Ina The Memoir Coach
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Books - 'How To Write Your Memoirs'

How to Write Your Memoirs, by Ina Hillebrandt, on Amazon

How To Write Your Memoirs, Fun Prompts to Make Writing -- and Reading -- Your Life Stories a Pleasure! 

Ina Hillebrandt's Memoir Writing guidebook that helps you "Just do it!"

'How To Write Your Memoirs' -- the classic by Ina Hillebrandt, now in its 11th printing.
SPECIAL NOTE FOR THE COMPUTER-SHY
parental or grandparental units: This workbook is spiral bound, with write-able pages!

Publisher:  Pawpress 
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 9781880882047
 $29.95. Free shipping at on Amazon Prime
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Who is How to Write Your Memoirs for?

  • People who'd like to give a great treasure to their families
  • People who have been wanting to capture times and memories they've enjoyed on paper, but who have said, "I can't write!"
  • People interested in finding new creative outlets to keep happy, active and enjoying life 
  • People who want to develop their writing projects further! 
  • Anyone wanting to give a great gift to their parents or grandparents -- to help them create a family treasure.
How to Write Your Memoirs has grown out of workshops I’ve been leading, for more years than I care to admit, with people from the corporate world, the world of wellness, and most recently, Footprints™
literacy and creative writing programs for kids and seniors. * 
 
It contains organizing ideas, prompts and reminiscences from both my own and students’ lives.  Use these to jump-start your own creative juices.  You’ll see your musings will range from spicy, zestful and smile-inducing to calm, informative, and believe it or not, un-boring!
 
Is there a philosophy underlying the prompts and the whole process?  Absolutely!    We all need to lighten up!  If my work has shown me anything, it’s that many of us fear we cannot write anything, or be creative, for a whole variety of reasons.  It’s also shown me that not taking ourselves too seriously coaxes our creative genies out of their bottles.  Consequently, from time to time you might find a little surprise in the pages in this book; I’m sure you’ll find many in your own memory banks.

Pawprints Literacy +
The Footprints Writing Clubs™
Contact Us
Contact us for information on bulk sales, private coaching by Ina, training for teachers.
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Spoken Word Videos, and Users' Reviews of 'How To Write Your Memoirs'

Picture
Kay Roberts performing live onstage. Her comment: "Ina and this book open up the floodgates to memories long gone but not forgotten." Click photo to see her read -- You'll be glad you did!
"Writing, like any creative act, takes courage, and Hillebrandt is to be commended for helping people vanquish their own fears about how to start, tap into their inner memoirist and come out with a book of their own. Although How to Write Your Memoirs is written in a clear, easy-to follow-fashion, the book is far from elementary. Accomplishing its goals in a sophisticated way, it is also a highly worthwhile guide for experienced writers who haven't yet tackled the genre. The structure and content ideas Ina has compiled help them push past their fear of jumping into a new form."
Ron Kenner, editor of award winning books, rkedit.com


David Brook reads from his story in of Stories From the Heart, Vol. 2, 'Memoirs of a Holocaust Survivor'
"I find Ina Hillebrandt's How to Write Your Memoirs to be a comprehensive and concise manual. It starts with basic information which systematically leads into a variety of ideas and examples of style and substance....a helpful tool for future writers...I believe it will even inspire some that think of themselves as not possessing writing skills. I enjoyed the book and strongly recommend it."
David Brook, member Footprints Writing Club, and contributing author to the group's Amazon.com bestseller Stories From The Heart, vol. 2. David reads from his story, Memoirs of a Holocaust Survivor., in this Video

Self-portrait by Andre van Zijl, world renowned artist, reads from his story in 'Stories From the Heart' vol. 2
Andre van Zijl reads from "A Country Not Made by Men"
Reviewer applauds author Andre van Zilj, and other writers in the book deriving from classes leading to How To Write Your Memoirs.
"The writing is lyrical and the memories of [Andre van Zijl's] father engaging...The section I most enjoyed was a few punning stories about cats by the late Earl Boretz, which were most amusing. His characters include Count Fe-Line the cat burglar in “Pussy Footin’ Around”; Sinister, the three-legged pirate cat and Sorrowful, the witch.
"
--Cecilia Blight, NELM News, THE NATIONAL ENGLISH LITERARY MUSEUM, Grahamstown, South Africa, review of Stories from the Heart, vol, 2. Full review:
OVERALL, an entertaining collection
The writing contained in this book was developed through work with the elderly and other adults in Ina Hillebrandt’s Pawprints Writing Clubs TM and Grief Lifters UnWorkshopsTM
with the bereaved…
 
Andre van Zijl, an artist...from Zimbabwe, now living in Los Angeles, is the only southern African writer in the collection. Two sections of his autobiography, entitled A Country Not Made By Men, have been included, namely “A childhood in Africa” and “Sinoia Citrus Estates”. The writing is lyrical and the memories of his father engaging.

Kay Roberts, the second contributor, writes amusingly of her childhood in the USA of the Great Depression of the 1930s and the war years. Some poems and set pieces from the writing group, as well as photographs of some members of her family are included in her section.
 
There is a large section of writing by Jane Madeline, with childhood memoirs, poems, and some photographs, as well as set pieces from the writing course.
 
Howard Westley has written of his service in Europe in the last days of the Second World War, with some childhood memoirs and set pieces from the writing course.
 
The section I most enjoyed was a few punning stories about cats by the late Earl Boretz, which were most amusing. His characters include Count Fe-Line the cat burglar in “Pussy Footin’ Around”; Sinister, the three-legged pirate cat and Sorrowful, the witch.
 
Eliza Crawford was born and brought up in India and her husband was employed in the British police there. She writes of childhood experiences in that country as well as her experiences when a wife and mother there and her husband’s death in the USA.
 
David Brook writes of his childhood and youth in Poland in the last years before the war and of what happened after the Germans came. He and his late wife were in the same concentration camp.
 
There are only two set pieces by Mori Morrison, a recently retired new member of the writing group. The final section contains childhood memoirs, poems and set pieces by Myra Wald, including the amusing piece entitled “The Maniac and the Lunatic” and her memories of her three very different experiences of childbirth.
 
Overall, an entertaining collection,
Cecilia Blight
, NELM News

'How To Write Your Memoirs' for people new to writing or new to the memoirs form. And for teachers of memoir writing.
Click on the back cover photo of the book to see it in readable size, with more reviews and information about what's inside.

Excerpts from "How to Write Your Memoirs"




Website, stories, videos, photos, audios and tools © 2010 Ina Hillebrandt ꟾ Updated regularly
Revised 2021. Updated March 2022
.
Some stories copyright by individual authors. Please do not share any material as is, or altered, re-packaged in any way. Short excerpts for review purposes only permitted. For other reprint information, please contact us.
  • Home
  • Services
    • Memoir and Fiction Writers' Services
    • Performance
    • Workshops and Appearances >
      • Footprints Memoir Workshop
    • Speaker Services
    • Educators' Services
    • Virtual and Other Options to Work With Coach Ina
    • Ask the Coach!
    • NEW! Momoirs
  • Books and Tools
    • You Are Who You Eat
    • How to Write Your Memoirs
    • Books by Our Authors
    • Ina's Weird Prompts
    • How to Get Reviews
    • Stories by our Authors
    • More Tools 'n Gifts to aMUSE the Writer in You
  • Testimonials
  • About Coach Ina
  • Press Room
  • Contact Us
    • Submit a Story
  • Blog