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Writing Alchemy: How to Write Fast and Deep

Price | $24.95

Writing Alchemy is a revolutionary approach to writing…a proven system.

From award-winning authors Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett–Writing Alchemy: How to Write Fast and Deep shares the secrets that put writers in total control of their writing process. Writing Alchemy applies the best of social science research to help you write with intense purpose…and have fun in the process.

Authors are saying:

Writing Alchemy is the Next Best Thing. It will help you create purpose-driven writing, develop a more productive writing practice that makes better use of your time and energy, and take more pleasure from the creative process….You’ll find something you can use on every page–and it’s fun to read, too! – Susan Wittig Albert — memoirist and NYT best-selling author of the China Bayles series and other mysteries

Writing Alchemy is one of the most exciting books about writing I have read in a long while….This book is indispensable for not only memoir writers, but writers of fiction as well. WRITING ALCHEMY is going on my shelf, right next to Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones! – Pamela Jane Bell — author of 13 popular children’s books and currently writing her memoir

Readers will be inspired and empowered to create stories that move and resonate, filled with deep and memorable characters who converse in dynamic and organic dialogue. I couldn’t wait to finish the book so that I could bring what I learned to my current novel in progress. – Leslie Gilbert-Lurie — author of Bending Toward the Sun

Here’s what a few of our students are saying:

“Writing Alchemy is one of the smartest investments a memoirist can make.” -Kathryn S.

“Clever, innovative approach to writing. I like it.” -Dawn T.

“I think it’s a very direct, simple, repeatable process.”
-Grace G.

Writing Alchemy is the culmination of years of teaching and working with writers at all levels of their craft. Discover how to dig deeper into detail while you increase your output. You’ll gain the tools to not only finish your book but write with greater power and confidence than you thought possible. Do you want to…

• Breathe life into the people you’re writing about?
• Make them come alive as strong, multi-dimensional characters with honest emotions?
• Spend more time writing and less time rewriting?
• Create vivid word pictures rich in descriptive sensory detail that bring your readers into each scene?
• Use dialogue to show rather tell your story?

Writing Alchemy enables you to do all that…and more as you learn to Deconstruct the five essential elements of writing and Construct your story with purpose, insight and detail.

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Writing Alchemy’s Table of Contents

Introducing Writing Alchemy–Far from Writing as Usual

1. GETTING A HEAD START ON WRITING ALCHEMY
—A Great Book is the Gold Standard
—Perfect Practice
—The Problem: Opportunistic Writer
—The Solution: Writing Alchemy
—What is Writing Alchemy?
—Jumping Right In
—Writing Alchemy in Use
—Have Fun While You Write
—8 Head-Start Steps to Your First Scene

2. DECONSTRUCTING THE FIVE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF WRITING

—The Original and Development of Writing Alchemy
—Benefits of the Writing Alchemy System
—Essential Elements of Writing
—Deconstruction Learned at My Mother’s Knee
—Deconstruction Defined
—Deconstruction’s Pre-Writes Mean Fewer Rewrites
—Deconstruction’s Deceptive Simplicity (Or Is It Deceptive?)
—Begin Deconstruction Your Story

3. THE ELEMENT OF PEOPLE AND CHARACTERS

—Characters Matter…
—…Because It All Begins with Characters
—First, A Confession
—Three Schools of Character Development
—A Fourth School of Thought for Character Development
—The Five Dimensions of Character
—Two Theories of Needs (Motivation)
—And Finally, Adding Enduring Personality Traits
—Now You’re Ready to Create Your Main Characters

4. THE ELEMENT OF EMOTION AND AFFECT

—Emotions in Writing
—What Do We Mean When We Talk about Emotions?
—History of Emotions
—A Vocabulary of Emotion
—A Tool from the Social Sciences
—Let’s Be Intelligent about Our Emotions
—Five Final Factors: A QUick Quiz
—What is Your Emotional Intelligence?
—What Else Might You Find?

5. THE ELEMENT OF DIALOGUE

—Beware. That’s Risk in Dialogue
—It All Started a Long Time Ago
—The Direction of Dialogue
—The Write Dialogue, You Must Understand It
—Putting the Game People Play into the Dialogue You Write
—What Can You Learn about Dialogue if You Analyze a Conversation?
—The Body Speaks
—Wrapping Up Dialogue from the Perspective of the Social Sciences
—Dialogue is Not Real…Listen for the Difference
—Set the Stage for the Dialogue and Let Your Character Walk on Prepared
—Words to Speak With
—Truth in Dialogue
—One More Good Excuse to Spend Time Reading
—Rules Make Dialogue Your Power Tool

6. THE ELEMENT OF SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

—The Sense of Sight
—The Sense of Sound
—The Sense of Smell
—The Sense of Taste
—The Sense of Touch

7. THE ELEMENT OF TIME AND PLACE

—A Personal Sense of Time and Place
—Sharing Knowledge of Time and Place with Readers
—Perspectives on Place
—The Sense of Place
—Guidance to Our Understanding of Place as Relationships
—A Social Scientist on Place, Lifespace and Our Behavior
—Before Leaving Place Behind: A Social Scientist on Internal Responses to Place
—Time on Its Own
—Time and Memoirist
—Social Science and Time
—Working Time into the Narrative: How Might You Do This?
—Time is a Marker of Cultures
—What Time Type are You?
—A Measure of Your Sense of Time
—A Famous Social Scientist Gives Us a Clue about Time
—Of Marshmallows and Money
—Time, Place and Memoir
—A Personal Time and Place Example
—“And One More Thing…”

8. CONSTRUCTING WITH THE FIVE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF WRITING

—Construction Lessons
—Three Metaphors for Construction
—Begin Constructing Your Story
—Plotting Your Story
—Memoir Writing and Journaling
—Writing Truth
—Alternate Forms of Memoirs
—Now Get to Writing, Really
—Fun. Joy. Happiness. Work. And Alchemy.
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Writing Alchemy: How to Write Fast and Deep

Price | $24.95

[NOTE: FREE SHIPPING]

NOTE: International book orders may be invoiced separately for additional postage, depending on the country. Invoice will be sent from PayPal and book will be shipped once the additional payment has been made.

StoryMap: The Neverending Writing Prompt ™

19.97 |

[NOTE: FREE SHIPPING ON THIS PRODUCT]

Have you read a lot of writing prompts? They’re great but once you follow the prompt, you’re through. You don’t want to use it again. Maybe they don’t even inspire you to try them the first time.

Have you bought books of writing prompts? They are usually overwhelming. You’ve probably put them on the shelf where they gather dust.

You want to write and need creative ways to get your writing juices flowing. It’s not your fault that the occasional prompt just doesn’t do the trick.

What you need is StoryMap: The Neverending Writing Prompt. StoryMap is the town of Five Points, Oklahoma. The shop owners provide characters and the stores provide creative and fun ideas. You’ll even find some lines of dialogue embedded in the map. Write for 10 minutes, crafting a story — one of an unlimited number — drawing on the elements in the StoryMap.

Once you are having fun, it’s easy to turn back to your memoir writing.

You’ll eagerly sit to write, knowing you can start with a fun, fictional story created from StoryMap. Over time, you can challenge yourself to work in part of your own story into the game.

StoryMap works well individually or with a group. Use it with your children or grandchildren — perfect for family get togethers. Use it with your writing group as a fun exercise. Use it with a writing class, working in pairs.

Beautiful, fun-filled story elements set in Five Points, Oklahoma. StoryMap is full-color 11 x 17 on heavy stock. Comes with instructions. Shipped in a tube for protection.

StoryMap: The Neverending Writing Prompt ™

19.97 |

NOTE: International orders may be invoiced separately for additional postage, depending on the country. Invoice will be sent from PayPal and StoryMap will be shipped once the additional payment has been made. FREE SHIPPING IN US.

“Just received the StoryMap: The Neverending Writing Prompt ™ from Womens Memoirs. What a great idea for writers’ block. I didn’t expect any less from Matilda and Kendra. I’m going to take it to my writing group Monday night and tell everyone it’s a must-buy for under their own Christmas tree. Thinking I might have it laminated and use it as a desk place mat. Thanks to you two great gurus.” — Judy W.

“StoryMap: Neverending Writing Prompt is magic. I love it.” — Jamuna A.

Rosie’s Daughters [Autographed Copy]

20.00 |

We’re happy to personalize the autograph. After placing your order, please email Matilda@WomensMemoirs.com with the name of the recipient for the personalized autograph as well as any special message you would like.

Meet Rosie’s Daughters…

The breakthrough book about the generation of women that broke through centuries of limitations to take their place in the world. They were born during World War II and came of age in the 60s… both shaped by and an influencer of their times. These precursors of the baby boomers achieved more “firsts” than any group of women before or since, earning them the name of “First Woman To” Generation.

Rosie’s Daughters heralds Rosie the Riveter as the icon for our mothers who built ships, flew bombers and filled thousands of other essential wartime jobs, upending traditional views of “womens’s work.” When the war was over, however, American industry thanked Rosie and sent her home.

Rosie’s Daughter flung wide the doors of employment opportunity that Rosie had unlocked. Their stories show how the post-war education boom, sexual revolution, civil rights and gender equality, the Vietnam War, consciousness raising, Roe V. Wade, no fault divorce and other events influenced their lives and shapes their journeys.

Authors Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett have rewritten the rules for book design. They push beyond conventional format to give the first person stories of the more than 100 women interviewed a multidimensional context within the historical narrative that spans six decades of change- social, cultural, economic and political. It’s a feast for mind and eye.

The result is Rosie’s Daughters, an inspiring read that is informative and entertaining.

NOTE: International book orders may be invoiced separately for additional postage, depending on the country. Invoice will be sent from PayPal and book will be shipped once the additional payment has been made.

Seasons of Our Lives: Spring
Seasons of Our Lives: Summer
Seasons of Our Lives: Autumn
Seasons of Our Lives: Winter

These four ebooks, stories of the seasons of women’s lives, are available through Amazon’s Kindle Books and ranked on Amazon’s bestseller list as #2, #3, #4, #5 for Writing Skills.

Late Breaking News:

We’ve just been awarded eight honors:

1. Next Generation Indie Book Award, Women’s Issues
WINNER/First Place ($100 cash prize): Seasons of Our Lives: Autumn

2. Los Angeles Book Festival, Compilations/Anthologies
WINNER: Seasons of Our Lives: Spring

3. Global Ebook Awards, Writing Non-Fiction
GOLD: Seasons of Our Lives: Summer

4. eLit Book Award, Anthologies
SILVER: Seasons of Our Lives: Winter

5. Global Ebook Awards, Anthology Non-Fiction
SILVER: Seasons of Our Lives: Autumn

6. eLit Book Award, Women’s Issues
BRONZE: Seasons of Our Lives: Winter

7. San Francisco Book Festival, Compilations/Anthologies
RUNNER-UP: Seasons of Our Lives: Autumn

8. Great Northwest Book Festival, Compilations/Anthologies
HONORABLE MENTION: Seasons of Our Lives: Summer

About the Four Volumes
Memories. Memoirs. Stories of our lives. The award-winning authors Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett invited women to submit personal vignettes about the seasons of their lives. Sweet stories. Sad stories. Joyful stories. Poignant stories. The small stories that make up our days, our lives. Hundreds of stories were read and evaluated. The best of these, the award-winning stories, are included in the four volumes of Seasons of Our Lives: Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring.

Each story concludes with a takeaway from the editors — takeaways that will help you reflect on the seasons of your life. And if you’re interested in creating a legacy of your own family or personal stories, these takeaways are designed to help you write more dynamically and powerfully so that you can proudly share your own life seasons with family, friends, and even more widely.

Enjoy these inspiring stories.

Reviewers are saying

“Seasons of Our Lives, a compilation of memoirists’ vignettes, brings poignant stories of history and nostalgia to the reader, as well as writing observations and lessons for the author in everyone. Seasons of our Lives is sure to be another award-winning work from the dynamic duo of Butler and Bonnett.” ~Judy Sheer Watters, author of The Road Home: The Legacy that was, is and is to Come

“It is true that each woman is a story waiting to be told—and in this outstanding collection of memoirs you’ll find many wonderful women’s stories. It is also true that each woman’s story is everywoman’s story, for we share so many of the same experiences. As I read these stories [in Seasons of Our Lives], I am reading bits and pieces from my own life, and I am inspired to write my own with a more passionate and compassionate heart. I hope you are, too.” ~Susan Wittig Albert, bestselling author of Writing from Life

What gems! These memoir vignettes pull us into and delight us with the rich stories of women’s lives. I literally couldn’t put the book down. Each story highlights a facet of life that speaks to our shared humanity. I found myself recalling moments from my own life and thinking, “It’s time to start writing my life stories!”

The beauty of this anthology is that the editors Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett have written “takeaways” at the end of each story to help budding memoir writers. These mini-lessons are a gold mine of tips and advice.

I believe that in telling our stories we illuminate the world one voice at a time. SEASONS OF OUR LIVES has made my world glow a little brighter. ~Dan Curtis award-winning documentary filmmaker, personal historian, and founder/coordinator of Victor Hospice’s “Life Stories“