Every ordinary life story is extraordinary!

Every ordinary life story is extraordinary!

Original Interviews Can Help You Write Memoirs

Original interviews provide facts and texture to an autobiography.

When I write my memoirs I plan to mix personal reflection and research with original interviews. I suggest you do this as well. You don’t have to interview everyone you’ve ever known, but I bet you’ll get some great material for inclusion in your life story if you talk to even a few of the people who have influenced you or impacted the direction that your life has taken.

If your parents are alive, get them to a tape or video recorder immediately! They will prove to be rich sources of information about your early life. An aunt, uncle, older neighbor or family friend can substitute or supplement if necessary. How about a teacher or professor? Even if he or she doesn’t remember much about you as a student, a teacher can describe the educational practices of the time and save you hours in the library or on the Internet, especially since the information will relate to the school you actually attended.

Your best friend while growing up, coming of age or during adulthood can lend yet a different perspective, as can a spouse. Even your children will be helpful in providing a vantage point that, by definition, you are incapable of having yourself. In rehashing old stories, my kids often serve up insight that reflects on my parenting. Sometimes their younger minds recall details that have not stuck with me. The simple interview can be enlightening as you write your memoirs and fill a lot of factual holes!

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Then just set up a chapter and start writing your memoir. Don’t worry about rules. There are no rules to writing your memoir; there are only trends. These trends are based on techniques and features identified in current top-selling memoirs. At best, they’re the flavor of the month. If you’re capturing your life in print for your family, for your own gratification or to inspire readers, rather than aiming to set off Hollywood screenplay bidding wars, these trends don’t even apply to you. You’ll write the memoir that suits you best, and it will be timeless, not trend-driven.There are no rules, but there are four steps:

1. Theme/framework
2. Writing
3. Editing/polishing
4. Self-publishing

You’ve researched this, too, and you’ve been shocked at the price for getting help with any one of those steps, much less all four. That’s because most memoir sites promise to commercialize your work. They’ll follow a formula based on current memoir trends, because they want to convince you that they can turn your memoir into a best-seller. These sites overwhelm you with unnecessary information not to help you, the memoir author, but to address Search Engine Optimization (SEO) algorithms so they can sell more.

That’s not what we do at Write My Memoirs. Our small community of coaches, writers and editors are every bit as skilled as any you’ll find, and we charge appropriately for their expertise and the time they’ll spend helping you craft a compelling, enjoyable read. But you won’t pay an upcharge for other websites’ commercialization, the marketing that follows, and the pages of intimidating “advice.” You can sell your book if you like—we have ISBNs available for you—but our organic process of capturing your story takes a noncommercial path.

If you want help with any or all of the four steps above, choose from our services or save money by selecting one of our packages. If you’d like to talk about what’s right for you, schedule a call. One year from now, you can be holding your published memoir in your hand. And at that point, it will be a big deal!

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