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16 Memoir-Writing Resources You Can Use Today

Denis Ledoux — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 16:15:00 +0000

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 can become good at writing!

Denis Ledoux — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 14:40:46 +0000

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 […]

Clichés in your memoir—you need them like you need a hole in the head.

Denis Ledoux — Sun, 30 Mar 2025 16:15:53 +0000

You can avoid cliches and stereotypes. If you do not avoid cliches and stereotypes, you will undermine the unique and personal feel of your memoir. Cliches and stereotypes place people in often erroneous and certainly indefensible categories. (more…)

No stick characters allowed!

Denis Ledoux — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 16:20:23 +0000

Your characters are the people in your life, don’t write them as “stick characters” in your memoir. Write them clearly and forcefully. (more…)

Writing Process Steps—Linger With Your Story

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Many, and perhaps most, people write too fast. I don’t mean that they end up with a text characterized by sloppy grammar, spelling problems and chronology issues. No, what I mean is that they push through the process of writing their stories much too quickly. They end up with only a part of the story […]

Monday Focus: Theme is the soul of your story.

Denis Ledoux — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 11:00:26 +0000

Understanding “theme” and its role in your memoir is another core task that will both simplify and clarify your message—i.e., your theme. (more…)

Another memoir finished: what was the writing process?

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 16:33:57 +0000

Writers can doubt their process. This is understandable as writing a memoir is a long undertaking that can—and usually does—have many discouraging moments. (more…)

Learning to Write Memoir Is Like Learning to Swim!

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 12:00:08 +0000

We often see people who are not comfortable swimming flail about in the water, their heads reaching up high, desperately, to catch a breath of air. This awkward gesture soon tires them. Try as they might there is not enough air for them as they constrict their ribs, twist their heads, contort their jaws. Writing […]

Shaping Your Plot Line Is Important

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 16:51:40 +0000

What should you include in your memoir’s storyline for shaping your plot line? How do you structure your memoir’s story line? (more…)

When Writers Lose Interest,  It Might Actually Be Healthy

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 16:59:43 +0000

It’s common for a writer to find that she has written much about a period of her life that is now uninteresting to her. Though she wrote with enthusiasm, intending to include this material in her memoir, it doesn’t seem to merit inclusion now. She may be despondent. “I worked so hard! Now I want […]