First published in 2022

Sunday Times bestselling author Cathy Rentzenbrink shows you how to tackle all this and more in Write It All Down, a guide to putting your life on the page. Complete with a compendium of advice from amazing writers such as Dolly Alderton, Adam Kay and Candice Carty-Williams, this book is here to help you discover the pleasure and solace to be found in writing; the profound satisfaction of wrestling a story onto a page and seeing the events of your life transformed through the experience of writing a memoir. Perfect for seasoned writers as well as writing amateurs and everyone in between, this helpful handbook will steer you through the philosophical and practical challenges of writing, whether you're struggling with writers block or worrying what people will say. Intertwined with reflections and exercises, Write It All Down is at once an intimate conversation and an invitation to share your story. -­

How to use this book -- First-night nerves -- Beginner's mind -- Part one: Preparation -- Mining the self -- There is no template -- Content and process -- The oyster knife -- Is writing therapy? -- Expectation management -- But am I any good? -- I want to do it but something is getting in the way... -- What stops us writing? -- Up close and personal -- Deep blocks -- Qualities -- Stop building dams! -- The memoir equation -- My secret -- Panic, privacy, and parking -- The death of the reader -- Part two: Excavation -- My tool bag -- Daily writing -- Emotional inventory -- Iceberging -- Physical sensory writing -- Explore your senses -- Mining for gold -- Kindling -- Voice -- Ugly noises -- Negative self talk -- Letter work -- Two truths and a lie -- Memoir and truth -- How do memoirs differ from real life? -- A bit of nuts and bolts -- Wrestling the octopus -- The title game -- To plan or not to plan -- The bin and the journey -- To edit or not to edit? -- The pact -- The death of the reader: a different approach -- Towards a first draft -- A note on the hard stuff -- Love and compassion -- A working proposal -- We're nearly ready. Any questions? -- Commitment pledge -- The memoir equation revisited -- Part three: Crafting and editing -- Fun things -- Going back in -- The structural edit -- MVP -- The line edit -- The polish: gold dust and sparkle -- Part four: Getting work done -- A room of your own? -- Time and habit -- A note on drinking -- When times are tough -- Epilogue -- Futher reading -- An inspiring addendum