“I need help to write my memoir,” many new memoir writers realize as they come to The Memoir Network site—as you have done—to find here much material—informative blog posts, e-books, MP3s, and e-courses in the My Memoir Education area and elsewhere.

Which kind of writer are you?

For one sort of writers who have in mind a readership of children, grandchildren, relatives and a few friends, the free material is enough—enough to supplement their writing skills and knowledge and culminate in a well-received memoir. While they want to write the best memoir they can, they also realize that the bar is not high—theirs is, after all, an appreciative audience which will be thrilled with whatever the writer produces.

For another sort of writers, however, who want to produce a memoir read by a larger audience—people they don’t know and who don’t know them—the challenge is greater. The memoir calls for more structuring of the story line—its pacing and arching, more depth of analysis—after all, “that’s just who I was” is hardly a perceptive observation, more attention to style, greater use of fiction techniques—foreshadowing, suspense, repetition, allusions, compare and contrast.

A compendium category

These topics are covered in many of the 500 plus blog posts, but knowledge is one thing and practice is another. So…

Many writers come to the realization that if they could have done it alone, they would have done it by now. If this is you, working with a memoir professional will bring you great dividends. It will take you from trying to write a memoir to being a published writer. Look up how an editor, coach, or ghostwriter can help you write a memoir a larger public will want to read.