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The Story: A Writer's Guide to Craft Through Memory
by Ruta Sepetys
The nonfiction debut by #1 New York Times bestselling and Carnegie Medal-winning author Ruta Sepetys. Perfect for fans of Burn After Writing and Bird by Bird.
Life is story in motion. Each day, you add to your story, revise it, and view it from a different angle. You erase things. Tear pages out. And sometimes, in hindsight, wish you could put them back. A day is a story. A year is a story. A life is a story.
You are a story.
Ruta Sepetys is known for creating vivid characters and harrowing plots. After five award-winning works of historical fiction and countless hours of meticulous research, she can affirm that the secret to strong writing is embedded within your life experience.
You: The Story is a powerful how-to book for aspiring writers that encourages you to look inward and excavate your own memories in order to discover the authentic voices and compelling details that are waiting to be put on the page. Masterfully weaving in humorous and heartfelt stories from her own life that illustrate an aspect of the craft of writing (such as plot, character development, or dialogue), Sepetys then inspires readers with a series of writing prompts and exercises.
Perfect for fans of Burn After Writing and Bird by Bird, You: The Story awakens the emerging writer and reveals that with some reflection, curiosity, and courage, you have a story to tell.
What book have you read that’s set in or near your hometown?
I just finished reading Ruta Sepetys' A Fortune of Sand , set in Detroit and Grosse Pointe. Having lived in the Detroit suburbs my entire life, reading about the historical buildings and familiar locations made the experience even more enjoyable and immersive. I absolutely loved the book and gave...
-jillg
Do you ever read books categorized as YA (“Young Adult”)? If so, what are some that you’ve really enjoyed?
I too like Ruta Sepetys books. I am reading her newest, A Fortune of Sand, and I am enjoying it. There are mixed reviews for it, but it's too early to really gage it yet.
-jillg
Who's your favorite female author of the 21st century?
Ruta Sepetys and Barbara Kingsolver are automatic buys for me. I hope that Bonnie Garmus writes more books because I definitely enjoyed her debut, Lessons in Chemistry.
-Rebecca_R
"Instructive and inspiring for storytellers of all ages." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Part writing guide, part memoir, Sepetys' fresh, fun handbook is all inspiration." —Booklist (starred review)
"This is an inspirational book that gives readers direction as they begin writing and will make them want to keep writing, and rewriting, their own stories." —SLC
"Sepetys discusses the principles that underlie good fiction and recounts details from her own life to illustrate how personal anecdotes can fuel literary creativity... . Novice writers will appreciate a bounty of writing prompts." —Publishers Weekly
This information about You was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Magda Staroweiyska
Ruta Sepetys (www.rutasepetys.com) is an internationally acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction published in over sixty countries and forty languages. Sepetys is considered a "crossover" novelist, as her books are read by both teens and adults worldwide. Her novels Between Shades of Gray, Out of the Easy, and Salt to the Sea have won or been shortlisted for more than forty book prizes, and are included on more than sixty state award lists. Between Shades of Gray was adapted into the film Ashes in the Snow, and her other novels are currently in development for TV and film. Winner of the Carnegie Medal, Ruta is passionate about the power of history and literature to foster global awareness and connectivity. She has presented to NATO, to the European Parliament,...
... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Ruta Sepetys's Website
Name Pronunciation
Ruta Sepetys: Roota Suh-PET-tees
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