1. READ.
William Zinsser's Writing About Your Life is a particularly helpful book to read if you are contemplating writing a memoir. Also, read lots of memoirs. As you learn about the life of someone who interests you, you can also see how that person tells his/her story.What makes it interesting? That may help you decide what it is that makes your life interesting that you can make into an appealing story for your readers.
Pick a point in time at which to start. This does not have to be in chronological sequence. In the same way a novel may go back and forth in time, so can a memoir.
2. WRITE.
At some point, it is necessary to start writing. At the beginning, get things down. You can choose what to keep later when you have thought about what stands out about your life. And what story you want to tell about it. You will have to decide what to include and what not to include. It is important not to include everything.
3. REVISE.
You have to create a narrative of your life. writer of a memoir doesn't simply try to convey every detail of an entire life, but has to select what is important to the narrative chosen. And to tell a compelling story.
Everyone has a story, but do you have a reason for wanting to share it? It might turn out that your reason is the hook for your readers. And provides you with the thematic unity your story requires.
Note: It may be presumptuous of me to try to convey how to write a memoir when mine has yet to be published. However, I've almost finished it and what I have learned thus far is fresh in my mind and may be helpful. And I have had both a short story collection and a novel published.
Good luck with it!
William Zinsser's Writing About Your Life is a particularly helpful book to read if you are contemplating writing a memoir. Also, read lots of memoirs. As you learn about the life of someone who interests you, you can also see how that person tells his/her story.What makes it interesting? That may help you decide what it is that makes your life interesting that you can make into an appealing story for your readers.
Pick a point in time at which to start. This does not have to be in chronological sequence. In the same way a novel may go back and forth in time, so can a memoir.
2. WRITE.
At some point, it is necessary to start writing. At the beginning, get things down. You can choose what to keep later when you have thought about what stands out about your life. And what story you want to tell about it. You will have to decide what to include and what not to include. It is important not to include everything.
3. REVISE.
You have to create a narrative of your life. writer of a memoir doesn't simply try to convey every detail of an entire life, but has to select what is important to the narrative chosen. And to tell a compelling story.
Everyone has a story, but do you have a reason for wanting to share it? It might turn out that your reason is the hook for your readers. And provides you with the thematic unity your story requires.
Note: It may be presumptuous of me to try to convey how to write a memoir when mine has yet to be published. However, I've almost finished it and what I have learned thus far is fresh in my mind and may be helpful. And I have had both a short story collection and a novel published.
Good luck with it!
