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Author Archive | Denis Ledoux

commit to writing your memoir

Commit to writing your best memoir with a time management strategy

Note from the Editor: The following post is taken from Writer’s Time: Management That Works. This program functions with an open enrollment.

The first step to maximize your writing time is to commit to writing your memoir—really commit. More than other choice, committing to write will focus you and make every other decision easier—and even sometimes unnecessary.

“But I already want to write my memoir!” I can hear some hypothetical writer protesting. “I am very interested.”

How “committed” manages time and how “interested in” does not

No, commitment is not about wanting to write a memoir, not about trying to write one, and not about being interested in writing one… [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]

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making time to write your memoir

Making time to write your memoir–Time management that works

Note from the Editor: The following post is taken from the introduction to Writer’s Time: Management That Works. This program functions with an open enrollment. Registrations are being accepted now. Make time to write your memoir—now! There’s no denying that writing a memoir takes time—a lot of time. In this program, you will learn strategies […]

organize a book launch

What an Author Needs to Bring to a Book Launch–What You Need to Organize a Book Launch

Most of the people I work with opt for self-publication. As independently published authors, they are the ones who organize their own book launch. Writing a memoir is a long haul and it is refreshing to have an event to gather friends and family and fans together to acknowledge that an end and a beginning are occurring. The Memoir Network has participated in a number of book launches. Here is a distillation of what has made these launches successful.  Follow the tips below to organize a book launch. [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]

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publish a book

Solving A Narrator Problem

A narrator problem can ruin a memoir.

A narrator problem can ruin a memoir. In 1996 and 1997, I composed about 200 pages of a memoir about my high school years and then could not continue. It was blocked; I was blocked. As a result, I stored the manuscript in various computers for all the while since then.

After having completed my mother’s memoir (We Were Not Spoiled), I was looking for a personal writing project I might devote myself to. The high school memoir was always in the back of my mind—had been for years. As I picked it up to peruse it, completing it seemed the next project. It is what I am working on now. [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]

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how to publish a memoir

Publishing A Memoir the Right Way

Today, technology, better distribution and a growing interest in reclaiming regional identity makes publishing a memoir the right way a viable option for many authors who want their books to reach a wider circle than their immediate family and friends. It is not true that your book is not worthy to be read unless it has been purchased by a New York corporate publishing house. Self-publishing has many benefits, not the least of which are that you can control production decisions and can recoup your expenses.

[Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]

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The Memoir Network

3 Benefits of Keeping a Journal

Journal Keeping Benefits

When keeping a journal—regular (even daily), some people feel a release of energy they don’t have in other writing forms. Because of that, journal keeping can be an important developmental experience for you both as a person and as a writer. Because the journal is private by definition, you can write in it without fear of how an audience might react. No one will ever see it. Not ever—unless you want them to!

Your journal is a kind of writing laboratory. Scientists use a laboratory to conduct experiments. They check what results from adding this to that, from changing relationships and quantities and sequences. Sometimes when the results are interesting and prove worth pursuing, they continue conducting experiments in similar areas, pairing these findings with those from other experiments.

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Memoir Writing

A Narrator Issue: Who is Writing Your Memoir?

Who is writing your Memoir?

This may sound like a trick question but it’s not. In fact, it is a very serious question that will determineor at least greatly influencethe tone and the theme of your narrative.

“But, I’m writing my memoirs! I’m the narrator,” you might answer. Yes, of course. You! But, which you? [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]

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write for a larger audience

How to Write More Efficiently #2

Memoir writer ask, “How can I write more efficiently?”

In a previous post, I had developed the concept of writing on a deadline. In this post I will stay with the concept of writing close to the finish.

Yes, writing is a process but…

While I continue to believe that writing ought to be open-ended and that you ought to remain in the process of discovering your theme and subject rather than opt for a too-quick closure (“This is what my story means”), I also believe in something that is a bit contradictory to this.

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The Memoir Network Ghostwriting Services

How to Write More Efficiently #1

Is it possible to write more efficiently?

Too many writers (I have been among them) allow the book-writing process to go on and on. We lack efficiency which is a practice and, like all practices, it is possible to learn to write more efficiently. There are many ways to learn to write more efficiently but I want to propose only one way here.

As we probably all have done, we can clean a living space up rather well in a few hours if we learn that we have unexpected company arriving soon. It’s not the best clean up we’ve ever done, but it also didn’t take a week of clearing our schedules and doing nothing else.

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