Description
Book SynopsisAcetylene Torch Songs is a guidebook for writers who want their honesty, social engagement, and intimacy to reach beyond the page and transform the lives of readers with searing, indelible, and unquenchable words.
Trade Review"
Acetylene Torch Songs reminded me of why I write and motivated me to rebirth some of the more confessional pieces I'd shelved. It made me not just want to be a better writer, but to do the kind of soul work that creates 'writing that burns through, no matter what it finds.'"—Lisa Cooper Ellison,
Hippocampus“This wonderful book is unique in my experience: writing advice not from Olympus but from a kind, wise, human guide who has learned how to translate her experience into art and who shows us how we can, too. Beginners and veteran writers alike have much to learn from Silverman.”—Clifford Thompson, author of
What It Is: Race, Family, and One Thinking Black Man’s Blues“Silverman reclaims and honors the disparaged term ‘confessional,’ encouraging writers to use their passions, hauntings, and experiences as fuel for quality nonfiction. Snapping with bright fire, this new craft guide is also a guide for the soul: audacious, pulsing with life, and sure to inspire.”—Sonya Huber, author of
Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto“
Acetylene Torch Songs is precisely what you’d expect from the wondrous Sue William Silverman. This is no mere manual but an essential lodestar for artists of nonfiction, a book with a vision that will be a game-changer for writers who wish to do as Silverman herself does so well: to daringly reveal the ecstasies and darknesses that dwell at the hub of us.”—William Giraldi, author of
The Hero’s Body and
American Audacity“Sue William Silverman’s
Acetylene Torch Songs is a gift for creative nonfiction writers, and a guiding light: offering a holistic and hands-on approach to writing our memories, our obsessions, and ourselves. This is a gorgeous book of body and mind, of heart and soul. In the truest sense it’s also a torch: one we might carry with us as we write, as we dig into the dark corners of our lives, making our stories burn bright.”—Melissa Faliveno, author of
Tomboyland“
Acetylene Torch Songs will burn its way through everything you thought you knew about craft and seduce you into a spell of curiosity and revelation. This is one of the best books on writing truth as art I’ve ever read. From now on it will be by my side as I open up the world of memoir writing to my students.”—Linda Joy Myers, founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers and award-winning author of
Don’t Call Me MotherTable of ContentsThe Hammer Overture
Part 1. Lighting the Flame
1. “Body and Soul”: Writing Fiery, Holistic Prose
2. “Thanks for the Memory”: Bringing the Past to Life
3. “Ghost Riders in the Sky”: Writing What Haunts You
4. “Behind the Mask”: On Revealing the Sequined Self
5. “Voices inside My Head”: The Multitudinous Sounds of Voice
6. “The Long and Winding Road”: Some Thoughts on Narrative Structure
7. “Come Together”: Strategies to Craft an Essay Collection
Part 2. Feeling the Flame
8. “Respect”: Confessional Writing as Resistance
9. “You Don’t Own Me”: On Writing Controversial or Disturbing Literature
10. “Do You Want to Know a Secret?”: I Love Confessional Writing
11. “Look through Any Window”: Memoir with a View
Bonus Tracks
Sue’s EZ Rules to Write By
On Trifles: Things You Might Not Think to Write About
AfterWord
Acknowledgments
Appendix 1. Deconstructed Essay
Appendix 2. Additional Writing Prompts
Appendix 3. Strategies to Write a Query Letter
Appendix 4. Two Sample Book Proposals
Appendix 5. A List of Useful Websites
Brief Notes on Chapter Titles
Notes
