Tag: How-to
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Life to Stories: 3 Habits, 3 Rules, 3 Stages
Since the beginning of civilization we’ve looked to heroes to show us the way. In the old days these heroes were mythological and lived on mountains. In the modern age, we look to each other in order to learn how to climb those mountains.
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Interview with Memoir Activist Sonia Marsh, Pt2
My husband knows me, and we’re still married. I also showed his good qualities, and why we married. There is no story if there’s no conflict or drama. I had to share what I was going through or my story would be flat and lifeless.
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Memoirs Connect Us by Sharing Our Hidden Worlds
I looked around the room. Everyone was relaxed. I realized that reading my story had not upset them or turned me into a pariah. Paradoxically instead of increasing my shame, sharing the story dispelled it.
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Interview with Venerable Memoir Teacher, Denis Ledoux Pt2
In my previous post, I ask Denis Ledoux questions about memoir writing and what it was like to have been a teacher so early, before the Memoir Revolution was even a glimmer on the horizon. In this post, I complete the interview, asking him questions about teaching teachers, about ethnic background in memoirs, and stories.
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Show Don’t Tell: Difference Between Fiction and Memoir
However, if we adhere too closely to techniques that work in fiction, we miss important opportunities to help readers understand our authentic, real-life experience. To develop a strong memoir writing voice, consider the differences between fiction and memoir writing. Here are three areas in which the forms differ.
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How to Pick the Best Title for Your Memoir
Authors stare at the sky of their minds, hoping some pattern will jump out at them. But before making a decision, consider all the work a title has to do. A great title helps potential readers buy the book, love it to the last page and then recommend it to friends. To learn more, look…
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What is the Theme of Your Memoir?
Finding the theme, a crucial requirement for a book you buy at the store, can seem ridiculously out of reach for the story you are attempting to understand about yourself. What do you mean, “What is the theme? It was my life!” Life has so many dimensions. Must you really limit your story to just…
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From Complex Memories to the Compelling Title of Your Memoir
However, despite the contrast between the breeziness of the title and the difficulty of the life it describes, I never felt betrayed or misled. On the contrary, the deeper I went into the story, the more meaning I found in the title. I realized it provided a micro-guidebook, showing the family’s initial optimistic hopes for…
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How to Start Writing Your Memoir
If you have ever wanted to shape your memories into stories, there has never been a better time. Thanks to the popularity of bestselling memoirs by ordinary people, many of us are wondering if we could record our past into a readable form. Before we start, though, two simple questions block the way.
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