“I don’t have much of a sense that I’m on the way to finishing my memoir,” you lament, “other than to just stop writing.”
This category addresses how you can bring your memoir to a close so that it is both complete and satisfying.
This is not, of course, a question you ask yourself as you begin your memoir, but there comes a time in the process when it becomes obvious to you that you have written your story and it’s now time to wrap it up.
A process of open and close
On this blog, there are many posts that advocate lingering with your writing and with taking the time it takes. The process of writing is usually not best done when it is rushed. Keep your writing options open. The advice to linger is good because too many memoirs are ruined by a “rush job.” But…
The opposite of lingering is also true. You must focus on finishing your memoir—or else you can continue to write for years to come. Writing is great and you must respect the process, but you also need to move on to your next memoir—or to the rest of your life—at some point. You have to bring the process to a close, write to the end and then publish your book.
In conclusion
The posts below both help you to assess when it is time to finish your memoir and also provides techniques for you to arrive at a satisfying conclusion.
If you are sincere about finishing your memoir, the posts below will suggest a number of “rules” to follow to expedite the matter.
3 Tips to Revive and Finish a Memoir—Without Eviscerating Yourself
All of us struggle to some extent to produce writing content that will finish a memoir. let me offer a few writing processes to help you create a flow so you can finish a memoir. There have been plenty of times when these tips have motivated me in the morning.
9 Ideas to Help You Finish Your Memoir
When your writing is stalled, turn to your writing journal for help. The following are suggestions for what you might ask yourself in your writing journal. They are taken from the Pick Up Your Memoir Again—And Finish It! a course on successfully dealing with writer’s block.
How to pick up and finish your memoir at last
There are writers stop writing and then do not know how to re-connect to the writing life. Writers who have stopped writing may want to write again, to pick up their memoir, but what has happened is that the train of thought, the feeling, and the sensibility that went into the creation of those previously-written […]
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.