Structure a Memoir – The Memoir Network | RSS

There Can’t Be That Many Types of Memoir!

Denis Ledoux — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 20:10:05 +0000

There used to be one memoir type. The one kind of memoir genre was that written by famous people about the important events in history that they had taken part in. Mostly, these accounts were about how wonderful they were and how important their roles in history had been. Oftentimes, these memoirs were about excoriating […]

Monday Focus: Structure your memoir: because your memoir is not an amoeba, it needs a backbone.

Denis Ledoux — Mon, 13 May 2024 16:45:53 +0000

How to structure your memoir is today’s Monday Focus topic. Turn your collection of vignettes and stories into a memoir. (more…)

Pacing Your Memoir Requires Planning

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 16:08:43 +0000

In almost everything you do in life or in writing, pacing ranks right up there in importance. The tortoise knew how to pace himself and won the race. The hare, on the other hand, needed to view this post before setting out on the race which he eventually lost despite the gift of speed nature […]

Monday Focus: Your memoir is not an amoeba: a memoir needs form.

Denis Ledoux — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 11:00:12 +0000

Today is Monday, and it’s a great day to write a bit on your memoir! Your story is not formless; it is not an amoeba. A memoir needs form. You must give your memoir the backbone your readers want and need! Your memoir calls for structure to make as forceful a statement as it can […]

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…)

Too Much Backstory–Are you making memoir writing more difficult than necessary?

Denis Ledoux — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 17:00:00 +0000

When you overwrite a story by stuffing it with backstory—and many writers seem to want to tell their entire story in what ought to be a vignette—you disrespect chronology and drama and the reader’s patience. (more…)

Four Tips For Moving Your Memoir Plot With Action

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 13:21:16 +0000

Action drives your story and keeps your readers interested. Writing with effective action is the key to creating lifestories that people want to read. Here are four tips for moving your memoir plot with action. (more…)

Show Up and Do the Writing!

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 10:00:29 +0000

Show Up and Do the Writing! That’s how you get your memoir finished. Inch by inch it’s a cinch: yard by yard, it’s hard. (more…)

Should You Write With An Audience in Mind?

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 10:00:33 +0000

While some people decide to write a memoir according to structure—healing memoirs, investigative memoirs, etc—as I wrote in a previous post, others write with an audience in mind. (Writing with structure in mind often calls for writing with audience in mind, also.) Sometimes the audience is of specific people but many other writers, while they […]

How to Organize Your Memoir: Four Ways

Denis Ledoux — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 11:51:18 +0000

Do you wonder how best to organize your memoir? Eventually, after you have written awhile, you will likely have amassed a number of vignettes, story segments, and stories. You will want to organize your memoir to make a statement, a bigger picture. How will you do it? Below are four ideas for organizing your memoir. […]