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Ideas for memoirs content

Your Memoir May Be Your Best Insurance Policy

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Your Memoir May Be Your Best Insurance Policy
An overflowing river roars through your ranch, sweeping away your possessions. A twisting tornado blows into your bungalow, scattering and smashing your belongings. An earthquake rumbles beneath your two-flat until all of your worldly goods come crashing to the ground. A fire, a hurricane—it takes just one natural disaster to break your heart. Your home videos are ruined. The artifact you brought home from a trip is in a million pieces. The jewelry with sentimental value is bent beyond recognition. Your treasured photographs, diary and birthday cards are now soaking wet, ripped to shreds or missing altogether.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal gets it. Surveying his state’s flood damage the other day, he worried out loud that people could lose property—“and their memories.??? Your home insurance may cover the expense of replacing a flooded car or crushed computer, but no insurance policy in the world can guard against heartbreak from losing your memories.
What there is, however, is your memoir. Preserving your memories in a permanent way—digitally online so that you can always publish them into a book if you choose—is an insurance policy in a way, ensuring that you’ll always have your words that express your feelings about what everything has meant to you. Include photos in your memoir so that you retain them. Write from your heart about your travels and the people you love. You never know when wind, water, fire or earth may threaten to claim your memories.

An overflowing river roars through your ranch, sweeping away your possessions. A twisting tornado blows into your bungalow, scattering and smashing your belongings. An earthquake rumbles beneath your two-flat until all of your worldly goods come crashing to the ground. A fire, a hurricane—it takes just one natural disaster to break your heart. Your home videos are ruined. The artifact you brought home from a trip is in a million pieces. The jewelry with sentimental value is bent beyond recognition. Your treasured photographs, diary and birthday cards are now soaking wet, ripped to shreds or missing altogether.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal gets it. Surveying his state’s flood damage the other day, he worried out loud that people could lose property—“and their memories.??? Your home insurance may cover the expense of replacing a flooded car or crushed computer, but no insurance policy in the world can guard against heartbreak from losing your memories.

What there is, however, is your memoir. Preserving your memories in a permanent way—digitally online so that you can always publish them into a book if you choose—is an insurance policy in a way, ensuring that you’ll always have your words that express your feelings about what everything has meant to you. Include photos in your memoir so that you retain them. Write from your heart about your travels and the people you love. You never know when wind, water, fire or earth may threaten to claim your memories.

Bin Laden’s Gone, But 9/11 Memoirs Live On

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Bin Laden’s Gone But 9/11 Memoirs Live On
You may think of history as a collection of hard facts, but much of our view of historical events is shaped by the memories of the people who lived them. As word of Bin Laden’s death spread, I thought about all of the people who might have written personal accounts of 9/11—everyone from decision makers like President George W. Bush to people who lost family members that day, first responders who survived and ordinary folks stunned by what had taken place. If you type “9/11 memoirs??? into the Google search engine, you’ll come up with about 80 pages of relevant links. Perhaps you’re including that day in your own memoirs.
When we write down how something momentous affected us, our collective memories create a narrative that future generations can access to get a feeling for the broad impact. A page at memoryarchive.org offers 200 snippets of memory inspired by 9/11. Reading one after another, you get a good idea of how people learned about what was going on that day and how they reacted.
No matter what you decide to include in your memoirs, your writing becomes part of the historical record. That’s another good reason to write and perhaps publish your life story, because then your voice contributes to the ever-changing description of the landscape of the time. Your life is unique, but your surroundings are common to many people’s stories. It’s how you manage them that makes you an interesting person.

You may think of history as a collection of hard facts, but much of our view of historical events is shaped by the memories of the people who lived them. As word of Bin Laden’s death spread, I thought about all of the people who might have written personal accounts of 9/11—everyone from decision makers like President George W. Bush to people who lost family members that day, first responders who survived and ordinary folks stunned by what had taken place. If you type “9/11 memoirs??? into the Google search engine, you’ll come up with about 80 pages of relevant links. Perhaps you’re including that day in your own memoirs.

When we write down how something momentous affected us, our collective memories create a narrative that future generations can access to get a feeling for the broad impact. A page at memoryarchive.org offers 200 snippets of memory inspired by 9/11. Reading one after another, you get a good idea of how people learned about what was going on that day and how they reacted.

No matter what you decide to include in your memoirs, your writing becomes part of the historical record. That’s another good reason to write and perhaps publish your life story, because then your voice contributes to the ever-changing description of the landscape of the time. Your life is unique, but your surroundings are common to many people’s stories. It’s how you manage them that makes you an interesting person.

Looking for Genealogy Help With Your Memoirs?

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Looking for Genealogy Help With Your Memoirs?
If you’ve decided to write your memoirs, you might wonder, “Where do I begin???? A really good place to start is with research. If you can’t name an ancestor farther back than Grandma, perhaps you would like to trace your genealogy through a few more generations.
I had no idea there were nearly 300,000 genealogy websites, but apparently there are and they’re all listed on Cyndi’s List. If it sounds like a daunting amount of work to go through so many sites, Cyndi’s List jump-starts your search by breaking the sites down to 180+ categories. Interested in passports? You’ll have your choice of 52 internet sites. Want to track down a member of the military? Check out any of 368 sites. Are your ancestors Australian? More than 1,200 sites can point you in the right direction.
The genealogist who owns the 15-year-old site, Cyndi Howell, also has written three books about going online to explore your ancestry. In her blogs, she emphasizes that the internet is a delivery system for traditional sources, not a new source in itself. It’s time-consuming, and you will be wise to keep a file on your computer with a few notes about the sites you’ve visited. Still, it brings all the libraries into your home and lets you sift through information without lifting a book. You never know what you’ll discover about your own family that will add richness to your memoirs!

If you’ve decided to write your memoirs, you might wonder, “Where do I begin???? A really good place to start is with research. If you can’t name an ancestor farther back than Grandma, perhaps you would like to trace your genealogy through a few more generations.

I had no idea there were nearly 300,000 genealogy websites, but apparently there are and they’re all listed on Cyndi’s List. If it sounds like a daunting task to go through so many sites, Cyndi’s List jump-starts your search by breaking the sites down to 180+ categories. Interested in passports? You’ll have your choice of 52 internet sites. Want to track down a member of the military? Check out any of 368 sites. Are your ancestors Australian? More than 1,200 sites can point you in the right direction.

The genealogist who owns the 15-year-old site, Cyndi Howell, also has written three books about going online to explore your ancestry. In her blogs, she emphasizes that the internet is a delivery system for traditional sources, not a new source in itself. It’s time-consuming, and you will be wise to keep a file on your computer with a few notes about the sites you’ve visited. Still, it brings all the libraries into your home and lets you sift through information without lifting a book. You never know what you’ll discover about your own family that will add richness to your memoirs!

Writing in Another Person’s Voice

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Writing in Another Person’s Voice
It’s easy to become part of interesting discussions on social networking sites and, of course, we always invite you to ask questions or contribute thoughts on our WriteMyMemoirs page on Facebook. Over on LinkedIn recently, on a page called “Women’s Memoirs,??? a member asked for advice about writing a memoir for her deceased brother. She wanted to write it in his voice and wondered how to go about doing that.
I understand the desire to do this for someone you’ve lost, but ultimately I don’t believe it’s fair unless it was discussed at length before the person’s death. It’s one thing to be the ghostwriter—please forgive the apt term in this case—when all you’re doing is putting down on paper what the person had intended to write himself if he hadn’t run out of time or been too weak or whatever kept him from completing his memoir. But it’s another thing to take it upon yourself to write in his voice just because you think he might have liked that or for your own satisfaction.
The special nature of a memoir is that it’s so much a piece of us. We each have a voice. When that voice is silenced, I don’t believe anyone else has a right to assume it. If you want to do that, then you should call your book “fiction??? or “fictionalized history.??? Otherwise, my advice to that man’s sister is to focus her own memoir on her memories of her brother. That’s fair.

It’s easy to become part of interesting discussions on social networking sites and, of course, we always invite you to ask questions or contribute thoughts on our WriteMyMemoirs page on Facebook. Over on LinkedIn recently, on a page called “Women’s Memoirs,??? a member asked for advice about writing a memoir for her deceased brother. She wanted to write it in his voice and wondered how to go about doing that.

I understand the desire to do this for someone you’ve lost, but ultimately I don’t believe it’s fair unless it was discussed at length before the person’s death. It’s one thing to be the ghostwriter—please forgive the apt term in this case—when all you’re doing is putting down on paper what the person had intended to write himself if he hadn’t run out of time or been too weak or whatever kept him from completing his memoir. But it’s another thing to take it upon yourself to write in his voice just because you think he might have liked that or for your own satisfaction.

The special nature of a memoir is that it’s so much a piece of us. We each have a voice. When that voice is silenced, I don’t believe anyone else has a right to assume it. If you want to do that, then you should call your book “fiction??? or “fictionalized history.??? Otherwise, my advice to that man’s sister is to focus her own memoir on her memories of her brother. That’s fair.

Oprah Says: Your Memoirs May Help Others

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Oprah Says: Your Memoirs May Help Others
Did you see Oprah’s recent interview of Meredith Baxter? Meredith has been making the talk show circuit to publicize her new memoir, Untied, and Oprah devoted a full hour to the book. Like many memoirs, Baxter’s story revealed a life filled with personal challenges. She grew up with neglectful parents, faced spousal abuse, took up alcohol for a time, battled cancer and came out as a lesbian. It’s not your typical life.
But unusual circumstances are exactly what prompt many people to write their memoirs. Part of the motivation is that catharsis of getting it all out there and off your chest. But Oprah hit it when she mentioned the other part: hoping to save others from the same fate. We all can feel so alone when dealing with hardship. Reading other people’s accounts of how they handled that same difficulty can make us feel less alone as well as, perhaps, showing us ways to solve our problems. Although I don’t remember her exact words, I recall hearing Oprah making a very pointed statement, something like: you hope when you write these things that you’ll help other people who find themselves in a similar situation.
Now and then one of our members confirms that, telling us, “I had a terrible childhood and want my story out there to help others.??? The memoir can serve as a cautionary tale or an uplifting assurance of redemption. If Oprah says so, it must be true!

Blog 82Did you see Oprah’s recent interview of Meredith Baxter? Meredith has been making the talk show circuit to publicize her new memoir, Untied, and Oprah devoted a full hour to the book. Like many memoirs, Baxter’s autobiography revealed a life filled with personal challenges. She grew up with neglectful parents, faced spousal abuse, took up alcohol for a time, battled cancer and came out as a lesbian. It’s not your typical life.

But unusual circumstances are exactly what prompt many people to write their memoirs. Part of the motivation is that catharsis of getting it all out there and off your chest, and Oprah really nailed it when she mentioned the other part: hoping to save others from the same fate. We all can feel so alone when dealing with hardship. Reading other people’s accounts of how they handled that same difficulty can make us feel less alone as well as, perhaps, showing us ways to solve our problems. Although I don’t remember her exact words, I recall hearing Oprah making a very pointed statement, something like: you hope when you write these things that you’ll help other people who find themselves in a similar situation.

Now and then one of our members confirms that, telling us, “I had a terrible childhood and want my story out there to help others.??? The memoir can serve as a cautionary tale or an uplifting assurance of redemption. If Oprah says so, it must be true!

Oates Memoir Examines a Familiar Emotion: Grief

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Oates Memoir Examines a Familiar Emotion: Grief
I’ve enjoyed some fiction by prolific author Joyce Carol Oates, so I was interested to learn that she’s written a memoir that does not follow the traditional mold of telling her life story but, rather, covers primarily the mourning period that somewhat paralyzed her creativity after her husband’s death. The recently published book, A Widow’s Story: A Memoir, was featured this past Sunday in the New York Times Book Review.
As a memoir writer yourself, you may fear that you have nothing new to say about life on earth, that every observation already has found its way into print or onto the Internet. Oates is not the first woman in her late 60s to lose a husband to pneumonia at age 77. This is not a tragic tale; it’s an ordinary one. Yet every story is different. To be sure, Oates brings her considerable gifts as a writer to keep the reader engaged in her narrative, but the real hook is simply the uniqueness of every human experience, every personal relationship, every life.
You don’t have to blaze new ground with your memoir. While many people may share your history in one aspect or another, no one has built the same combination of experiences. You are sole owner of the episodes in your life, and your recollections further reveal your unique reactions. Someone else would have made other choices, acted in different ways. Your memoir will be something that no one else could have authored—only you.

blog81I’ve enjoyed some fiction by prolific author Joyce Carol Oates, so I was interested to learn that she’s written a memoir that does not follow the traditional mold of telling her life story but, rather, covers primarily the mourning period that somewhat paralyzed her creativity after her husband’s death. The recently published book, A Widow’s Story: A Memoir, was featured this past Sunday in the New York Times Book Review.

As a memoir writer yourself, you may fear that you have nothing new to say about life on earth, that every observation already has found its way into print or onto the Internet. Oates is not the first woman in her late 60s to lose a husband to pneumonia at age 77. This is not a tragic tale; it’s an ordinary one. Yet every story is different. To be sure, Oates brings her considerable gifts as a writer to keep the reader engaged in her narrative, but the real hook is simply the uniqueness of every human experience, every personal relationship, every life.

You don’t have to blaze new ground with your memoir. While many people may share your history in one aspect or another, no one has built the same combination of experiences. You are sole owner of the episodes in your life, and your recollections further reveal your unique reactions. Someone else would have made other choices, acted in different ways. Your memoir will be something that no one else could have authored—only you.

Controversial “Tiger Mother??? Demonstrates the Potential Impact of a Memoir

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Controversial “Tiger Mother??? Demonstrates the Potential Impact of a Memoir
By now you would think that every book on parenting has been published and no one could come up with anything new. Then Yale professor Amy Chua pens her memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and suddenly everyone’s talking about how to raise kids as if it were a brand new topic.
Currently perched at #3 on the New York Times Bestseller List, Tiger Mother examines, but largely champions, the traditional Chinese method of raising children. High expectations, top grades, gold medals in musical competitions—it’s all in there as you would expect. Chua is happy that she was brought up that way and tried to repeat the process with her two second-generation daughters, insisting that it generates self-esteem, independence and success.
This is Chua’s third book, so she already was an accomplished author. She reportedly received a six-figure advance and had a publishing company behind her to promote the book. Still, Chua says she’s surprised her memoir has touched off this firestorm of controversy. In the first week after The Wall Street Journal published an excerpt, more than 5,000 comments followed it. This demonstrates that when you have a compelling story to tell, you never know—it might just become a literary phenomenon.

Blog 80By now you would think that every book on parenting has been published and no one could come up with anything new. Then Yale professor Amy Chua pens her memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and suddenly everyone’s talking about how to raise kids as if it were a brand new topic.

Currently perched at #3 on the New York Times Bestseller List, Tiger Mother examines, and largely champions, the traditional Chinese method of raising children. High expectations, top grades, gold medals in musical competitions—it’s all in there as you would expect. Chua is grateful that she was brought up that way and tried to repeat the process with her two second-generation daughters, insisting that it generates self-esteem, independence and success.

This is Chua’s third book, so she already was an accomplished author. She reportedly received a six-figure advance and had a publishing company behind her to promote the book. Still, Chua says she’s surprised her memoir has touched off this firestorm of controversy. In the first week after The Wall Street Journal published an excerpt, more than 5,000 comments followed it. This demonstrates that when you have a compelling story to tell, you never know—it might just become a literary phenomenon.

Your Name as a Pun in the Title of Your Memoir

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Your Name as a Pun in the Title of Your Memoir
To pick up from the post two weeks ago, as promised I will share with you some autobiography titles that are puns. The idea is to think of your first or last name as if it’s just a word. Does it sound like any other word? If that doesn’t work, maybe your story focuses heavily on your profession and you can use that instead. An example is the memoir of singer Davy Jones, They Made a Monkee Out of Me.
Some names are easier than others. When Chris Lemmon wrote a biography of his father, actor Jack Lemmon, their shared last name served up all sorts of ideas. He could have selected “Lemmon Aid??? or “Lemmon Juice??? or something, but he chose A Twist of Lemmon. The 2009 autobiography of “Full House??? actress Jody Sweetin is titled Unsweetined: A Memoir, while actor David Hasselhoff drew from both his name and his nickname to publish Don’t Hassel the Hoff.
“M.A.S.H.??? actor Jamie Farr could have gone with the obvious and called his memoir something like “Going Too Farr,??? but instead he chose to make the pun on the word “for??? and titled it Just Farr Fun. Go figure. Probably my favorite pun title belongs to Hank Ketchum, the creator of Dennis the Menace, who named his autobiography Merchant of Dennis. Give it some thought. Maybe hidden in your name lies the potential to devise a catchy title for your life story

To pick up from the post two weeks ago, as promised I will share with you some autobiography titles that are puns. The idea is to think of your first or last name as if it’s just a word. Does it sound like any other word? If that doesn’t work, maybe your story focuses heavily on your profession and you can use that instead. An example is the memoir of singer Davy Jones, They Made a Monkee Out of Me.

Some names are easier than others. When Chris Lemmon wrote a biography of his father, actor Jack Lemmon, their shared last name served up all sorts of ideas. He could have selected “Lemmon Aid??? or “Lemmon Juice??? or something, but he chose A Twist of Lemmon. The 2009 autobiography of “Full House??? actress Jody Sweetin is titled Unsweetined: A Memoir, while actor David Hasselhoff drew from both his name and his nickname to publish Don’t Hassel the Hoff.

“M.A.S.H.??? actor Jamie Farr could have gone with the obvious and called his memoir something like “Going Too Farr,??? but instead he chose to make the pun on the word “for??? and titled it Just Farr Fun. Go figure. Probably my favorite pun title belongs to Hank Ketchum, the creator of Dennis the Menace, who named his autobiography Merchant of Dennis. Give it some thought. Maybe hidden in your name lies the potential to devise a catchy title for your life story that no one else is likely to have.

A Posthumous Memoir Can Honor a Loved One

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Before I supply those puns I promised last time, I want to take this last blog post of the year to discuss a more serious matter. Last week one of my relatives lost his dad. His grandchildren are grown and got to know him, but his little great-grandchildren never will. That got us thinking here at WriteMyMemoirs about how to honor a loved one who has passed away.

When someone dies, the family typically hears all sorts of nice comments about the person. Friends and relatives tell stories you may not have heard before. You already have your account on WriteMyMemoirs, so it’s easy to write these down so that you never forget them. Just go to the table of contents and set up a new chapter with the name of the person whose memory you want to honor. It doesn’t have to be a family member; it can be a friend. Start with your own testimonial, and invite others to email you their comments that you can then copy into the chapter. With photos of the person at different ages, your tribute will be complete.

After you have recorded as many comments as you feel necessary, you can have a small memorial book published right here on WriteMyMemoirs by going to our Publishing Page. Distribute one copy to every person who contributed thoughts, and save a few for future generations to come along. This could be an amazing tribute to someone you miss.

Choose the Right Title for Your Memoir

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Is there any such thing really as a “right title??? for your memoir? Maybe not, but before you go calling it My Life—or just Life, which is what Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards called his—at least give some thought to what differentiates your life story from every other one out there.

Maybe it’s your career. Let’s say you’re an accountant or bookkeeper. You could title your book It All Adds Up. Or, instead, you could refer to a cherished hobby. If you love working with your hands, for example, you could name your book Crafting a Life. Perhaps you identify most with being a parent. Then you might choose a title like A Dad’s Tale. If you prefer to focus on how your upbringing shaped your life, you could try something specific like Shy Daughter in a Show Biz Family.

Many of us have a favorite saying that we repeat often and can be reworked to serve as a handy title for an autobiography. For example, if you mention in your book that you’re constantly saying, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,??? you could call your book Still in the Kitchen as a way to show that you’re always willing to stand up for your beliefs. And then there are puns. Oh, the puns! Let’s save those for next time.

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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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