"

Get Ready to Write

Prepare for the Lessons

You’ll set up your Process Notebook. You’ll also find out more about the lesson steps, optional activities, and self-evaluations.


Why Personal Storytelling Matters

“I’m still learning how to write. I don’t know what technique is…. For me it’s like a journey, and the only thing you know is that if when the book is over, you are prepared to continue – you haven’t cheated.”

— James Baldwin [1]


STEPS FOR GETTING READY
Notebook and Lessons

In this setup section, you will:

  1. Required: Take on a process perspective.
  2. Required: Create your Process Notebook.
  3. Required: Survey the lesson activities.
  4. Required: Learn to evaluate your own work.
  5. Optional: Do some introductory reading.
  6. Optional: Find a writing partner or group.
  7. Optional: Read the Opening Inspiration
    – with a nod to the author Ursula K. Le Guin.

  1. From "James Baldwin, The Art of Fiction No. 78," interviewed by Jordan Elgrably, Paris Review, Spring 1984.

License

Lessons for Life: Finding Your First-Person Voice Copyright © 2023 by Martha Nichols. All Rights Reserved.