Fast-Draft Your Memoir | Frat House Reads

My favorite nonfiction books are about writing — the craft, process, style, and the authors’ stories about their writerly ways. All of these books are dear to me, but there are some that rise above the rest, some that would be on my Favorites Shelf.

Fast-Draft Your Memoir by Rachael Herron tops all of them. No joke.

Let me start by saying that this book is absolutely not exclusive to writing memoir. This gem of a book is slam-full of writing process advice that pertains to any genre. I can not sing its praises highly enough (nor would I want to subject you to my singing… I like you too much to punish your ears with such a heinous assault).

Rachael Herron instructs in such an easy, funny, conversational style that I didn’t realize how much I was learning while reading. I highlighted the heck out of this book… my Clippings and Readwise accounts should have enough to keep them busy for quite a while! I read through nearly the entire book in one night, and have since read it again more closely and taken copious notes.

Rachael walks the reader through the entire writing process, from getting ideas, tackling self-doubt, and getting words on the page consistently, all the way to editing and publishing. The exercises are fun and highly informative, and the advice is practical and truly easy to implement. I now feel empowered and well-informed enough to even vanquish my mortal writing enemy… Editing. You’re going down, Editing.

For the first time, the thought of actually publishing a book feels doable. (Oh, I’ve written plenty, but editing and publishing knock me on my arse every time.)

Additionally, Rachael Herron distributes a writing newsletter and has a writing podcast called How Do You Write, in which she talks about practical writing advice with various authors. Both are wonderful weekly writerly treats.

If you’re even considering writing anything, regardless of the genre, regardless of your doubts and fears, grab this book. Seriously. My entire outlook on writing has been dramatically shifted because of it.