In a world where we are constantly being bombarded with subtle—and not so subtle—messages about who we ought to be, it is a bold statement to take a stand for personal truth and authenticity.

The telling of your stories is a revolutionary act.
—Sam Keen, Writer

One of the most transformative statements an individual can make is to tell his/her story with honesty and objectivity. At its best, this is what a memoir is—a statement that declares “this is who I am, who I think of myself as being.”

Lest you think that telling the truth is only about revealing scandals and unmasking abuses, let me assure you that it is more often about smaller issues, issues more within the realm of the everyday experience. (more…)

Tips to Keep Writing Recently, someone asked me what are the biggest barriers memoir writers face to being prolific. The following three came to mind right away. Below, I write about them and offer suggestions for eliminating these impediments to staying in the writing conversation. 1. Don’t hold out for a perfect memoir. Writers often put off writing a good memoir in favor of struggling unsuccessfully forever to create a perfect one. This is insidious because no one says they are putting off writing a good memoir in favor of a perfect one. Instead they say, “I want my story (more…)

“Writing is a way of processing our lives. And it can be a way of healing.”~ Jan Karon Most writers write because not writing creates distress. I speak for myself when I say, if I don’t get my quota of writing in during the day, I am up half the night, unable to sleep for all the ideas ricocheting in my head. But what happens when a writer becomes ill and does not have the stamina or the desire to write during an illness? In 1996, my life came to a sudden halt when I was diagnosed with Stage 4 (more…)

Conveying Theme Effectively Underlying all of your stories is its theme. The theme is really a message, the global way in which you understand your story—either in its entirety or in its parts. The theme conveys the essence of the you (or the them) that you want the reader, and history, to know and understand. The theme provides spirit to your piece, the breath of life that individualizes your life story. 1) The theme is dependent on your insights. Insights are glimpses of understanding. (“Oh, that’s why—or how—she did that!”) When insights accumulate, as you view your stories over time, (more…)

What Makes It Memoir or Autobiographical Fiction?

I read a memoir that did well here in Maine (it’s by an excellent Maine writer)—I can’t vouch for its reach in the rest of the country. I’m left wondering whether the author was writing memoir or autobiographical fiction.

It’s an interesting book, very well-written in terms of style and organization, but my nagging doubt is that it is autobiographical fiction and not memoir. I will choose to leave the book nameless as my intent is not to be negative about it but only to use it to elucidate a point about memoir writing which I think is important to keep in mind as we write.

I have frequently spoken about using fiction techniques to make a memoir more interesting. Dialog, for instance, can be marvelous. The trick, as I have offered frequently, is to use only a few words in direct dialog (“I won’t,” she said) and then put the rest in indirect dialog (She said that was because blah, blah, blah…)

Fiction Techniques in a Memoir

(more…)

Don’t Talk Your Stories Away

When a writer talks too much and too revealingly about a work-in-progress—especially at the early stage before the writing has taken shape—the energy to get the story written is often scattered. Sometimes what passes for a writer’s block is only a failure to relate to your stories in a way that’s conducive to getting them written. This may seem like a writer’s block but it’s not. It’s really poor writing discipline!

People have an urge to make their stories public—in any format that will satisfy the impulse. Talking over a cup of tea may be just as satisfying a release as shaping a memorable poem or novel or life story.

(more…)

Reaching a Larger Book Audience for Your Memoir

It is possible to reach a larger book audience than family and friends with your memoir. Here are four suggestions to enable your story to appeal to a larger public.

1) Write a story that is truly well-written and whose reading—the prose itself—will bring joy to your reader.

(more…)

Where Do You Start Writing Your Memoir?

It’s a quandary: where do you start writing your memoir? Many people may say: from the beginning. So? Does that mean you start from the first thing you can remember in the sequence of the story? I suppose you could do that, but, I don’t think that is the best place to start your memoir. So where is the best place to start your memoir?

1. The answer is actually quite simple: Start your memoir anywhere in the story.

(more…)

DL: May 5 marks the anniversary of my mother’s death in 2015 so it is fitting today to commemorate her memory by running an excerpt from her memoir, We Were Not Spoiled. This excerpt is typical in many ways of a Franco-American girl of her generation. To read other excerpts, click here and here and here and here. In the fall of 1929, Robert joined me at school, and because he was born in February, he was two years behind me. I entered the first year of third grade. St. Peter’s School had this practice of having all the children (more…)

Telling the Truth About your Life

By Denis Ledoux

In a world where we are constantly being bombarded with subtle—and not so subtle—messages about who we ought to be, it is a bold statement to take a stand for personal truth and authenticity. One of the most transformative statements an individual can make is to tell his/her story with honesty and objectivity. At its […]

Three Tips That Will Keep You in the Memoir-Writing Conversation

By Denis Ledoux

Recently, someone asked me what are the biggest barriers memoir writers face to being prolific. The following three came to mind right away. Below, I write about them and offer suggestions for eliminating these impediments to staying in the writing conversation. Writers often put… (more…)

Writing During An Illness

By Kathleen Pooler

Two Tips For Conveying Theme Effectively

By Denis Ledoux

Underlying all of your stories is its theme. The theme is really a message, the global way in which you understand your story — either in its entirety or in its (more…)

Turning-Memories-Into-Memoirs-Denis-Ledoux-Picture

Is It a Memoir or Autobiographical Fiction ?

By Denis Ledoux

What Makes It Memoir or Autobiographical Fiction? I read a memoir that did well here in Maine (it’s by an excellent Maine writer)—I can’t vouch for its reach in the rest of the country. I’m left wondering whether the author was writing memoir or autobiographical fiction. It’s an interesting book, very well-written in terms of […]