When you pick up that small blue ribbon buried in the
sewing box, does it take you back to the day you had that
small beautiful boy? Do you ever want to write about the
first time your child was very ill and how you felt through
that harrowing experience? Or, the first time you saw your
little daughter walking down the hall in your high heels?
Do you cheerfully blog about life as a mom (clean house or
not)? Do you just want to write down some memories, but
think you can't write? Are you a published writer looking
for more strategic ways to write creative nonfiction?
If any of the above brings a gleam to your eye or even
slightly intrigues you, then you will be most interested in
USE YOUR WORDS -- A WRITING GUIDE FOR MOTHERS by this award
winning and very talented writer and instructor at the Loft
Literary Center. Kate Hopper truly knows how to pull out
the budding writer in each person and how to help hone the
skills of those further down the writing path. Her method
is not to force a particular format on everyone, but rather
to help a person see how to make the ordinary the extra-
ordinary and to shift perspectives to make their stories
shine.
Every chapter covers a different topic from using humour
as a tool to how to put it together (structure), writing
about painful subjects, and considerations when writing
about family members. Hopper gives amazing writing samples,
heartfelt vignettes, exercises, tools, resources and lots
of encouragement, compassion and strategies for getting
your story written and more tips to make it come to life
for your readers.
Hopper has a wonderful style of writing. Her book is well
organized and structured while still intriguing to read as
she writes with humour, tears, compassion and from her own
experiences of Motherhood. I would strongly recommend this
book for all women who want to write about their children
and family experiences, regardless if writing for blogs,
publications or their own private memory books. While the
information in Hopper's book is focused on mothers, the
writing tips are universal for anyone wanting to write
creative nonfiction. It is truly a terrific writing
resource!
USE YOUR WORDS introduces the art of creative nonfiction to
women who want to give written expression to their lives as
mothers. Written by award-winning teacher and writer, Kate
Hopper, this book will help women find the heart of their
writing, learn to use motherhood as a lens through which to
write the world, and turn their motherhood stories into art.
Each chapter of USE YOUR WORDS focuses on an element of
craft and contains a lecture, a published essay, and writing
exercises that will serve as jumping-off points for the
readers’ own writing. Chapter topics include: the importance
of using concrete details, an overview of creative
nonfiction as a genre, character development, voice, humor,
tense and writing the “hard stuff,” reflection and
back-story, structure, revision, and publishing. The content
of each lecture is aligned with the essay/poem in that
chapter to help readers more easily grasp the elements of
craft being discussed. Together the chapters provide a
unique opportunity for mother writers to learn and grow as
writers.
USE YOUR WORDS takes the approach that creative writing can
be taught, and this underscores each chapter. When students
learn to read like writers, to notice how a piece is put
together, and to question the choices a writer makes, they
begin to think like writers. When they learn to ground their
writing in concrete, sensory details and begin to understand
how to create believable characters and realistic dialogue,
their own writing improves. USE YOUR WORDS reflects Kate’s
style as a teacher, guiding the reader in a straightforward,
nurturing, and passionate voice. As one student noted in a
class evaluation: “Kate is a born writer and teacher, and
her enthusiasm for essays about motherhood and for teaching
the nuts and bolts of writing so that ordinary mothers have
the tools to write their stories is a gift to the world. She
is raising the value of motherhood in our society as she
helps mothers build their confidence and strengthen their
game as writers.”
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