Reviews

Your Story Matters: Finding, Writing, and Living the Truth of Your Life by Leslie Leyland Fields

reader_cheryl's review against another edition

4.0

*A pdf copy of this book was provided for an honest review.

Your Story Matters: Finding, Writing, and Living the Truth of Your Life is a great resource for anyone wanting to write about their life; the book flows well and is clear the way it imparts information, but it isn’t dry. It is in turns informative, instructional, humorous, and engaging. The book is broken down into chapters. The chapters are easy to read and understand and offer a lot of encouragement, because let's face it, writing your own story is hard and scary work. It is also necessary work for many, especially in a world that insists not everyone matters.

What makes this book different from others is, in my opinion, several things: it can be done as part of a group or as a solo attempt and guidance is given for both ways; the author Leslie Leyland Fields shares her own struggles as a writer, the lessons she's learned have been hard won; at the end of each chapter are exercises designed to get anyone of any writing level working on writing their own story.

I've read the book, but haven't done any of the exercises yet because I'm in the middle of another writing project and need to get it done before unmaking anything new. But I'm excited to try some of the exercises out when I've finished with my current project. But until I get to that point, there are some excellent quotes I've highlighted as I've read; quotes that give me something to think about, even as a fiction writer.

Leslie writes "compelling storytelling isn’t about intellect or education. It’s about courage. It’s about persistence. It’s about daring to dig through vague words to get at the real, concrete world." Even though I am primarily a fiction writer, this book's advice carries over into the fiction world as well. This quote stops and makes me think of how to approach my fiction and prods me into taking another look at some non-fiction I've written but is somehow incomplete.

Leslie also writes early on in the book "Writing is a form of attention, a form of prayer, a form of listening to God." I don't think I've ever really thought about any of this before. I vaguely acknowledged some of this idea, but this book had me slowing down and thinking about the idea of writing as a form of listening to God.

I've plenty of books on the writing craft, but this one is different because it gets to the core of who we are--storytellers. And as storytellers, it is incumbent upon us to take the time to learn how to tell our stories and tell them well because no one can tell them for us. It doesn't matter if you're telling your story to yourself in order to make sense out of a chaotic life or telling your story for multitudes to hear, this book will help you to tell your story and tell it well.

erindarlyn's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

emilysueallen's review against another edition

5.0

This is really encouraging, and I'll be revisiting it in the future.

pmg227's review against another edition

4.0

Several weeks ago, my pastor encouraged us to write down our testimony. Why? For one reason, because it is your story and no one can argue with it.What better way to demonstrate how God has worked in our lives? As Fields reminds us, God attends to every moment of our life, therefore, so should we. If you have ever wanted to share your story (and we all have one), this book will help you know where to start, what to write about, and what not to write about. She will lead you chapter by chapter with writing prompts and assignments at the end of each chapter.
This book is now available for preorder, so don't wait to get started on telling your story!

For a more complete review, please visit my blog at:
http://pmgilmer.com/2020/03/20/your-story-matters-leslie-leyland-fields/

*A pdf copy of this book was provided for me for an honest review.

nobookendinsight's review against another edition

5.0

Leslie Leyland Fields has written a beautiful book for any of us who wants to record a short remembrance, or even a longer memoir, of our life journey. Obviously, authors will benefit from the concepts discussed regarding the craft of writing. However, the uniqueness of this book lies in its inspirational memory prompts and its variety of short personal writing examples - from the author and from others as well. Most compelling to me is the warmhearted encouragement from Leslie that my story matters. And hence my life matters. So does yours. Whether you are an author, a journaler, a memory - keeper, a blogger, a FaceBook poster, or a letter writer, Your Story Matters will help you find your voice and tell your truth. It will help you preserve, through the written word, the uniqueness that is inherently, irrevocably YOU.

thistlereads's review

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

rasmtazberry24's review

4.0

I haven't ever read a book like you story matters. It's all about writing your own story and how to tell it in a way that's truthful and engaging. The book is broken down info chapters where each piece is broken down with examples. Does have a religious piece to it though it adds to the book. I was privileged enough to receive a digital copy for my honest review. If you even like to journal your story matters would be a wonderful addition to your book collection.