Succeeding in writing a book of memoirs in an expeditious and meaningful fashion is important. If you dwell in your memoir project manager function for even a short while before you jump into your worker mode and write, write, write, you may be very pleased with how more smoothly and quickly you create.
I am not talking about outlining a story here. No, I am talking about setting writing schedules that don’t interfere with commitments, clearing unnecessary commitments so that they don’t nag at you, getting cooperation from other people in your household, and making sure you have the research capacity to pull off writing your memoir.
Writers love to dream and to do the writing. What they don’t like is planning their writing life. So… the planning is overruled and then the writing life is full of interruptions and rough going.
A Memoir Project Manager Helps You Set Goals for Your Memoir
One memoir writer who had spent two or three years writing her story submitted her formatted manuscript to me for a final edit. She told me she hadn’t gotten help writing a memoir because she hadn’t wanted to be influenced.
As I read her story, I struggled to find its focus. There didn’t seem to be any.
Ouch!
The manuscript was full of vague (meaningless, really) sentences that really didn’t transmit much meaning. Lines such as: “The town I grew up in was in the middle of nowhere.”
Ouch!
I want to share with you three decisions you can make to help you to succeed more quickly and easily at memoir writing.
Over the last two decades, I have coached many, many writers—more writers than I can remember. In those years, I have seen some people soar with the experience—it’s as if they can do no wrong—while unfortunately, I have seen others coach with me for periods of time without making any apparent change or progress.
This experience has enabled me to come up with three decisions a person who wants to succeed at memoir writing must make. These decisions will help you to reach publication faster than you can without them.
1. You must resolve to commit to the discipline necessary to succeed.
We all wear many hats as we go through our days. In my case, I am a writer, a memoirist, a teacher, a memoir coach, a memoir editor, a co-author, a book publisher, and finally, a small business person. I wear those hats with pride and, I hope, some accomplishment.
Beyond these, I wear other hats as all of you do also. One is that of an athlete of sorts: there has been swimming, jogging, and weight lifting. In this post, want to focus on how I worked on my physical conditioning through deliberate practice and then apply that to memoir writing.
You ask how memoir editing works. This is an important and reasonable question.
In this post, I will take you through a typical process. (The process explained here is one an inexperienced writer would take. An experienced writer can expect to shorten the process.)
How Memoir Editing Works
When I begin the memoir editing process with clients, I tell them that proper editing generally requires three “read-throughs.” Unless the manuscript is already at a high level of organization and polish, no editor can give a manuscript all the attention it deserves in one reading.
That’s simply how memoir editing works when done properly
Reading a manuscript without doing any specific editing and forming only a general impression has always seemed a good idea in theory, but I have not found a way to do so that is economical for the client. I have therefore evolved this concept of read-throughs as a memoir editing technique. (more…)
What is developmental editing and do you need it? If the big New York publishing houses NEVER publish a manuscript without extensive editing, why would you as a self-publisher?
A professional memoir editor can quickly and effectively help you tweak your lifestory so that you get to say more clearly and dynamically what you have been trying to say. You can’t write your best memoir without developmental editing—it’s game-changing.
Editors come in many stripes: some are copy editors, others are content editors while still another kind is a developmental editor.
In this post, I want to focus on developmental editing and how it will help you write a memoir you can be proud to send into the world.
The Memory List: How to identify events and relationships to put in or leave out of a memoir
Don’t write without a Memory List. If you’ve already started to write your lifestory: Stop and compile your Memory List as soon as possible. (more…)
Showing up for my memoir– again!
DL: This is a reprint of a post that appeared in September of 2022. It strikes me as pertinent for many readers of The Lifewriter’s Digest. The final publication of French Boy took another year. I republish this both to present a proven process and to own that I have my challenges, too. I’m not […]
Writing a Memoir Is a Big Project. It Calls For the Project Manager Function.
People jump into their memoir writing projects without giving the function of project manager much consideration. Here’s what you need to do. (more…)
A Faulty Process Is—Well—Useless
One memoir writer who had spent two or three years writing her story submitted her formatted manuscript to me for a final edit. She told me she hadn’t gotten help writing a memoir because she hadn’t wanted to be influenced. As I read her story, I struggled to find its focus. There didn’t seem to […]
3 Decisions That Sustain Your Memoir Writing
These three decisions will help you to succeed more quickly and easily at memoir writing. These decisions will help you publish faster. (more…)
Don’t Let Feelings Tyrannize You. Focus On Your Goal
Don’t Let Feelings Tyrannize You. Here’s what I do: Feel like writing? You write. Don’t feel like writing? You write. (more…)
Be a Better Memoir Writer with Deliberate Practice
Memoir writers can achieve much alone. But, it is also true that working with a memoir professional can cut down the time it takes to produce a book of memoirs and can significantly jack up the quality. (more…)
So You Wonder How Memoir Editing Works
When I begin memoir editing with clients, I tell them that a proper editing requires three “read-throughs.” It is impossible to give a manuscript all the attention it deserves in one reading. Reading a manuscript without doing any specific editing and forming only a general impression has always seemed a good idea in theory, but […]
What Is Developmental Editing and Why You Need It for Your Self-Published Memoir
Developmental editing contributes to developing a manuscript to its full potential.They can help you with project and planning how it will be published. (more…)