I have recently finished a short course through UCLA's Writers' Program, "Writing the Healing Story." The course itself provided an experience of friendship, joy, and tears with eighteen new people in my life. An additional discovery was the text we used for the course, Barbara Abercrombie's Courage and Craft, which offers me the tools to keep going and see this healing story through to my full memoir, even on those days when I don't feel like writing. Courage and Craft is a short book with easy-to-find "do this" options when your writing brain refuses to function. From easy lists to scene creation, each one of the "do this" exercises can turn into something larger and more meaningful. And if it doesn't, there's something else on the next page that will. Abercrombie is generous in her expansive index, pointing her readers to helpful books and articles, inspirational poems, anything to get the writer to throw out the censor that bottles up our words. She also includes a reading list of memoirs. Whether you are just thinking about writing a little something or have been planning a memoir for years, Abercrombie's book will help you START and FINISH. I would also recommend this book for young writers with a vision of the world they want to share.