Let It Bleed: How to Write a Rockin' Memoir

by Pamela Des Barres

Author of the international bestseller I'm with the Confessions of a Groupie , Pamela Des Barres shares with women the art of memoir writing.

For the last fourteen years, Pamela Des Barres has been teaching an eight-week women's "femoir" writing workshop. She found that the music-loving ladies who showed up at her door had pent-up stories to tell. Many of them had read her two memoirs, which were wildly personal and deeply confessional, and felt comfortable opening up and experiencing that same freedom of expression.
     In this book, Des Barres guides women through the process of writing their memoirs. She has developed exercises to help her "dolls" recall, remember, relive, and reveal their memories, transgressions, temptations, their sleepless nights and brilliant afternoons, loves and losses, fears and regrets, secrets, sins, and sorrows. The assignments in Femoir have proven incredibly cathartic for her students. Just as intimate as one of her in-person workshops, this book includes some of Des Barres's own stories, as well as those of the women she's taught.
     Every person has an incredible story to tell—they just need to figure out how to tell it. By understanding themselves better through these writing exercises, women learn to be more fearless, free-spirited, and willing to try something new.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Memoir, Music

304 pages, Paperback

Published April 18, 2017

About the author

Pamela Des Barres aka Miss Pamela (born Pamela Ann Miller on September 9, 1948) is a former rock and roll groupie, author, and magazine writer.

Des Barres was born in Reseda, California. Her mother was a housewife and her father worked for Anheuser-Busch and occasionally worked as a gold miner. She idolized the Beatles and Elvis Presley as a child, and fantasized about meeting and dating her favorite Beatle, Paul McCartney.

A high school acquaintaince introduced Pamela to Don Van Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart, a musician and friend of Frank Zappa. Vliet in turn introduced her to Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, which drew her to the rock music scene on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. She started to spend her time with The Byrds and other bands, and when she graduated from high school in 1966, she took various jobs that would allow her to live near the Sunset Strip and pursue relationships with rock musicians. She famously paired up with Nick St. Nicholas, Mick Jagger, Keith Moon, Jim Morrison, Jimmy Page, Chris Hillman, Noel Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Waylon Jennings, Ray Davies, David Gilmour, Frank Zappa and actor Don Johnson.

She was also a member of The GTOs, an all-girl singing group formed by Zappa. The group started out as the Laurel Canyon Ballet Company, and began performing as an opening act for Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. The group's act was performance art, a mix of music and spoken word, since none of its members could sing or play an instrument. They released an album, Permanent Damage in 1969, backed by Zappa and Jeff Beck. The group dissolved a month after the album's release because some of its members were arrested for drug possession.

In the 1970s Des Barres decided to pursue a career as an actress, and acted in a few movies, including Zappa's 200 Motels, commercials, and a year acting on the soap opera Search For Tomorrow in 1974. After a downturn in her acting career she went to work as a nanny for Zappa's children, Dweezil and Moon Unit.

On October 29, 1977, she married Michael Des Barres who had been lead singer for the first band signed to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label, Detective, Silverhead and, briefly, for Power Station. They have a son, Nicholas Dean Des Barres, born on September 30, 1978. The couple divorced in the summer of 1991, due to Michael Des Barres' alleged infidelities.

Des Barres wrote two books about her experience as a groupie, I'm With The Band (1987) and Take Another Little Piece of My Heart: A Groupie Grows Up (1993), as well as two non-fiction books, Rock Bottom: Dark Moments in Music Babylon and Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies (Chicago Review Press, 2007). She currently writes articles for online and print publications. (from Wikipedia)"

Reviews

[Maureen]

I'm actually referencing this book in the writing classes I teach. This is how you get to truth on the page.

[Deangelis4 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book because it's written with love and insight from Pamela Des Barres, because she didn't start out as a teacher of memoir writing, but boy, does she give great advice on how anyone should write their own stories. You can tell that she's a fan of writers and authors and of (like the title states), letting it bleed... Full disclaimer: I've taken her writing workshops for ten years, so I know that her advice is real and on-the-money, but I thoroughly enjoyed it in book form.

[Linda L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm on my second reading. It's like riding the roller coaster of emotions. I'm laughing hysterically one minute, the next, crying over a sisters pain.
And once again, Miss Pamela opens up her heart and soul, sharing her mythical life with new escapades that resonate with not only women, but the dudes too.
Love love loving it!

[Mandee Rayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the ONLY writing book that has ever actually motivated me to write. One night, I spent 2 hours going prompt to prompt. The questions really make you dig deep inside yourself. Fantastic book!

[Anne Raso · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am one of the lucky ladies who gets to have class with Miss Pamela in NYC twice per year and on my bucket list is getting to go on her Rock 'N Roll Tour of LA. I have an essay in this book and I am very proud of that fact--but you will read 100 or more great personal essays in Let It Bleed, some of them about rock and roll adventures and some of them just very unique memoirist essays that about are all sorts of personal situations from the everyday to the outrageous. I consider Miss Pamela not only a legend because of I'm With The Band but I love all her books. You will see the very best of her memoir writing class "prompts" and personal essays in this book. Miss P's classes are like therapy as well as lessons in memoir writing which makes them extra special. She is a unique person who is open about every aspect of her life, but what happens in class stays in class, LOL! We are all very open when we share the stories of our past! I hear that Miss P will soon have classes for guys, too so be sure to check that out on her official site, www.pameladesbarres.net.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am taking a memoir writing class from Pamela Des Barres and this is our textbook, so it's impossible to separate the book from the class. But that being said, this has been a huge help in my writing, and has made it so much easier to do the thing that is most important...just write! The book is made up of 12-minute prompts and some inspirational writing from past students, and just sitting down and writing for 12 minutes, no stopping or editing or preplanning, has definitely improved my writing skills and honed my voice, and made my procrastination nearly disappear.

If you don't have a writing class, share this with a friend, because sharing these tales with a group of remarkable people is the icing on the cake.

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pamela has a true talent for this stuff

As a writing instructor, I’ve always used prompts and questions to get my students juices flowing. Pamela does that here, providing examples from her students and her own life as well. If you’ve read her earlier works, you know she’s no holds barred and cuts deep, but she connects with her audience and students with an equal amount of tenderness and charm. Like a fun aunt you want to hang out with at the family reunion, she shows us her storytelling techniques and inspires us to shed our own blood on the page with a few drops of sweat and tears mixed in. Great fun and will use again and again.

[Denise Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpectedly great, helpful book.

I would like to write a memoir, it might be good because I've had some interesting things happen to me. This book is much better than others I've looked at on the same topic. This book also had many written examples of what the author thought you should include in your memoir. This author was the last person I would have expected to be a really good teacher-writer!

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a wonderful first book to help me get started writing again. I loved the format of writing prompts paired with stories from her students. However, some of the stories contained overly graphic sexual content that I would not be comfortable recommending this book to friends.

[Korie Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good prompts, good examples by other writers, but not much instruction. That is I think the point - but then it becomes a rather overpriced gathering of prompts? Maybe I am being too harsh.

[Michele Gardiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great prompts to get the creative ideas flowing, along with encouraging words and on writing and story telling.

[Deana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I skimmed through this book as it seemed more about the writer than writing itself. It would probably be interesting for other rock groupies to read.

[David Dewata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sesuai judulnya tapi bukan yg saya cari

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. There are writing craft books aplenty out there and this isn't one I'd keep on my shelf or pass on to the budding writer.

[Marlies · Rating 4 out of 5]

An encouraging read for folks looking to understand themselves through writing. Anyone writing a memoir (or memoir-style book) would benefit from the advice in this book.

[Emily Brodke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the anyone and everyone can do it approach this book has, v down to earth :)

[Sara Goldenberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I preferred read the non-memoir part.

[Joshua Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to write a rockin memoir, if you’re a chick.

[Tena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this ARC in a GOODREADS giveaway - Let It Bleed: How to Write a Rockin' Memoir by Pamela Des Barres - a gender-focused instructional/guidebook on how to write... I wanted to get upset over the 'gender' part but it's actually pretty darn good! My advice: put any preconceived attitudes aside because this book is very good/helpful!

[Scottsdale Public Library]

Ever since I read Pamela Des Barres’ I’m With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie, I have gravitated toward things she writes. For the past 17 years, Miss Pamela has been leading writing workshops around the country primarily geared toward helping women write “femoirs,” also known as female memoirs. In this book, she describes her experience with writing classes she took in the 1980’s and how she developed her own writing workshops. Her goal with this book is to help those “dolls” who can’t attend her workshops create and begin writing! This how-to-write-your-femoir is composed of, first, an overview of the writing process (your senses, your uniqueness), and then expands into 12-minute writing exercises with various prompts. Examples of prompts range from “Do you have a creative outlet that gives you joy?” to “Do you feel you have made a positive difference in someone’s life?”
What I liked best were the examples she provided for each prompt including excerpts from her writing, other celebrities’ memoirs, and students from her workshops. These pieces helped trigger ideas for my own “femoir” and helped me delve into what makes me tick and how best to express my experiences. I’d highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to give one’s life some reflection and write it down.—Sara H.