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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.


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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. 





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