Replay: Will Hermes shares Five Things He's Learned about Writing a Life Story
Check out the first five minutes of his recent class.
“Telling the story of a person’s life is not just a way to pay tribute and preserve their history. It’s also a way to learn more about your own life story — which may one you’ll want to tell, too.”
– Will Hermes, Five Things I’ve Learned about Writing a Life Story
Last week, culture journalist, author, and teacher Will Hermes joined Five Things I've Learned to share all he’s learned about telling someone else’s story – in ways that both preserve and pay tribute to their personal history.
In Five Things I’ve Learned about Writing a Life Story, Will reflects on decades spent profiling artists, everyday people, and cultural icons to reveal what makes life-writing both intimate and universal. Through hard-earned lessons drawn from biography, journalism, and personal storytelling, he offers a practical, compassionate approach to capturing another person’s experiences in a way that honors their history while bringing their humanity vividly to the page.
About Will: Will is a culture journalist, author and teacher. His books include Lou Reed: The King of New York (2023) and Love Goes To Buildings On Fire (2011); with Sia Michel, he co-wrote/co-edited SPIN: 20 Years of Alternative Music (2005). He’s a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, and a longtime contributor to The New York Times, NPR and Pitchfork. He’s taught journalism and creative non-fiction at Sarah Lawrence College, SUNY-New Paltz, and the University of Minnesota, and is on the adjunct faculty of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at Tisch/NYU.
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