Use Your Words - 2012 Gift Guide

Use Your Words by Kate Hopper

About The Book:

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.

My Thoughts:

I generally don't like the "how-to" books. But this is different, and interesting to read. This is more like a close girlfriend guiding you along the way as you write your story as a mother. I loved reading this, and since before even reading this I had started my own "mom story", this helps me to go back and change things, add things, and just edit in a good way. I like the writing exercises in the book, it really gets the creative juices flowing!

About The Author:

Kate Hopper teaches writing online and at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, where she lives with her husband and two daughters. Kate holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota and has been the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant, and a Sustainable Arts Grant. Her writing has appeared in a number of journals, including Brevity, Literary Mama, and The New York Times online. She teaches classes and leads retreats for mother writers, and is an editor at Literary Mama. For more information about Kate's writing and classes, visit www.katehopper.com.

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I received a complimentary review copy of this book from Cleis Press in exchange for a review on my blog. All thoughts and opinions are my own.