Skip to main content

Anyone Can Write A Memoir




Memoirs are written recollections of personal experiences that are significant to you. They aren't the story of your whole life—that's a biography. Memoirs are made up of the stories we all have tucked into our memories awaiting transcription. It's when we put those moments of our life onto paper that we begin to truly understand ourselves. We can pass on that understanding of who we are by sharing those stories in book form to friends, family, and readers we may never even meet.

These stories might be about your childhood, travels or adventures, a crime or injustice that happened to you, or anything you want to write about, no matter how minor it may seem. You can write it yourself or hire a ghostwriter. Either way, you have to coax the story out of your subconscious—a ghostwriter can help with that in interviews.

If you find it difficult to pin down a story to tell, then jot down a few words about your life experiences. Don’t rush yourself, take your time to recall these events, and make notes about them. Often one will stand out as momentous and captivating. If that doesn’t happen then choose any of them. Now that you have a memory to focus on, use the five Ws to draw out the information you’ll need:

·      Who was with you? Describe their appearance, personality, what they were wearing, who they were to you, and how you felt about them?
·      When did it take place? Describe the time of day or night and the time period such as the year.
·      Where were you? Describe the feels, smells, sounds, tastes, of the place and what you saw.
·      What is the point of this story and what did you feel or think at the time? Try to write the emotions you experienced.
·      Why is this story important to you? Did it change your life or someone else’s life? How?

Now, you can write the first sentence of your memoir. The opening sentence is the most important one you'll write. If that first line doesn't draw the reader in, they won't read your memoir. There is no reason at all to start from the beginning. Instead, start at a moment of action or intrigue. If you need to let the reader know something about the chronological beginning, then sprinkle that in as the backstory.

Set a daily goal of writing 200, 500, 1,000, or 2000 words a day. Professional writers usually write 2000 words a day. Don’t worry about spelling, grammar, or sentence structure when you begin, just focus on getting the whole story down on paper. Professional writers call this putting aside the inner editor. This is the best way to make sure you finish the memoir.

However, you may feel you just can't make time to write your memoir or you've tried to write your memoir for years and it looks like you just aren’t going to do it. In that case, if you still want a memoir authored by you, you can always hire a great ghostwriter.


***

I am a ghostwriter, author of 35 published fiction books of my own, and I've ghostwritten two memoirs and one business book for clients as well as numerous blog posts and professional bios. Please visit my website - http://CorneliaAmiri.com for more information. 





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Was An eBook Author Before eBooks Were Cool

I submitted my first book to Awe-Struck eBooks in the year 2000. I decided to go to the Predators and Editors list of publishers and submit to recommended sites only. That means the authors that wrote for them thought—the contracts were good, they paid on time, were easy to work with, knew what they were doing, etc.   
 I started at the front of the directory at A. Awe-Struck was the first on the list that was recommended and open to submissions for Historical Romances. Plus, they were interested in unusual time periods and mine was set in the dark ages, at the onset of the Saxon Wars. Awe-struck, the first publisher I submitted to, accepted my book and I signed a contract with them. The Fox Prince, later retitled The Celtic Fox, was released in January 2001. It came out in eBook format at that time and in print later that year.  
 The eBook could be downloaded anytime, anyplace to be read on a Rocketbook reader, a palm pilot, a laptop, or d...
2 comments
Read more

37 CRAZY THINGS PEOPLE TELL WRITERS

My take on writing professionally is yes, it’s a craft and anyone can learn it. However, in order for anyone to write at the level of a professional writer, they have to do the same things professional writers do. Most people who want to write books refuse to do those things. Two of the most important ones are learning the craft of writing and actually writing. To me, it stands to reason if you want to write a book, you’ll learn the craft of writing and then sit down and write or hire a ghostwriter. Apparently, that doesn’t seem reasonable to a lot of people. And that’s why nonwriters are always ready to teach writers about writing. After all, they know so much more about it than writers do. In fact, here are some weird and wacky things nonwriters have told me over the years: 1. I know advances can be low on the first three books, but once I write the fourth one, I’ll be set for life. How many writers do you personally know who seem set for life? And, unless you actually kno...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE GREAT TOILET PAPER FIRE

We need toilet paper. None of the stores have any. When you find some, you hoard it. Looks like I’m going to run out of it soon. On my last three orders the stores I use didn’t have any. A major grocery chain in Texas is offering free deliveries to the elderly during the pandemic. Seniors only have to pay a $10 tip to the driver. Except a charity is covering the tip, so it’s actually a totally free delivery for us. But, since my email is entered wrong in their system, I have to order by phone instead of online. I tell the volunteer order-taker, “I know they probably won’t have it but put down toilet paper. Any size—any kind is fine.” “Toilet paper is hard right now.” She stretches out some of her vowels with the soft back of the mouth sounds of a Texas drawl. “Did  ya  hear what happened to that eighteen-wheeler on its way to Houston?” “No, I don’t watch the news much right now.” “A diesel truck hauling toilet paper to Houston caught fire on the highway.” Her voice lifted in e...
Post a Comment
Read more