A book for people who want to become writers, or for people who have written but got stuck, or for those who simply want to write their life story for their children and grandchildren. With guidelines for every genre of creative writing - journals, personal essays, memoir, and fiction, plus inspiration from other writers and tips for publishing.

 

You can sit around for the rest of your life dreaming about writing your stories, longing to bear witness on the page to every amazing thing you've seen or lived through, and wishing for a message from above, that bolt of lightning, some signal that will let you know now is the time to start being creative. Or you can just buy a notebook or turn on the computer and begin writing.

It's that simple and that complicated.

This book has come out of 16 years of teaching creative writing in the Writers' Program at UCLA Extension. I'm beholden to each and everyone of my students - they taught me how to write it.