Category: Writing Memoir

NEW WORKBOOK FOR NONFICTION WRITERS

Hello there.

I’m excited to announce my new workbook for nonfiction writers!

White Rose Writers Etsy Shop


WHAT IS CREATIVE NONFICTION?
“A factual narrative presented in the form of a story so as to entertain the reader.” –Wikipedia

Have you ever read a historical book or a contemporary article that was simply full of facts but had you dozing off after the first few pages?

I created this workbook for writers who want to write a nonfiction book from a creative perspective and offer a factual story that doesn’t put their reader to sleep.

I hope it will help you as an author to write your fantastic book with confidence and have fun too. The workbook/planner is a download that you can print out and use for all your nonfiction writing.

Included in the workbook:

  • Ideal Reader Profile
  • Genre List
  • Crafting Your Premise
  • Crafting Your Summary
  • Chapter Ideas
  • Genres
  • 5 Inspirational Posters for your workspace
  • Character Profiles
  • Character Development
  • Setting Worksheets
  • Scene List Worksheets
  • Story Arc
  • Research Worksheets
  • Author Bio Worksheet
  • Checklist
  • Creating a Book Cover
  • Launching, Marketing & Promoting and more…

Not sure if your book idea fits the Creative Nonfiction genre? Here’s a list from the workbook. It may surprise you to see your story idea in there.

Nonfiction Genres that can be written creatively

  • Biography – a narrative of a person’s life as told to someone else or from research.
  • Autobiography – when the author is also the main subject, and the book spans many years.
  • Memoir – a true story focused on particular events—usually the author’s own stories.
  • Narrative nonfiction – factual information about a significant event presented in a format that tells a true story.
  • Personal essays — expressing a subjective opinion about a topic.
  • Literary journalism – personal diaries or career logs.
  • Self-help book  – informational to help readers solve personal problems and could lend to being written with a memoir aspect.
  • Textbook – a how-to book teaching a specific subject with personal experiences in creative form.

I have a series of workbooks in my White Rose Writers Etsy shop that help writers who want to write a nonfiction book–

The From-To Writing Method — which show how to use social media platforms you may already have to create your books using a quick and easy method. They include a writing schedule for writing a nonfiction book in just 10 hours or a novel in 30 days.

  • From Blog to Book
  • From Muse to Memoir
  • From Post to Published
  • From Pin to Print
  • From Tweet to Tutorial

And here’s a handy 15% OFF COUPON if anything in the shop interests you.

If you have any questions, please leave me a comment or message me at the shop.

Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

Lynne

RESCUED. REDEEMED. RESTORED. part 2

My Parents as Teens in West Yorkshire in the 1950’s

– part 2 of my memoir “RESCUED. REDEEMED. RESTORED”

My parents were teenagers when they met. Two young kids from a small town in West Yorkshire, England. Theirs was a small town full of woollen mills and factories. Where most people eked out a small wage and dreams were even smaller. No one dared have lofty ideas of world travel and fame. Their thoughts were on paying rent and buying enough food for the day. Entertainment was a couple of beers at the local pub and, if they were fortunate enough to be able to save a few shillings, a bus trip to the seaside at Bank Holiday time.

Lyndon was seventeen. A young merchant seaman. The son of a coal merchant and a housekeeper. ‘Coal merchant’ may be a tad misleading if you envisioned a smart businessman in a suit, sitting behind a mahogany desk in a downtown office. My grandfather, Arthur, rode a horse and cart down the cobbled back streets, delivering coal to residents. He collected the coal from a depot in huge bags and tipped it into a hole at the back of the house (if there was a back of the house). The hole had a grate that he’d remove and replace when he’d done. The hole led to the cold, damp cellar. Then off he’d go to the next-door neighbour’s house to do the same. The horse dutifully stepping slowly down the tar-covered street. At the end of the day, they’d trot down to the field at the bottom of the row houses. The weary horse would be fed and patted, and told she was a ‘good lass’ before the weary old man shuffled home. It was a hard life, as were many in the small town in the Pennines.

photo by Terry Sayers on Pixabay

Grandad Calvert also owned many single-car garages and rented those to residents of the row houses. Quite often, there would be a row of houses followed by a row of toilets, followed by a row of garages as time progressed. The houses were attached, often without a back door because there was another row of houses attached at the back. These were often referred to as ‘one-up one-down’ homes. The row of toilets were the same, back to back. Not a lot of privacy, and newspapers for toilet paper. At least we had an advantage during the Covid pandemic. We remembered what we learned as children–use the stock market page!

My father didn’t live with Grandad Calvert. When he was home from his tour of duty he lived with his mother, Edith, a housekeeper, and her sister, Ada, who didn’t work at the time. I don’t know if Ada ever had a job. I know the women worked the factories during the war effort but I don’t know if she worked anywhere after that. Funny how children just don’t feel the need to ask. Now, as an older woman myself, I wish I’d asked more while I still could.

~read the first episode of RESCUED. REDEEMED. RESTORED here~

And you can find more photos of 1950s England on my Pinterest board including a photo of an outdoor loo!

Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

Lynne

RESCUED-REDEEMED-RESTORED

This Is My Story

This is my story. A story of God’s awesome power to rescue, redeem and restore. And His immeasurable love.

I’ve struggled with writing my memoir for many years. I’m finally taking a course about it and I’ll share some of my first draft with you. Not complete chapters but maybe a scene or two. And not much editing. This is the messy draft. The final draft may take a while…

Writing the story of my life seemed a little daunting, if not overwhelming, staring at the blank screen. After all, I’ve lived many years. So many stories to tell. But I set out to, above all else, tell the theme of my life. And I think the three words at the beginning convey that well.

As I sit here at my desk, fingers poised over the keyboard, I wonder how I will write this story of mine. I’m just an ordinary person, not a celebrity or politician that I have vast amounts of knowledge or scathing, deep secrets to shed on the world. But maybe you’ve had enough of that by now and my story will bring you back from the chaos even for one brief moment in time. Back to a place of reflection on the simple fact that God is here. He always is. He always has been. He hasn’t forgotten any of us and He isn’t content for us to be swept away in the torrent of disparity and hopelessness.

RESCUED   REDEEMED   RESTORED

Image of a girl on a swing over water
photo by Susan Cipriano, Pixabay

When I was a young child, I always had a strange fascination with death. Not that I was a violent person—far from it—but that death held a mystery no one seemed to be able to adequately explain. It crept into my thoughts when I least expected it and took up residence in the recesses of my mind.

My walk to school as a 5-year-old was past the graveyard of a church. It was a pleasant walk on the other side of the hand-made stone wall with English ivy creeping slowly across the cracks. But I didn’t walk with the other children where the graves were hidden. No, I walked on the inside, between the headstones, careful not to step on a grave and be disrespectful. Reading the names and dates and how the people who had gone before died, I learned about history. Even though I was still new to reading and I’m sure got it wrong many times, I was still fascinated by the quotes and bible verses chiselled on the headstones. And there was often a smushed toad to poke with a stick.

I used the spending money I received from my grandparents to buy trading cards about ‘The War of The Worlds’ and ‘Zombies’. When other eight-year-old girls were collecting fancy hairclips and cards of famous singers and ballerinas, I was fascinated by cards depicted decapitations by alien machinery and bodies rising from graves. Never the less, I was thought of a gentle soul in every way–and kind. Everyone said I would give away my last sweetie.

–This is a little backstory of my early years. An introduction to my life then. (I no longer collect horror cards but I am a huge fan of The Walking Dead!) Some things haven’t changed.

Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

~ Lynne

Writing A Memoir

We all have a story to tell. Some write a story about a fictitious character or an historical person. Then there are those who write their own story, their autobiography about their own personal experiences, usually in hopes of their story helping someone else in some way. These are the writers of Memoirs and I have a new workbook for you if you’ve ever considered writing your own memoir.

A young woman sitting at a desk writing her memoir.
From Muse To Memoir
by Lynne Collier

Write Your Memoir in 4 Weeks

This is a downloadable/printable workbook (no physical product shipped) filled with easy-to-follow worksheets for writers who want to turn their memories into a published autobiography — in only 4 weeks!

It’s a 49-page PDF workbook that will show you the “From-To Method of Writing” which uses your own social media content to create a digital or print book. But you don’t need to already have a vast amount of online material. You can create that as you write your book and gain followers who will be interested in your book when you’re published!

Here’s a peek at what you’ll work on in From Muse To Memoir:

  • Scheduling time for your writing
  • Brainstorming and defining your book’s outline
  • Creating Social Media ‘Gems’ so you have something to promote online before, during and after your launch.
  • The White Rose Writer’s method of turning your memories into a book.
  • A look at some of the steps you need to take for publishing your book.
  • Guidance on how to create a noticeable author brand so you stand out from the crowd.
  • Marketing Ideas for your new book.
  • Worksheets for each of the above to keep all your ideas in one place.
  • Printable inspirational posters to spur you on …and more!

This is an easy way for you to divide your life experiences into single chapters for a series of ebooks or a collective full-length book spanning your entire life (so far).

If you follow my workbook to write your memoir I’d love to hear about it in the comments. And watch for my other 3 books coming early next month!

My Other Workbooks

Take a browse in White Rose Writers Etsy Shop where you’ll also find my first workbook From Blog To Book which shows you how to expand on your blog posts to write a book in just 10 hours!

Woman writing at her desk
From Blog To Book

And coming soon –

  • From Pin To Print — use your Pinterest boards to write an ebook
  • From Tweet To Tutorial — use Twitter to write a tutorial or workbook
  • From Post To Published — use Facebook to write a novel in 4 weeks! (Nano anyone?) 🙂

Til next time, remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

~Lynne

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