Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the Past

It isn't the writing advice that strikes me most about William Zinsser's On Writing Well. No doubt the advice is sound and helpful--the most helpful that I've found. But, concerning the mechanics of good writing, Zinsser doesn't tell the student of Strunk and White's The Elements of Style much that's new. Instead, it's his presentation that sets the book apart. Zinsser teaches writing through narrative full of what he calls... Read Full Review

Zinsser weaves "how to" tips and discussion into his own memoirs. His section on cutting a broad project (write about baseball) down to manageable size (Pirates in spring training) is excellent for its step-by-step thinking process. He offers equally good thinking on many other things that can cause perplexion.

In Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the Past, William Zinsser uses the main technique of the master teacher: he demonstrates what he is trying to teach. In the first of a series of mini-memoirs from his own life Zinsser tells the story of a phone message left on his answering machine from a woman who has a question about a paint primer that Zinsser's father had manufactured years before. In referring to an article... Read Full Review

I've always been a big fan of William Zinsser's books. As a professional biographer/memoirist, however, this one truly hits home. It's not only a perfect example of WHAT to do, but HOW to do it as well. For anyone aspiring to be a professional biographer, or if you're just interested in writing your own biography, all I can say is GET THIS BOOK! -- and get it NOW!