Character Development – The Memoir Network | RSS

Ouch! Your memoir characters are not as interesting as they should be! And, fortunately, you can easily change that.

Denis Ledoux — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 15:05:28 +0000

Why Your Memoir Characters Might Not Be Interesting! In fiction, the people who appear on your pages and play a role in the story you are narrating are called characters. As a memoirist, you must take memoir characters as seriously as a fiction writer does. As with fiction characters so too with memoir characters Vivid […]

Going Deeper in a Memoir: Look at “Life’s Failed Contracts”

Denis Ledoux — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 12:00:53 +0000

Understanding “Life’s Failed Contracts” is necessary for going deeper in a memoir. This post is about going deeper in a memoir, deeper even than you thought you could go when you started. This may be hard, but take a look at the contracts with life we make and the terrible disappointment that inevitably comes from […]

Vivid Characters Are Essential in a Memoir

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 11:00:58 +0000

The people in your story are your characters. It is your job to bring vivid literary characters to the attention of your readers. You must use descriptive writing to present believable characters. Without other people, our lives and memoirs risk becoming dull. Although ideas are pivotal for many individuals, relationships are even more commanding. We […]

Show Don’t Tell Your Characters, or Don’t Describe Your Characters–Show Them!

Denis Ledoux — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 12:00:54 +0000

The old adage “Show your story rather than tell it!” is as true as ever. It is one technique that will always improve your writing… (more…)

5 Better Ways to Describe The People in Your Memoir

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 20:15:00 +0000

Without other people, our lives and our memoirs risk becoming dull. Although ideas are pivotal for many individuals, relationships are even more commanding. We are intrigued with who other people are and how they function. “Who’s that? What are they doing? Where did they come from?” These are question we want answered. To write a […]

Writing Feelings into Your Memoir

Denis Ledoux — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 14:42:00 +0000

How to write feelings into your memoir is a rather important topic. Recently on the Forum, David wrote about not accessing the feeling side of his memories, of writing a memoir that, if I am understanding him right, was all details and facts. Below is my response which can serve as a stand alone article, […]

Revealing Ourselves in a Memoir — 3 Reasons We Don’t Do It.

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 15:20:00 +0000

Why are we afraid of revealing ourselves in a memoir? As we reveal too much about ourselves, are we revealing too much about someone else as well? (more…)

What everyone ought to do to create vivid characters

Denis Ledoux — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 11:00:00 +0000

As a memoirist, do you accept that your family, your friends and your acquaintances are characters in your story? Easy, proven tips for adding feelings to a memoir (more…)

Destiny and Fate: Have You Placed These Concepts at the Center of Your Memoir?

Denis Ledoux — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 11:00:52 +0000

Over the years, I have found that the concepts of destiny and fate, which explained so many things for Greeks in the centuries before the Christian era also explains so much about the characters of a memoir. (more…)

Three Points Not to Forget When You Write Your Money Story

Denis Ledoux — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 10:00:56 +0000

There is power in writing your money story. Your money story can transform you as it leads to understanding the money energy in your life and ultimately making that energy work for you. In this post I write about three features you must utilize in the writing of a money story. These are character, action, […]