For many years, I both taught Creative Writing at a local college and was a Development Editor for a major publisher. It was a perfect marriage as each job helped to inform and improve my work at the other. 

Whenever I received the inevitable, “What do you do for work?” question, it seemed to depend on my mood whether I said “Teacher of English” or “Book Editor.” While my response was arbitrary, it yielded 12 years of anecdotal research that indicates something quite pointed. Whenever I said “teacher,” about seven out of 10 folks would say something like, “Oh, I was never that good at writing.” And if I said that I’m a book editor, about 9.5 out of 10 people would say, “I have this idea for a book!”

This informal but poignant tally confirms what I’ve always known. That we all have a story to tell and many of us (most even!) yearn to write it down. 

After many blissful years working both jobs simultaneously, I was promoted at my publisher and had to resign from teaching. It was a bittersweet day. To mitigate the loss, my Department Chair asked if I would allow some faculty to shadow me and if I would share my lecture notes for “the Gessner method.”

“The Gessner method?” I asked. What’s that?”

“Oh, that’s what we call the way you teach,” he explained. 

What a compliment! 

Instead of handing over my notes, I thought I’d write this book so the 95% of you who wish to get your story down can learn how to do so in a simplified, practical way.