Age takes to memory, it has been said, as youth takes to poetry. That is why seniors writing memoirs and lifestories is such a natural.
In this category [Seniors Writing Memoirs and Lifestories], how-to and motivational articles have been gathered to help first-time, and perhaps only-time, writers to generate more meaningful and interesting lifestories than they might on their own by “winging it.”
Seniors writing memoir is an excellent opportunity
Seniors have the benefit of experience—years of it. Experience backed by reflection is the stuff of memoir. If a function of memoir is to shed some light on the meaning of life, then seniors are in an excellent position. Seniors writing memoir can shed light on the meaning of life for younger readers.
Age has known youth, but youth has not known age.
You can learn to write better stories.
People just like you have written interesting and meaningful memoirs using methods and ideas outlined both below and throughout the Memoir Writer’s Blog.
Don’t forget to search the BLOG CATEGORIES to the right of the page for specific topics that interest you or promise to be of service to your memoir writing. There are hundreds of published articles here that cannot fail to help you write the best memoir you are capable of.
Please share this wealth with your friends and colleagues.
If you are someone working in senior education…
Seniors Writing Memoirs and Lifestories is also valuable to the professional seeking resources to work with older writers. In addition to these pages, as a professional, you will do well want to check out our specific resources to help memoir professionals succeed more quickly.
Remember: whatever you do today, write a bit on your memoir.
5 Memory Recall Tips
Memory recall, or recalling the details of our life stories, can be a challenge. Devising a Memory List (pg. 41 of Turning Memories Into Memoirs) is the first best thing you can do, but if you want additional ideas, here are five memory recall tips for remembering more than you might have thought possible. [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]
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Vignettes, scenes, and dialogues
Vignettes, scenes and dialogues are at the core of any memoir—your memoir. So how do you write them? How do you fit them into a story? Let’s explore how we can string those short pieces into a story.
[Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]
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Why Sensory Details Bring A Memoir To Life
Successful stories are full of sensory details (colors, shapes, textures, smells, sounds, flavors. When your stories portray a vivid world (“three sweet-scented roses”) rather than a vague one (“some nice flowers”), you make it easier for readers to take the leap of faith into the world of your writing.
Abstraction kills a story
If your story has abstract and vague wording like “After a while, absence from home made fidelity difficult for him and he committed adultery…,” your readers will be less interested in (and less swayed by) what you have to say than if your narration is filled with concrete details. [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]
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4 Tips For Easier, Quicker Writing
You can benefit from easier and quicker writing by adapting appropriate habits of composition. Here are four habits for writing your first draft quickly. You would do well to put them into practice. They are easy to implement and the rewards are significant. [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]
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(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 add to compiling your Memory List and perhaps even to stimulate it.
[Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]
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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.
Is a Memoir Hard to Write—Yes, but You Can Do It!
A Memoir Can Be Hard to Write —But You Can Do It! Sometimes at the beginning of a workshop or of coaching relationship, people ask whether writing a memoir going to be hard. The short—but possibly intimidating—answer is: yes! The longer and more encouraging answer is: Yes, but you can do it!
How to Start Writing a Memoir: What’s Your Focus?
DL: I are pleased today to introduce an Australian writer and memoir professional to readers of The Memoir Writer’s blog with this post: How to Start Writing a Memoir: What’s Your Focus? This post was previously published on Alan’s website which is full of informative articles for the memoir writer.
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At first glance, writing memoir might appear to be easier than writing fiction. After all, it’s your life and you know the story, yes? It’s not as if you have to make anything up. Not like fiction writers who have to think the whole lot up: plot, characters, everything.
But writing about your own life is rarely simple and never easy. Some writers suggest that memoir is harder to do well than fiction.
Before we go on, it’s probably useful to define what a memoir is and isn’t. [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]
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Collecting Memories at My Class Reunion
This weekend of September 26-28, 2014, I am reuniting with my high school classmates. We have not seen each other in 30 years—not since our 20th class reunion. Back then, we developed an intimacy and an affection for each other that someone attending a regular high school cannot have experienced with classmates they saw for […]