A guest post

Three Stages of Writing a Memoir: Own Your Truth, Find Your Voice and Tell Your Story

In December 2011, I decided to take a trip to my home country, Azerbaijan. I had a property to sell and family to visit there. More importantly, I was on a mission to find my father’s grave. My parents were divorced when I was a mere two-week-old baby. I had never met him. Despite trying to heal this open wound for years, nothing helped. Perhaps finding his grave could bring some closure. (In the process, I followed what I knew to be stages of writing a memoir.)

All I knew about my dad’s side of the family was that I had an auntie called Tahira who lived near the city centre of my hometown Ganja. On an impulse, I went knocking at people’s gates. Eventually, I found the right door. I was in for a surprise. Not only did my auntie receive me with open arms, I turned up at her 58^th birthday celebration. Her four children, grandchildren, brothers and a legion of other relatives showered me with so much love, I returned to England transformed and healed. For days, I walked in the cloud of memories, and I soon decided I had to write it all up while it was still fresh in my memory. Once I started writing, there was no stopping me.

I’ve recently completed a draft manuscript about my experience of growing up in Azerbaijan. I am currently working on my next book.[Clicke here to see Galura Vincent’s books on Amazon.)

For me, there are three distinct stages of writing a memoir, though not linear, stages in writing a memoir.

New User Registration

Choose a Username*

Email*

Password

Confirm Password

Input the code:

First Name *

Last Name *

*Required field