A memoir is elevated by its theme not by its topic.

It is the development of a theme that makes a memoir, even of ordinary topics, come through as interesting and even memorable. The topic is the bare bones of what you say in your book, and the theme is your “take” on what you say. The theme is necessarily wispy and even open to various interpretations, while your topic is not. Development of a theme vs development of a topic An example of a memoir topic could be one’s divorce after years of marriage. This will require dates and facts—often in chronological order. A topic is necessarily denotative. A legal

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About Denis Ledoux

I hope this blog post has been helpful to you to write a better memoir. It is a brief—and, I believe, high quality—assist in a facet of your writing, but there is much better I and my team can provide you. The best ways always come down to a Memoir Network professional coaching and editing your memoir. As your coach or editor, we don't give you just theory as in this blog post (beneficial to you by the way). You and your Memoir Network professional plunge deep into your story and develop it so it "comes alive" for your readers. To explore this option in a free consult, email me at [email protected] for an appointment. Want to try a launcher, do-it-yourself option? Try The Memorable Story / Write Your First Memoir Draft Program. Over the coming weeks, you will learn to write better, deeper memoir and to write more quickly and with more satisfaction. Enroll today. Another option is my classic book Turning Memories Into Memoirs / A Handbook for Writing Lifestories and my many other memoir-writing books. My Start to Write Your Memoir FREE five lesson e-course will help you to calibrate—or recalibrate—your memoir writing. Join our FREE My Memoir Education membership. It's easy to register, and you'll receive tons of free materials.

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