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Ideas for memoirs content

Good Week to Start Your Memoir

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Good Week to Start Your Memoir
Lately we’ve been getting a lot of new members at WriteMyMemoirs, and we want to welcome all of you. However, we notice that many of you who have signed up recently have not yet gotten into the nitty-gritty of the writing. This is a great week to start—especially for Americans—for several reasons:
1. Today is a sad anniversary in the U.S. You’ve probably compared notes many times about “Where were you when JFK was shot?” So you already have that scene of receiving tragic news burned into your memory. You were at school or at work or at home, or maybe serving your country. You can start a chapter just describing what life was like for you at the time, and then go back to earlier in your life as well as crafting chapters on what happened next.
2. Thanksgiving is a holiday of traditions. What are yours? Think about all of the Thanksgiving dinners you’ve cooked and attended, and how they’ve changed over the years. Begin with the one you liked to write about most. You even could use this as a theme and start each chapter with the scene of a special holiday or tradition to makes a truly unique memoir.
3. Get your memoirs underway now, and when the year ends you’ll have a six-week head start on what is sure to be one of your New Year’s resolutions!
We at WriteMyMemoirs wish all celebrants a Happy Thanksgiving!

Lately we’ve been getting a lot of new members at WriteMyMemoirs, and we want to welcome all of you. However, we notice that many of you who have signed up recently have not yet gotten into the nitty-gritty of the writing. This is a great week to start—especially for Americans—for several reasons:

  1. Today is a sad anniversary in the U.S. You’ve probably compared notes many times about “Where were you when JFK was shot?” So you already have that scene of receiving tragic news burned into your memory. You were at school or at work or at home, or maybe serving your country. You can start a chapter just describing what life was like for you at the time, and then go back to earlier in your life as well as crafting chapters on what happened next.
  2. Thanksgiving is a holiday of traditions. What are yours? Think about all of the Thanksgiving dinners you’ve cooked and attended, and how they’ve changed over the years. Begin with the one you’d like to write about most. You even could use this as a theme and start each chapter with the scene of a special holiday or tradition to make a truly unique memoir.
  3. Get your memoirs underway now, and when the year ends you’ll have a six-week head start on what is sure to be one of your New Year’s resolutions!

We at WriteMyMemoirs wish all celebrants a Happy Thanksgiving!

Online Research Supplies Memoir Details

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Online Research Supplies Memoir Details
To write your memoirs, you probably rely primarily on your own memory. But no one remembers everything accurately. If you and your sibling compare notes about an anecdote from your early family life, you’ll likely find discrepancies with no way to tell whose description is closer to what actually happened.
But some facts are verifiable. When and where was that uncle born? In what year did that neighbor die? What was the weather like that day? What street did that friend live on? All of these details add texture to your writing even if they’re not essential to the core of your story.
Today, you can locate many of these facts from the comfort of your computer desk. Most ancestral websites—ancestry.com and archives.com are two—require payment to get to the records. But they also tend to offer a free seven-day period to try out the site. You will have to register, but you won’t have to pay. As you write, leave the dates and places in question blank. When you’ve finished the rest of your memoir, make a list of all of the people you need to research, and try to fit that research into the free seven-day period. Weather on a day in history is easy—and free. Try almanac.com, farmersalmanac.com or weather.org. Finding an old address is trickier, and your best bet for that, as well as some birth, death and marriage records, is to go through local resources. Check out the tips at howtoinvestigate.com.

To write your memoirs, you probably rely primarily on your own memory. But no one remembers everything accurately. If you and your sibling compare notes about an anecdote from your early family life, you’ll likely find discrepancies with no way to tell whose description is closer to what actually happened.

But some facts are verifiable. When and where was that uncle born? In what year did that neighbor die? What was the weather like that day? What street did that friend live on? All of these details add texture to your writing even if they’re not essential to the core of your story.

Today, you can locate many of these facts from the comfort of your computer desk. Most ancestral websites—ancestry.com and archives.com are two—require payment to get to the records. But they also tend to offer a free seven-day period to try out the site. You will have to register, but you won’t have to pay. As you write, leave the dates and places in question blank. When you’ve finished the rest of your memoir, make a list of all of the people you need to research, and try to fit that research into the free seven-day period. Weather on a day in history is easy—and free. Try almanac.com, farmersalmanac.com or weather.org. Finding an old address is trickier, and your best bet for that, as well as some birth, death and marriage records, is to go through local resources. Check out the tips at howtoinvestigate.com.

Why Your Life Is Interesting

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Why Your Life Is Interesting
A common theme running through much of the email we receive at WriteMyMemoirs essentially asks: “Is my life interesting?” Typically, the email writer provides a synopsis of his or her life, or maybe just a few of the highlights, to help us determine whether this is a life worth documenting, a story someone would want to read. We believe in the power of the memoir, so it will come as no surprise that we respond to these emails with a resounding, “Yes!”
First, it’s our conviction that every life story is interesting. People are like snowflakes—no two of us are alike. Every personality is unique. Just as unique and unpredictable is the path we each take, the people we encounter along that path and our individual responses to the route’s scenery, delights and obstacles. Even identical twins, with the same parents and general upbringing, have vastly different tales to tell.
Second, you’re living in a fast-moving world. You’re an eyewitness to pivotal technological developments, monumental changes in global politics, devastating natural disasters and countless incidents of joy and triumph. As you were growing up, you couldn’t have imagined what might impact your life. Now that you have tackled the difficulties and enjoyed the pleasures, write about it! Your family will appreciate it, friends will cherish your words and your time here on earth will be remembered. Is your life interesting? You bet.

A common theme running through much of the email we receive at WriteMyMemoirs essentially asks: “Is my life interesting?” Typically, the email writer provides a synopsis of his or her life, or maybe just a few of the highlights, to help us determine whether this is a life worth documenting, a story someone would want to read. We believe in the power of the memoir, so it will come as no surprise that we respond to these emails with a resounding, “Yes!”

First, it’s our conviction that every life story is interesting. People are like snowflakes—no two of us are alike. Every personality is unique. Just as unique and unpredictable is the path we each take, the people we encounter along that path and our individual responses to the route’s scenery, delights and obstacles. Even identical twins, with the same parents and general upbringing, have vastly different tales to tell.

Second, you’re living in a fast-moving world. You’re an eyewitness to pivotal technological developments, monumental changes in global politics, devastating natural disasters and countless incidents of joy and triumph. As you were growing up, you couldn’t have imagined what might impact your life. Now that you have tackled the difficulties and enjoyed the pleasures, write about it! Your family will appreciate it, friends will cherish your words and your time here on earth will be remembered. Is your life interesting? You bet.

Memorable Memoir Titles

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Memorable Memoir Titles
Let’s look at some titles that aren’t just of the “My Life” variety but truly reflect the personality of the author/subject. To capture humor, many people go for a pun. We’ve already covered a lot of those in a previous Write My Memoirs blog.
I know that you can come up with something catchy for your memoir, because some of the most famous titles are those of memoirs. Cheaper By the Dozen recounted Frank B. Gilbreth Jr.’s years growing up in a big family. The full title of Frank McCourt’s best-seller is Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir, even though people refer to it by only its first two words. The quintessential Holocaust story, Elie Wiesel’s Night, is autobiographical, as are Maya Angelou’s iconic I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and the newer Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. The shortened titles of Barack Obama’s two autobiographical tomes, Dreams of My Father and The Audacity of Hope, already have become everyday phrases.
Your title does not have to be long. Even a one-word title can say a mouthful, previewing for the reader the key components of the contents. The currently popular Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and comedienne Tina Fey’s Bossypants are good examples. If you want to make sure people know that your work is autobiographical, you can tack on the explanation after a colon, as in Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Give it some thought! Your life deserves better than “My Life.”

Let’s look at some titles that aren’t just of the “My Life” variety but truly reflect the personality of the author/subject. To capture humor, many people go for a pun. We’ve already covered a lot of those in a previous Write My Memoirs blog.

I know that you can come up with something catchy for your memoir, because some of the most famous titles are those of memoirs. Cheaper By the Dozen recounted Frank B. Gilbreth Jr.’s years growing up in a big family. The full title of Frank McCourt’s best-seller is Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir, even though people refer to it by only its first two words. The quintessential Holocaust story, Elie Wiesel’s Night, is autobiographical, as are Maya Angelou’s iconic I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and the newer Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. The shortened titles of Barack Obama’s two autobiographical tomes, Dreams of My Father and The Audacity of Hope, already have become everyday phrases.

Your title does not have to be long. Even a one-word title can say a mouthful, previewing for the reader the key components of the contents. The currently popular Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and comedienne Tina Fey’s Bossypants are good examples. If you want to make sure people know that your work is autobiographical, you can tack on the explanation after a colon, as in Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Give it some thought! Your life deserves better than “My Life.”

Your Memoir Can Become a Valuable Artifact

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Your Memoir Can Become a Valuable Artifact
You’re probably writing your memoir in order to provide your family with a written account of your life, which is part of their own personal history. Or you may hope to sell the memoir and make money, or to get it into stores and libraries so that it has a wider impact and people who’ve met the same challenges will have a voice. Either way, please also consider donating your memoir to the local historical society where you grew up or may still be living.
With that in mind, include memories of your surroundings and the events that shaped not only your life but the lives of those around you. Perhaps you witnessed a town’s only tornado, its big earthquake or the “snowstorm of the century.??? Maybe you remember the business district when it had just a handful of merchants, or you can picture farmland where a highway now runs. A colorful civic leader or resident may have made an impact on you. When you learned to drive, how much did it cost to fill up the tank at the gas station that still sits on the corner?
Your life represents a moment in time that we’ll never get back. The era’s good and bad are all worth documenting. As you write about your individual experiences, don’t forget that you’re part of a generation, a member of a society and a writer who has a fascinating story to tell not just about yourself, but about life as we knew it.

You’re probably writing your memoir in order to provide your family with a written account of your life, which is part of their own personal history. Or you may hope to sell the memoir and make money, or to get it into stores and libraries so that it has a wider impact and people who’ve met the same challenges will have a voice. Either way, please also consider donating your memoir to the local historical society where you grew up or may still be living.

With that in mind, include memories of your surroundings and the events that shaped not only your life but the lives of those around you. Perhaps you witnessed a town’s only tornado, its big earthquake or the “snowstorm of the century.??? Maybe you remember the business district when it had just a handful of merchants, or you can picture farmland where a highway now runs. A colorful civic leader or resident may have made an impact on you. When you learned to drive, how much did it cost to fill up the tank at the gas station that still sits on the corner?

Your life represents a moment in time that we’ll never get back. The era’s good and bad are all worth documenting. As you write about your individual experiences, don’t forget that you’re part of a generation, a member of a society and a writer who has a fascinating story to tell not just about yourself, but about life as we knew it.

Branding Yourself With a Memoir

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Branding Yourself: the Memoir Piece
If you have your own business, marketers recommend branding yourself as the best way to establish expertise in your field. Branding yourself simply refers to controlling how you’re defined and then getting your name, and even your face, out there in front of current and potential customers. Today people rely on blogs, podcasts, Facebook, Twitter and the “dinosaur??? of branding—personal appearances.
It’s also smart to become an author. Once you’ve written a book, you have something tangible to talk about as well as a reference through which people can learn more about you. You might be able to get the press to review the book or schedule radio interviews to talk about it. Typically, your book will deal with subject matter relating to your industry. A chef writes a cookbook; a landscape architect might publish a guide to creating a beautiful yard. But to let people get to know you and want to work with you, what’s more effective than writing a memoir?
It doesn’t have to be a long book recounting your entire life story. You can be very selective about the stories from your life that you share. In fact, a smaller book makes it easy to mail out to people or show in pdf form on your website. Instead of including TMI—too much information—you can focus on topics such as what inspired you to go into your field and perhaps some of your most interesting projects. The memoir itself will set you apart from your competition!

If you have your own business, marketers recommend branding yourself as the best way to establish expertise in your field. Branding yourself simply refers to controlling how you’re defined and then getting your name, and even your face, out there in front of current and potential customers. Today people rely on blogs, podcasts, Facebook, Twitter and the “dinosaur??? of branding—personal appearances.

It’s also smart to become an author. Once you’ve written a book, you have something tangible to talk about as well as a reference through which people can learn more about you. You might be able to get the press to review the book or schedule radio interviews to talk about it. Typically, your book will deal with subject matter relating to your industry. A chef writes a cookbook; a landscape architect might publish a guide to creating a beautiful yard. But to let people get to know you and want to work with you, what’s more effective than writing a memoir?

It doesn’t have to be a long book recounting your entire life story. You can be very selective about the stories from your life that you share. In fact, a smaller book makes it easy to mail out to people or show in pdf form on your website. Instead of including TMI—too much information—you can focus on topics such as what inspired you to go into your field and perhaps some of your most interesting projects. The memoir itself will set you apart from your competition!

This is the 100th Write My Memoirs Blog!

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This is the 100th Write My Memoirs Blog!
As I sat down to blog today, as I do every Tuesday, I noticed that this is a milestone—number 100! As you reflect on your life in order to write your memoirs, maybe it’s time for us to reflect on the journey that we continue to take here at WriteMyMemoirs.com.
We use the blog to alert you to changes within the website, bring to your attention interesting memoirs by celebrities and others, link you to pertinent websites, provide grammar and writing tips and motivate you to start writing and stick with it! We blogged about a book that traced the history of the memoir writing tradition. We suggested you use your own annual holiday letters to build the foundation for your memoir. We followed up our discussion of the six-word memoir fad with an offer to help you publish a short book—not limited to six words, but up to 20 pages. And we urged you not to put off writing your story, because you can never be sure that your health, availability and resources will remain in place.
We appreciate all of you who read the blog, find us on Google, sign up and email us with your questions and comments. Currently we are planning changes to the website that we hope will make it easier than ever to be here, and we’re expanding our publishing options and writing help so that your memoir turns out exactly how you dream it will.

Sitting down to blog today, something I do every Tuesday, I noticed that this is a milestone—number 100! As you reflect on your life in order to write your memoirs, maybe it’s time for us to reflect on the journey that we continue to take here at WriteMyMemoirs.com.

We use the blog to alert you to changes within the website, bring to your attention interesting memoirs by celebrities and others, link you to pertinent websites, provide grammar and writing tips and motivate you to start writing and stick with it! We blogged about a book that traced the history of the memoir writing tradition. We suggested you use your own annual holiday letters to build the foundation for your memoir. We followed up our discussion of the six-word memoir fad with an offer to help you publish a short book—not limited to six words, but up to 20 pages. And we urged you not to put off writing your story, because you can never be sure that your health, availability and resources will remain in place.

We appreciate all of you who read the blog, find us on Google, sign up and email us with your questions and comments. Currently we are planning changes to the website that we hope will make it easier than ever to be here, and we’re expanding our publishing options and writing help so that your memoir turns out exactly how you dream it will.

Memoirs From Prison, Part II: Why?

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Memoirs From Prison, Part II: Why?
Hope all of our Americans had a great Fourth of July! Patriotism plays a role in so many memoirs. But today I want to follow up on last week’s blog about the abundance of prison memoirs. What makes people so reflective once they get behind bars?
There’s the obvious—they have more time on their hands than the rest of us do. Also, writing keeps the mind occupied. A blogger, Caleb Smith, posts this explanation from an essay written by Jay Parini: “These books are about self-realization as well as self-justification. They describe a similar pattern: getting into trouble, confronting the claustrophobic and unforgiving world of prison, dealing with growing despair until something or somebody offers a crack in the wall, a little bit of daylight shining through. After a great deal of soul-searching, the writer/prisoner reaches a fresh sense of selfhood, coming to terms with the original sin, forgiving himself or herself. In the very best of these memoirs—especially with a prisoner of conscience or one unjustly jailed—there is often a redeeming social vision at work. The genre bleeds into that of spiritual autobiography.???
I see that same soul-searching as part of lots of memoirs, not just those coming out of Sing Sing. Parini’s insight about people’s need to forgive themselves applies to the broader population as well. Writing our memoirs helps us along that path of self-awareness, forgiveness and, ultimately, redemption.

Hope all of our Americans had a great Fourth of July! Patriotism plays a role in so many memoirs. But today I want to follow up on last week’s blog about the abundance of prison memoirs. What makes people so reflective once they get behind bars?

There’s the obvious—they have more time on their hands than the rest of us do. Also, writing keeps the mind occupied. A blogger, Caleb Smith, posts this explanation from an essay written by Jay Parini: “These books are about self-realization as well as self-justification. They describe a similar pattern: getting into trouble, confronting the claustrophobic and unforgiving world of prison, dealing with growing despair until something or somebody offers a crack in the wall, a little bit of daylight shining through. After a great deal of soul-searching, the writer/prisoner reaches a fresh sense of selfhood, coming to terms with the original sin, forgiving himself or herself. In the very best of these memoirs—especially with a prisoner of conscience or one unjustly jailed—there is often a redeeming social vision at work. The genre bleeds into that of spiritual autobiography.???

I see that same soul-searching as part of lots of memoirs, not just those coming out of Sing Sing. Parini’s insight about people’s need to forgive themselves applies to the broader population as well. Writing our memoirs helps us along that path of self-awareness, forgiveness and, ultimately, redemption.

Prison Experience Inspires Memoirs

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When former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick announced from prison his intention to write a memoir, MLive.com blogger Jeff Wattrick responded with a list of his top five jailhouse autobiographies. Now that my own former Governor, Rod Blagojevich, has been convicted and likely faces incarceration, I thought I’d review Jeff’s list in case Rod wants to start writing.

  1. In the Belly of the Beast, by Jack Abbott, who had help from Norman Mailer in publishing his book. Six months after being released from prison, Abbott killed a man and was sent back to jail, where he committed suicide.
  2. Soul on Ice, by Eldridge Cleaver, the Black Panther leader who authored this late 1960s fresh look at race relations that became a classic.
  3. Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes. More autobiographical novel than memoir, the book and subsequent Broadway musical provided insight into the minds of those who tilt at windmills.
  4. The Gulag Archipelago, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. This one’s autobiographical history, giving readers an education about Russia, freedom and suffering.
  5. Son of Hope, by David Berkowitz, also known as Son of Sam. His memoir prompted New York and other states to pass “Son of Sam??? laws to keep criminals from earning profits from their memoirs.

Next week I’ll discuss what motivates prisoners to write memoirs behind bars.

Baby Boomer Grandparents Are Sure to Write Memoirs

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Baby Boomer Grandparents Are Sure to Write Memoirs
With about 10,000 of the American baby boom generation turning 65 each day for the next 19 years, we should see boomers put the boom in the memoir trend.  They’ve redefined every stage of life, and there’s no reason to expect grandparenthood to be different. Consider:
There’s lots to write about. Boomers have been flower children in Haight Ashbury and soldiers in Viet Nam. They’ve marched for civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights and even animal rights. They make up a hefty piece of the workforce in every industry from finance and manufacturing to education, medicine and law. They’ve packed a lot into their 65 years.
Boomers talk about themselves. Whether you view them as narcissistic and egocentric or generously giving and open to sharing, there’s little argument that boomers have made an art of navel gazing. Will they leave this world without documenting their lives? Unlikely.
Being a grandparent is motivating. People want the next generation to have personal and family information about what came before.
It’s easier than ever to write an autobiography. Computers make all the difference. Word processing software provides spellcheck and grammarcheck, while the Internet offers places like our WriteMyMemoirs website for you to access tips and help to get your stories online and into print.
If you were born between 1946 and 1964, you’re a baby boomer. And if you’re here on the Memoirs site, you’ve been thinking that maybe it’s time you wrote your life story. As one of 78 million in your generation, you’re not the only one with that idea.

With about 10,000 of the American baby boom generation turning 65 each day for the next 19 years, we should see boomers put the boom in the memoir trend.  They’ve redefined every stage of life, and there’s no reason to expect grandparenthood to be different. Consider:

  • There’s lots to write about. Boomers have been flower children in Haight Ashbury and soldiers in Viet Nam. They’ve marched for civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights and even animal rights. They make up a hefty piece of the workforce in every industry from finance and manufacturing to education, medicine and law. They’ve packed a lot into their 65 years.
  • Boomers talk about themselves. Whether you view them as narcissistic and egocentric or generously giving and open to sharing, there’s little argument that boomers have made an art of navel gazing. Will they leave this world without documenting their lives? Unlikely.
  • Being a grandparent is motivating. People want the next generation to have personal and family information about what came before.
  • It’s easier than ever to write an autobiography. Computers make all the difference. Word processing software provides spellcheck and grammarcheck, while the Internet offers places like our WriteMyMemoirs website for you to access tips and help to get your stories online and into print.

If you were born between 1946 and 1964, you’re a baby boomer. And if you’re here on the Memoirs site, you’ve been thinking that maybe it’s time you wrote your life story. As one of 78 million in your generation, you may not be the only one with that idea, but your story will still be unique!

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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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