
Filles du Roi / Daughters of the King: Marthe Quittel Comes for a Husband
Among the eight filles du roi aboard the Marie-Thérèse who were coming to find husbands was a woman from Normandy, Marthe Quittel, a Protestant from Rouen.

Clichés in your memoir—you need them like you need a hole in the head.
You can avoid cliches and stereotypes. If you do not avoid cliches and stereotypes, you will undermine the unique and personal feel of your memoir. Cliches and stereotypes place people in often erroneous and certainly indefensible categories.

There Can’t Be That Many Types of Memoir!
There used to be one memoir type. The one kind of memoir genre was that written by famous people about the important events in history that they had taken part in. Mostly, these accounts were about how wonderful they were and how important their roles in history had been. Oftentimes, these memoirs were about excoriating […]

Writing Process Steps—Linger With Your Story
Many, and perhaps most, people write too fast. I don’t mean that they end up with a text characterized by sloppy grammar, spelling problems and chronology issues. No, what I mean is that they push through the process of writing their stories much too quickly. They end up with only a part of the story […]

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.

Show Don’t Tell Your Characters, or Don’t Describe Your Characters–Show Them!
The old adage “Show your story rather than tell it!” is as true as ever. It is one technique that will always improve your writing…

Five Tips for Avoiding Vagueness in Your Memoir
Do you struggle with vagueness in your writing? Here are 5 tips for writing clearly and vividly to help you avoid vagueness in your memoir.

10 Ways to Stop Writer’s Block
Why should writers have writer’s blocks? Do plumbers have plumber’s block? Do accountants have accountant’s block? Stop writer’s block now.

You Don’t Have to Rush To Complete a Memoir
You don’t have to rush to complete a memoir, but taking these action steps will keep you writing until you finish your memoir.