If you are like many new writers, deciding to write a memoir had produced much excitement. You are psyched by the thought of how good this piece of writing is going to be and how finally you are going to get your book written and out into the world. This initial feeling is often followed by the challenge of actually getting started with the writing.
Writing begins to seem like pick-and-shovel work!
A letdown sets in. Or, perhaps the feeling is better described as fear. You’ve never written a memoir before. Where do you start and how do you keep going? And why should you ever believe you could pull this one off! After all, you’ve been a nurse or an accountant or a housewife or a UPS carrier—not a writer. What do you know about writing?
Are you supposed to have an outline, you ask yourself, and is there a best point in the story to launch your writing? Should you start from the beginning? You want to “do it right.”
Success is possible—if you commit to getting started.
Many people just like you have succeeded at what you propose to do. One day, they had a book in hand to pass on to family friends and perhaps to the world.
You, too, can succeed at getting started writing an interesting and meaningful memoir. It takes determination and discipline—and some knowledge of how to put a story together. But…
Not to worry. This is what the Memoir Writer’s Blog is here to do: we can help you write the best memoir you are capable of producing.
In conclusion
In this section, we offer you some conceptual and hands-on suggestions for you to start writing a memoir well so that you keep writing to the end.
6 Easy Steps to Creating a Book of Memoirs
Celebrating and honoring your life by remembering and writing both big and small stories is very rewarding. It is a significant way to understand your life and to come to peace with it. Your memoirs are a legacy your family will treasure for generations–don’t you wish your grandparents had written their memoirs? Follow these simple […]
Core Focus for Writing a Memoir
Is your family one of the many whose history is at risk for getting lost to future generations because no one has written it down? Here is a clear focus for writign a memoir Writing your lifestories—even just a few—is a great way to memorialize your family and to keep the experience of your life—and […]
Four Reasons to Take a Break from Writing
When should you take a break from writing? Writing is hard work, and there will be many times when it seems too difficult. You sit at your desk and nothing much comes. Your impulse is to get up to do something—anything—else, as long as it’s not writing! You think of the lawn that needs mowing, […]
Writing Your Memoir One Story at a Time—It Adds Up
Memoir writing does not have to be an intimidating task. Envisioning your autobiography as a series of stories makes the sizable task of writing the stories of a lifetime tolerable and ultimately enjoyable. Lifestories, written singly just as they are told, one by one, add up to a memoir. (more…)
Writing a First Memoir Draft Was Daunting
At age 54, I wrote the first 56,500 words of the first draft of my Showbiz Survival Memoir. It was cathartic getting the first draft up and out of me. Honestly, it was a bit grueling though, — emotionally and even physically — to relive some of the most painful times in my life. (more…)
Writing a First Draft: Why They’re Called “First”
Nothing can rightly be called a first unless there is a second. That is why first drafts are called first drafts. A writer must expect to write a second draft, and a third even. No one can sit down and churn out countless pages of prose that don’t need rewriting. Jack Kerouac claimed he did […]
(More) Better than Prompts: Five Tips to Help You “Jog Your Memory”
When starting on a memoir, it can be difficult to remember all the stories and memories you would like to include. You naturally want to jog your memory. When you are intent on writing “from the inside out” as we at The Memoir Network hope you will, there are some useful techniques you can use—to […]
How to Get the Most Out of Sharing Your Memoir In-Progress
A critical step for a brand-new writer is sharing your memoir in progress with others. There is nothing like a reader to help you develop a healthy critical sense of your work. This article is especially for the writer who cringes at the thought of sharing his/her writing. Those others you will share with might […]
Conquer perfectionism when writing your memoir
Note from the Editor: The following post is taken from Writer’s Time: Management That Works. This program functions with an open enrollment. Registrations are being accepted now. It may seem unusual in a program called Writer’s Time: Management that Works to include a module labeled Conquering Perfectionism, but it isn’t. If you want to write your […]