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Mentoring To Write A Better Memoir


Write your best memoir

The Classic Text for Serious Memoir Writers
Now with FREE S&H and a choice of e-books.

You have the heart of a teacher, not just an editor, and I have become a much better writer because of your attention. A commercial publishing professional who subsequently reviewed the manuscript told me that the writing was good and engaging. I have you to thank for that. You were very helpful.

Click on the blue links below to find what you need to facilitate writing your memoir.
  • Our newsletter: The More Skillful Writer brings you writing posts, alerts of upcoming events, announcements of new programs available to you, subscriber-only sales and more. It is your regular connection with The Memoir Network—like receiving a letter from home.
  • Memoir Writer’s Blog—Over 600 posts to guide and support you to write more and better. (Check below for current posts.)
  • Coaching— Develop fundamental writing skills and techniques. There is much to learn, and much help is available. Don’t spin your wheels. Get coached.
  • Editing—Tighten and polish your memoir before sending it into the world. Sometimes this can include what’s called developmental editing. You can write your best memoir.
  • Ghostwriting—A professional writer will help you create your memoir. We can all be authors but we are not all writers. Let us be your writer. We’re good at story writing.
  • Proofreading—Be sure there are no technical mistakes littering your memoir. Every story needs proofreading—not just spell check but a more sophisticated scrutiny.
  • Book Production—You can self-publish a professional-looking book—as if it came from one of the big publishing houses. We also create e-books.
  • Courses—Learn at home on your own at your pace.
  • Memoir Store—Access quality, proven materials to help you proceed on your own.
What sort of help is best for a memoir writer?

The answer to your question is necessarily an individual one. It might be coaching, editing, ghostwriting, proofreading or book production. Any reputable company will offer a free consultation to help you define the options and select the one best for you.

What if I have not begun to write and don’t know what to write about but still want to create a memoir?

This is a frequent challenge for new writers. Coaching will get you to explore possible topics. Writing your best memoir is a big commitment, and you ought to be focused on something important to you. You need to take the time it takes to discover your topic.

What if I have already done a lot of writing?

Editing is your best choice. A developmental editor will advise you on how to strengthen your manuscript if that is needed and will show you how. A content editor can help you polish your existing prose. A copy editor / proofreader will prepare your final draft for publication.

What if I don’t want to learn to write but still have a story I want told?

A ghostwriter can help you to create a manuscript that is told in your voice and reflects your personality. You be the author; let us be the writer.

What if I’ve already written my book and am satisfied with what I have but I am just looking for publication services?

We have worked as the publication desk for many writers who want help to get their book published under their own imprint. We’ll work with you to produce a great-looking book.

 

Our most recent Memoir Writer’s Blog publications…

Have you ever succumbed to this memoir shortcut?

“I just added a little bit of fiction to move the story along,” you say, to explain a memoir shortcut you have just taken, joining the ranks of such pseudo memoirist as James Frey in A Million Pieces? Or, perhaps the ranks of Frank McCourt who fictionalized long dialogs in Angela’s Ashes. (No one remembers […]

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WWNS and ASF Covers

Writing Another Person’s Memoir: Can you use the first person pronoun?

Shouldn’t writing another person’s memoir be called writing biography rather than writing memoir? You the writer are, after all, not the subject. Doesn’t that make it a biography? But, are there occasions when a biography can justly be called a memoir? In one of my books, A Sugary Frosting / Life in a 1960s Parsonage, […]

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Writing more Deeply: The pain in telling the truth

My new memoir, French Boy (due out in the summer of 2023), is about my childhood. Much about this time in my life has a context that is unique and consequently different from that of my contemporaries. This memoir has a place in the world of memoirs, and I want it to find that place, […]

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telling the truth

Solving Problems of Telling the Truth in Your Memoir

Telling the truth is not always easy. How much of what happened do you have to tell in order to tell the truth? At what point does withholding the truth become a lie? For instance, in all her famous diaries, as Anais Nin celebrated the freedoms of her life as an artist, she never once […]

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writing your first draft

5 Better Ways to Describe The People in Your Memoir 

Without other people, our lives and our memoirs risk becoming dull. Although ideas are pivotal for many individuals, relationships are even more commanding. We are intrigued with who other people are and how they function. “Who’s that? What are they doing? Where did they come from?” These are question we want answered. To write a […]

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fast start writing

9 Tips for a Fast Start Writing Your Memoir  

To help you to get a fast start writing and to write your memoirs more prolifically–and even bring them to a finish in the form of a published memoir–I offer these nine suggestions. They are tried and true tips that bear repeating and repeating. (more…)

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Self-publishing Means extroversion

Self-Publishing Means Extroversion!

DL: This post was published in 2022. French Boy/A 1950s Franco-American Childhood has been out in the world for two years. In 2025, I am about to publish Here To Stay/Life in 17th Century Canada. The same introversion/extraversion struggle is about to play itself out again. ___ I am committed to independent publishing—even if self-publishing, […]

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More Tips From The Memoir Writer's Blog