina and Reasons to Be Cheerful A wonderful, inspiring and practical book . . . I recommend this book to anyone who wants inspiration, concrete tips and encouragement to write. -- Julia Samuel, author of Grief Works and This Too Shall Pass