Category: Memoirs
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Lifelong learning: tips for memoir writers
After all the living to acquire our experiences, at some point we look back and wonder how to tell that story. And that starts up a new story, the experience of being a writer in adulthood requires lifelong learning.
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Ex-pat Brats Come of Age in Saigon
I discovered another author, Les Arbuckle, who like Hanna felt compelled to tell the story of his childhood in that war torn country. His book is called Saigon Kids, An American Military Brat Comes of Age in 1960’s. Despite the similarities between the two stories, they were also totally different, representing a stark contrast between…
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How traveling helped them find themselves
In his memoir, Finding Myself in Borneo, McKee generously offers a front row seat to his adventure in an interesting part of the world. But I want more from a memoir than just exotic sights. I expect to learn about the author’s inner journey as well. McKee’s memoir satisfies that desire by showing me how…
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Author Interview: Memoir into Fiction
The novel Catch a Dream describes such an intense, extraordinary life experience. It surprises me that most of it really happened and that you started writing it as a memoir. Tell me more about the events that you actually lived through.
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Parent’s Story: Personal History or Memoir?
Typically a memoir is about the journey of an individual, and the narrative takes us deeply inside the author’s own point of view. Even though Farewell to Aleppo does not sit firmly within the point of view of either author or protagonist, it nevertheless offers a brilliant insightful story of the life of an ancestor.…
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Two Inspiring Memoirs about Suffering
One reason for maintaining a distance from the people around me was to avoid their suffering. But over the course of my life, I’ve learned that when life dishes up hardship, we all must figure out how to cope, not only individually but together. By reading memoirs, I have the privilege of allowing suffering into…
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Two Fools at a Party: Serious Side of Humor
After considering both memoirs, my worry about their serious purpose began to evaporate. I could see that their fearless attitude fits perfectly with my understanding of the Hero’s Journey.
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Memoirs Helped Her Conquer Midlife
If you decide to follow in Victoria Twead’s footsteps, to boldly seize the future, to overcome your own limits, and grow toward a better version of yourself, keep in mind all three dimensions of her approach.
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Stories Help this Author Grow
In my experience, most memoir writers are responding to a similar desire, to find themselves by creatively shaping their lives into stories. What advice could you offer us, based on your mid-life quest to reclaim your soul through creativity?
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Interview: How to turn memories into a memoir
I invested, practiced and took copious notes on our course lectures. I read what works well and what doesn’t in terms of memoirs. I kept trying to figure out the purpose of each scene. Some chapters went through 20 revisions until I finally got it. There’s no shortcut to figuring out structure because it’s individual…
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