As soon as you begin to think of writing a memoir, you are involved in the writing process. You have begun to be a writer—even if only with a small “w.” Welcome to the “gang.” (We memoirists are all in this together.)
This “Writing Process” category covers a range of material. It is a compendium of disparate materials that together will help you to write more easily and deeply.
Writing a memoir takes skills that you may not now possess. This category, as all of the blog on the Memoir Network site, will help you to acquire what you need to know to write with more skill and pleasure.
As elsewhere, all the articles are included chronologically in the parent category. Like every writer you have challenges that might leave you baffled as to how to respond. Scanning the list will reveal to you posts that you need to read now for answers to the questions that are stumping you.
What you’ll find in “Writing Process.”
If you are just starting out, we have posts on pre-writing. In fact, if this topic interests you at your current stage of memoir writing, go directly to the subcategory called “Pre-writing.”
At the other end of the writing process, we have posts on completing a memoir. These articles are both scattered chronologically in the parent category or they can be found under the subcategory “Completion.”
In between beginning and completing, we have many articles that will sustain you in your writing.
In conclusion
These articles on writing process will help you, the aspiring the memoir writer, at every stage of your commitment to produce an interesting and meaningful memoir for yourself, your family and—perhaps—for the world.
Writing Your Memoir Regularly is Key to Success
Success is built on daily writing habits. As has been bandied about and attributed to many different speakers and writers, it is said that “you go to the office every day for 20 years, and before you know it, you are an overnight success.” Well, we can apply that bit of humor as an insight […]
The Work of Writing a Memoir Can Be Hard, But You Can Succeed!
No one said it would be easy to show up and do the work of writing a book! “This is hard,” you think as you look at your production. “perhaps I’m not cut out for this.” (more…)
A Firm Writing Resolution: You Will Not Regret Formulating One for 2026
Resolutions can be tricky—just an exercise in fooling yourself! But they can also be a dynamic trigger. In this post, I will share a writing resolution that paid off big for me. If you have not decided on New Year’s resolutions for your writing, it is a good time to choose priorities for the […]
16 Memoir-Writing Resources You Can Use Today
Having the right resources available when we need them can transform any task from a problem to an enticing challenge. I don’t know about you, but when I am trying something new—let’s say propagating a plant—that I’m not knowledgeable about, I head for either the internet or my bookshelves. The internet provides quick information and […]
You don’t have to remember your lifestory alone.
Since our lives are usually lived in community and our lifestories have evolved with other people in tow, take advantage of this symbiosis to write the best memoir you are capable of by accessing a collective memory of your life’s events. Today, you will organize a lifestory party. (more…)
What Kind of Stalled Writer Are You – And What to Do About It
An unfinished manuscript haunts a writer, sapping energy that ought to go into more writing. Over the years of editing and coaching, I’ve noticed that there seem to be two sorts of people who do not finish their manuscripts. (more…)
The Power of Telling Our Stories
In the late autumn of 1988, as Mainers were beginning to hunker down for another winter, I had an experience that confirmed the power of telling our stories to an audience. One afternoon, I opened a door to a meeting of Foster Grandparents volunteers. I was walking into my future. But, I didn’t know that […]
You can become good at writing!
To create a successful workshop business of helping people to write their memoir, you must become adept with the memoir genre itself. You must learn to write better memoir yourself. Being a good fiction writer or a poet or an essayist is not enough. You must have read many memoirs and have written in the […]
How to Write the Last Chapter of a Memoir
“How do I write the last chapter of a memoir?” coaching and editing clients will sometimes ask me, wondering how to end a memoir. It is a good question because the last chapter of a memoir is your final shot at affirming your theme and at creating a satisfying and meaningful ending to the story […]