How to write your memoir #1

“I could write a book about my life”

Have you ever said or thought this? I have heard it so many times, from all kinds of people. And I believe it. We’ve all got our tales to tell, our experiences and life lessons to share.

I think it’s important to tell our stories, and so I’ll share a few tips and ideas to get you started on your own memoir.

What exactly is a memoir?

Is a memoir the same as an autobiography? Not quite.

A memoir tells a story about your experiences; an autobiography lists facts about your life.

Like a memoir, an autobiography is something that you write about yourself (as opposed to a biography, which is what someone writes about another person).

But where an autobiography tells about your life from point A to point B, with all the facts and milestones between, a memoir takes the scenic route, lingering on some life events and skipping others entirely.

A memoir can be a personal, emotional journey. It might acknowledge life lessons learned, or reflect on certain poignant moments. You decide the angle you wish to take.

How do you plan a memoir?

Before you launch into writing, there are a few things you can think about in advance that will help you along the way.

What do you want to say?

You might have a rough concept already, but turning your thoughts into written words is a major step for clarifying ideas. Take some time to think about what you actually want to say in a memoir.

Here are a few prompts to get you started:

What is the story that you want to tell about your life?
What are the experiences that have shaped you?
What would you like other people to know?

How do you like to capture your ideas?

Like any big project, writing a book is best tackled by taking lots of small steps. You don’t need to start out by writing a full chapter — just a few notes will do. Get your memories and ideas down as they come; the order doesn’t matter at all. You can organise and build on these notes later.

Here are some things to consider:

Is writing by hand in a nice notebook your style?

Or perhaps typing on a computer, phone or tablet is more your groove.

Maybe you get into the flow of your thoughts best by speaking them aloud — a voice recorder is your friend, then!

Or you might want to skip words altogether, and draw your ideas and memories. You could translate these to words later, or include some of your sketches in your memoir.

When do you want your memoir finished?

Of course, our stories are never really over. It’s easy enough to leave any other kind of writing project unfinished, but even more so when we’re still living the story.

But we still want a finished book at some point!

So, set yourself a timeframe to get your memoir finished. Be both realistic and gentle with your goal-setting. (And remember that you’ll need time for revision, layout and design, proofreading, printing…)

How much writing time do you want to fit into a week? Factor in your other responsibilities, hobbies, relaxation time, and so on.

How long do you want your memoir to be? A weighty tome will take a lot longer to write than a pocket-book.

Who will keep you accountable? Self-discipline is all well and good, but motivation is usually much higher when other people know about our goals — and if we miss them!