If you want to learn how to write vividly, use the following tips for avoiding vagueness in writing your memoir.

When a manuscript slips into a vagueness, the reader reads and rereads and does not quite “get it.”

“What’s the author trying to say here?” we ask ourselves. “What am I missing?”

Here are a few of my ideas as to why this may happen.

1. The author is not sure herself what she is trying to say. She has not lingered with this part of the story to extract from it the essence of her meaning. Once she has meaning, finding prose that might do justice to the expression of her feeling becomes easier.

Solution if this is you: journal around the story, look at your photos, take a walk to ruminate about the events you have written about, ask yourself, “What exactly am I trying to convey here? What do I really mean to say?”

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Why should writers have writer’s blocks? Do plumbers have plumber’s block? Do accountants have accountant’s block?

A block is simply a failure of process. A plumber lines up his pipes and couplings and begins to work. And an accountant takes her spreadsheets out and begins to analyze them.

Ways to Stop Writer’s Block

In the case of a writer, it is a failure of a writerly process or a professional approach to one’s work that gets dignified with the name of “writer’s block”.

I’m not one to give much credence to “writer’s block.”

I’ll grant that there are times when the “muse” seems to be absent and has wandered off someplace else, but you can draw the muse back by strategic inducements.

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Is writing precise words really important in a memoir?

Over the years, I have written energetically about the importance of writing precise words instead of generic ones.

I was dropping someone off at the bus station (aka the Intermodal Transportation Center) when I overheard an exchange that purported to be a dialog that convinced me once again of the necessity for precision in speech–and, by extension, in our memoir writing. It was proof that generic words really do miss the mark and lead to confusing messages.

A grandmother was seeing her daughter (I presumed from the similarity of looks) and three grandchildren off—or perhaps it was the other way. The grandmother had said goodbye to the two girls and there was a boy of about 10 whom she had not yet bid her fond farewell to. He was looking around the space, distracted by this and that and not paying much attention to what was going on.

“Sweetheart,” the grandmother said, holding her arms out to hug him. The boy continued to look around elsewhere.

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Writers will sometimes tell me that they are blocked and can’t seem to get back into writing. I have a surprising answer for them: don’t write just now to complete a memoir. It’s ok to be stalled for a while.

Let me give you a little scene in which I came to the viability of this conclusion.

One summer when I was serious about gardening, I went away on a late June trip. It was a fun vacation with my family, but the trip fell at a time when the garden seriously needed daily weeding, hoeing, and watering. As you can imagine, when I returned home, I found my garden overrun with weeds. The vegetables that I had so carefully planted were just about choked out, so I was, to say the least, challenged seeing the overgrown mess of weeds.

Rather than tackle the job immediately, however, which would certainly have been reasonable, I made a counter-intuitive decision: I spent time across several days just sitting on the edge of the garden, envisioning how I wanted the various parts to look once my work of cleaning up was done, imagining the lovely vegetables I would have.

Action will come.

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The fear of revealing too much of ourselves in the memoir we are writing can be paralyzing.

We wonder: “What will people say? How will people react to what I am revealing?” So…

We hold back in our writing. We stop ourselves from personal revelation, from sharing secrets.

The fear is founded—it’s not always a friendly world out there. And, of course…

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I have been asking myself what are some of the reasons people who had started to write with such enthusiasm quit writing a memoir and how I can help them persevere—and more importantly: how they can help themselves. The answers to why people quit are so varied! Below is a list compiled from my experience with individuals who have begun working with me and then stopped writing. The list contains both very solid reasons and some that seem simply evasive. If you find yourself harboring feelings that might trigger quitting, I hope you will address them before they take hold (more…)

Denis Ledoux: At The Memoir Network, we had the pleasure of working with Nelida Napuli Co as she polished her memoir, Vinegar and SARS, with one of our editors, Frances King, and focused on book production with Sally Lunt. Because of her insightful articulation of a unique experience—living in China during the SARS epidemic, I am delighted she agreed to do the following interview (conducted by email.)

Denis: Can you tell our readers—your fellow writers—what your book is about and why you were impelled to write it? What was driving you to spend the time, energy and money to get this book out into the world?

Nelida: My book is a compilation of stories I told families and friends that my late husband, Ting, and I had experienced during the years we lived in China. In particular, these stories are about the first year of teaching unexpectedly in a small rural town in Fujian province Southern China.

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Today, I am offering you a dynamite coaching session. If you read through this post and check the links, you will have an experience that will set you up for success—when you commit to finishing your memoir.

Ahead of you is a week available to make progress on your memoir. By next week at this time, will you have written an encouraging number of pages on your memoir or…

Will you be regretting the week, saying, “Well, you know how it is…life got in the way! Ha ha!”

The choice of results is yours to make.

How are you going to use the coming week? Will you “try” to use it well – and find on Friday that you have let so much get in the way that you wrote very little in a week’s time? Or…

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Your Memoir Is Not a Monologue It is perhaps inevitable that writers—and certainly I have had my moments—indulge in a certain fantasy that their book will appeal to a large audience and garner universal popularity. But, unless you are already famous—like Taylor Swift or Kamala Harris—or writing about an experience that was in itself very well known—a major flood or a nuclear disaster, for instance, your book is not likely to interest a large audience that would propel it into a best-seller status. This does not mean your book will not be well received—by its audience! Look for your Niche: Write with (more…)

How to write vividly–Avoiding vagueness in writing

By Denis Ledoux

If you want to learn how to write vividly, use the following tips for avoiding vagueness in writing your memoir. When a manuscript slips into a vagueness, the reader reads and rereads and does not quite “get it.” (more…)

10 Ways to Stop Writer’s Block

By Denis Ledoux

Why should writers have writer’s blocks? Do plumbers have plumber’s block? Do accountants have accountant’s block? Stop writer’s block now. (more…)

Sweetheart, Are You Using Precise Words for Your Memoir?

By Denis Ledoux

The clearer you are in your choice of precise words, the easier it will be for your reader to understand your writing. The reader will be able to respond to you as you wish the reader to respond—instead of looking around while you are pleading “sweetheart, sweetheart.” (more…)

You Don’t Have to Rush To Complete a Memoir

By Denis Ledoux

You don’t have to rush to complete a memoir, but taking these action steps will keep you writing until you finish your memoir. (more…)

Banish Fear of Revealing Too Much: Be a Bigger Presence in Your Memoir

By Denis Ledoux

The fear of revealing too much of ourselves in the memoir we are writing can be paralyzing. We wonder: “What will people say? How will people react to what I am revealing?” So… We hold back in our writing. We stop ourselves from personal revelation, from sharing secrets. The fear is founded—it’s not always a […]

12 Reasons People Quit Writing a Memoir… and how to reverse some of them.

By Denis Ledoux

Have you quit writing your memoir? Why? What would help you keep writing? Here’s a list of reasons why people quit writing a memoir. (more…)

A Year in China with the SARS epidemic

By Denis Ledoux

Denis Ledoux: At The Memoir Network, we had the pleasure of working with Nelida Napuli Co as she polished her memoir, Vinegar and SARS, with one of our editors, Frances King, and focused on book production with Sally Lunt. Because of her insightful articulation of a unique experience—living in China during the SARS epidemic, I […]