No one said it would be easy to do the work of writing a memoir!

“Writing is hard,” you realize again as you look at your production for the day. “Perhaps I’m not cut out for this work of writing a memoir.”

To your dismay, you have been writing in snippets for many days now. In the mornings, when you show up at your laptop—later and later it seems—you must face, as does every writer, a demanding master: your daily writing. Why can’t writing be more fun? Why can’t it be—well, to tell the truth—less hard?

Oh, how you wish it were the end of your scheduled writing period for the day! Why did you think you could do this book-writing thing!

“Whom am I kidding?” (more…)

Resolutions can be tricky—just an exercise in fooling yourself! But they can also be a dynamic trigger. In this post, I will share a writing resolution that paid off big for me.

If you have not decided on New Year’s resolutions for your writing, it is a good time to choose priorities for the next year.

It is not my competence to speak to you about economic or weight-loss resolutions. But, I do have some track record as a writing coach, and I would like to suggest writing resolutions that might be very productive for you in the coming year as a writer —you are a writer (or an aspiring writer), after all, as evidenced by your reading of this blog.

How this post is organized

First, I will provide you with an example from my own life and then I will move on to offering you a few ideas about how you might structure a writing resolution for the coming year.

2025 for me

In 2025, I had a partially finished manuscript—actually, it might have been 90% finished—but I had put off publishing it. I kept telling myself that there was too much work left and I probably didn’t have enough time to polish the text as I wanted to. When I examined the manuscript, however, I realized how far along it was in being ready, and if I gave it a serious effort, I could publish in 2025. (more…)

At Christmas, it was a Franco custom to have an all-night party—a réveillon—after the midnight mass. The following excerpt is from my French Boy / A 1950s Franco-American Childhood. ___ For our first Christmas in our new home, my parents hosted a Christmas réveillon for both sides of the family. We children grew excited witnessing the preparations in the days prior to the réveillon when the tourtières, cookies, pies, and cakes were being baked. (“Just one cookie, but no more,” my mother must have repeated many times. “We have to save these for the réveillon.”) Because my grandparents were still (more…)

Having the right resources available when we need them can transform any task from a problem to an enticing challenge. I don’t know about you, but when I am trying something new—let’s say propagating a plant—that I’m not knowledgeable about, I head for either the internet or my bookshelves. The internet provides quick information and is sometimes a best resource, but I have also found that books often contain more detailed information and are easier to use. The same is true of hunting down memoir-writing resources. Our clients at The Memoir Network tend to be first-time and only-time writers. Usually, (more…)

Organize a story collecting party to gather information for writing your—or anyone else’s—memoir. A gathering of family members to share stories about family events can help you double-check the information you already have and seek new material to flesh out your stories.

Reunions, weddings, funerals, birthday and holiday celebrations rate well on both of these tasks: scattered relatives, each of whom has a piece of the family history to share, are in one place at one time. Gathering stories at family events is an opportunity not to be missed.

Organize a story collecting party!

Since our lives are usually lived in a community and our lifestories have evolved with other people in tow, take advantage of this symbiosis to write the best memoir you are capable of by accessing a collective memory of your life’s events. (more…)

It’s fair to assume that most and perhaps all the readers of this blog post are writers. We may not like marketing but we recognize its importance. In this post, I want to write to you about the importance of bundling in your marketing efforts. You—and I—ought to be always asking ourselves about how to reach an audience of readers, a larger audience. to find an audience of buyers who are willing to invest in us. Our books won’t attract attention without being out in the world to actively garner that attention. One way to garner attention is marketing, but (more…)

This is how an idea becomes a book. ___ Every month (at 1 PM/ET, 12 CT, 11 MT, 10 PT), you can participate in a live memoir-writing workshop on ZOOM. Usually, it occurs on the third Thursday of the month, but in November, I will be traveling to give a book talk on the third Thursday. I will be a guest speaker at a university at some distance and will not be available. As I write this, the next Gathering of Writers is scheduled for Wednesday, November 19, 2025. $10 fee or monthly subscription to my Substack. To participate, email (more…)

[This review of my latest book was posted on Substack on October 20, 2025, by Jean Edouard Pouliot. Thank you profusely, Jean, for your support in publishing Book recommendation: “Here to Stay”.] [Jean’s text] I wanted to mention a wonderful new book by my friend, Denis Ledoux, who has been writing for years about the Franco-American experience. His new book, Here to Stay, describes the settling of Canada in the 17th century — not from the point of view of lords and cardinals, but from that of the settlers themselves. Book recommendation: “Here to Stay” Offers Missing Information The story (more…)

Until October 31, 2025, Here to Stay / Lives in 17th Century Canada is available with no S/H. Get your copy today. In 1995, I became intrigued with tracing my ancestry to the first of the Canadian colonists who bore my patronym. Who were these of my people who came to North America four and a half centuries ago? I knew the names of my first progenitors on this continent, but I didn’t know much more about them. It was time to become acquainted with my personal Franco-North American history and about my group’s history in general. What resulted was (more…)

The Work of Writing a Memoir Can Be Hard, But You Can Succeed!

By Denis Ledoux

No one said it would be easy to show up and do the work of writing a book! “This is hard,” you think as you look at your production. “perhaps I’m not cut out for this.” (more…)

A Firm Writing Resolution: You Will Not Regret Formulating One for 2026

By Denis Ledoux

Resolutions can be tricky—just an exercise in fooling yourself! But they can also be a dynamic trigger. In this post, I will share a writing resolution that paid off big for me. If you have not decided on New Year’s resolutions for your writing, it is a good time to choose priorities for the […]

Our Christmas Réveillon—A Franco Custom

By Denis Ledoux

16 Memoir-Writing Resources You Can Use Today

By Denis Ledoux

You don’t have to remember your lifestory alone.

By Denis Ledoux

Since our lives are usually lived in community and our lifestories have evolved with other people in tow, take advantage of this symbiosis to write the best memoir you are capable of by accessing a collective memory of your life’s events. Today, you will organize a lifestory party. (more…)