Huda Al-Marashi: The Journey of Publishing a Memoir
Huda Al-Marashi is a 1997 Santa Clara graduate and author of First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story, a memoir the Washington Post called "a charming, funny, heartbreaking memoir of faith, family, and the journey to love."
She visited the staff at the Santa Clara Review in Fall 2019 to share her process for writing her memoir and answer staff questions. Whether or not you’re a writer, Huda will give you new tips and inspiration on storytelling and persistence.
Timestamps of Key Topics
4:30 - How she got started writing
6:25 - Where to enter the story
10:15 - Show don’t tell vs. tell
10:50 – The process of querying and revising
13:05 – how to craft a “desire line”
16:10 – how to write a personalized query
22:15 – dealing with negative feedback
25:40 – her family’s response
33:50 - How to “research your life”
35:40 - Is it cathartic or therapeutic to write a memoir?