Writing the Personal

The Teaching Writing series publishesuser-friendly writing guides penned by authors with publishing records in theirsubject matter. Through detailed exercises, exemplars, and a breakdown of thekey elements and considerations of personal writing, Faulkner and Squillanteprovide a lively introduction and guide for writers to the art and craft ofpersonal writing. Their conversational tone about audience, point of view,form, structure, ethics, research, and finding and making time for writingpractice is a not-to-miss primer and reference. This book is appropriate forclasses focused on poetry, creative nonfiction, ethnography, qualitativeresearch, memoir, narrative inquiry, and other types of life writing, as wellas individual writers honing their craft. Writing the Personal invites us allto find our stories and instructs us how to shape them for an audience and forourselves.  Writing the Personal is the ideal book for anyoneinterested in exploring his or her life through writing. It is a must-read forany writer serious about deepening her understanding of craft.   KateHopper, author of Ready for Air and Use Your Words and co-author of SilentRunning A focus on techniques makes this a useful bookto read straight through or equally to dip in and out of according to yourpersonal tastes. However you come to the recipes offered in this clevercookbook, you re sure to enjoy the feast inside. Stacy Holman Jones and AnneHarris,co-authors of Writing for Performance  Faulkner and Squillante seamlessly collaborateto each bring their unique and varied writing backgrounds and academiccredentials to this text to create a unique and invaluable book. BernadetteMarie Calafell, University of Denver, author of Monstrosity, Performance andRace in Contemporary Culture  Faulkner and Squillante are skillful, honest,and generous teachers of the craft. Dinty W. Moore, author of The MindfulWriter: Noble Truths of the Writing Life In this innovative and inspiring book, Faulknerand Squillante offer practical advice about writing personal stories. TonyE. Adams, Northeastern Illinois UniversitySandra L. Faulkner teaches,writes poetry, and researches about close relationships at Bowling Green StateUniversity in NW Ohio.Sheila Squillante is a poet and essayist livingin Pittsburgh and teaching in the MFA program at Chatham University.