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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.

"One Book" Concept Sweeps the Country’s Libraries

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“One Book??? Concept Sweeps the Country’s Libraries
If you’re writing your memoir, you probably enjoy reading. Many communities have encouraged their residents’ love of reading with a simple initiative, “One Book.??? The idea is for everyone in the community to read a selected book and then gather to discuss it, perhaps inviting the author to town to participate and scheduling ancillary events. Typically, the library assumes the focus and administration of the activities.
Detroit book enthusiasts are spending the year exploring The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. In Richardson, TX, they’re reading Jamie Ford’s best-selling first novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Chicago, which selects a book twice each year, chose Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman for spring 2011, while just north in Wilmette, IL, this year’s single selection is Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. For its fourth annual “One Book??? event, the North Plains, OR, Public Library opted to commemorate the city’s centennial by selecting Ivan Doig’s The Whistling Season, set in 1911. In Louden County, VA, Bicycles: Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni supports the library’s year-long theme, “Try Poetry.???
If you would like to launch a “one book??? program in your community, start with the American Libraries Association’s page of resources, where you’ll find this link to a guide that covers everything from budgeting to marketing to book selection. For children, growing up in a community that values reading is a nice advantage. For adults, it can become a social connection to meet literary-minded neighbors.

If you’re writing your memoir, you probably enjoy reading. Many communities encourage their residents’ love of reading through a simple initiative, “One Book.” The idea is for everyone in the community to read a selected book and then gather to discuss it, perhaps inviting the author to town to participate and scheduling ancillary events. Typically, the library assumes the focus and administration of the activities.

Detroit book enthusiasts are spending the year exploring The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. In Richardson, TX, they’re reading Jamie Ford’s best-selling first novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Chicago, which selects a book twice each year, chose Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman for spring 2011, while just north in Wilmette, IL, this year’s single selection is Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. For its fourth annual “One Book??? event, the North Plains, OR, Public Library opted to commemorate the city’s centennial by selecting Ivan Doig’s The Whistling Season, set in 1911. In Louden County, VA, Bicycles: Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni supports the library’s year-long theme, “Try Poetry.”

If you would like to launch a “one book” program in your community, start with the American Libraries Association’s page of resources, where you’ll find this link to a guide that covers everything from budgeting to marketing to book selection. For children, growing up in a community that values reading is a nice advantage. For adults, it can become a social connection to meet literary-minded neighbors.

Memoir vs. Autobiography

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Memoir vs. Autobiography
The other day someone asked me to define the difference between memoir and autobiography. Here at Write My Memoirs, we use the terms interchangeably, so I had to do a little research to learn whether we’re in accordance with general usage. While I think that most people do consider the terms to be more or less synonymous, some writers and publishers make a distinction.
The best explanation of memoir vs. autobiography I found was by Laura Tretter, director of the San Juan Island Public Library. First, I needed to figure out where San Juan Island was. Did you know that it’s nowhere near San Juan, Puerto Rico? Nope, it’s part of Washington state—far north, near British Columbia, Canada. So I learned something there.
When Ms. Tretter researched the use of these two similar words, she discovered that, primarily, people who distinguish memoir from autobiography consider the former to be an account of any part of the author’s life, delivered in any order, while the latter relates all of the notable events of the author’s life, typically in chronological order. So if you’re writing only about your service in World War II or your days as a Broadway dancer, you’re crafting a memoir. If you’re starting with your birth and providing your life’s details leading to present day, you’re writing an autobiography. At Write My Memoirs, we invite you to author either one!

The other day someone asked me to define the difference between memoir and autobiography. Here at Write My Memoirs, we use the terms interchangeably, so I had to do a little research to learn whether we’re in accordance with general usage. While I think that most people do consider the terms to be more or less synonymous, some writers and publishers make a distinction.

The best explanation of memoir vs. autobiography I found was by Laura Tretter, director of the San Juan Island Public Library. First, I needed to figure out where San Juan Island was. Did you know that it’s nowhere near San Juan, Puerto Rico? Nope, it’s part of Washington state—far north, near British Columbia, Canada. So I learned something there.

When Ms. Tretter researched the use of these two similar words, she discovered that, primarily, people who distinguish memoir from autobiography consider the former to be an account of any part of the author’s life, delivered in any order, while the latter relates all of the notable events of the author’s life, typically in chronological order. So if you’re writing only about your service in World War II or your days as a Broadway dancer, you’re crafting a memoir. If you’re starting with your birth and providing your life’s details leading to present day, you’re writing an autobiography. At Write My Memoirs, we invite you to author either one!

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.

Six-Word Memoirs: A Fun Fad

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Six-Word Memoirs: A Fun Fad
If you like “putting things in a nutshell,??? you’ll enjoy a trend now into its fifth year: the six-word memoir. Can you boil your life down to six words?
You can add your mini-mini-tome to the growing list at the website of the publication that launched this idea, Smith Magazine, or go to AARP Magazine, which also collects people’s six-word memoirs. Or leave it here in a comment below, and we’ll start our own collection! The concept was inspired by the master of brief writing, Ernest Hemingway who, according to legend, answered a challenged to craft a short story of only six words by writing, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.??? Several books have come out of this project, starting with Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure.
Want some examples? From the Smith Magazine site: “Pregnancy: nine months of unsolicited advice.??? “Patience. Memory storage. Both maxed out.??? “We’ve considered murder but never divorce.??? “Searched for happiness, but found contentment.??? “Memoirs editable. Wish life was, too.??? Now try it yourself, WriteMyMemoirs members, right here! Then when you return to your real memoir, you’ll appreciate the freedom of rambling on as long as you choose!

If you like “putting things in a nutshell,??? you’ll enjoy a trend now into its fifth year: the six-word memoir. Can you boil your life story down to six words?

You can add your mini-mini-tome to the growing list at the website of the publication that launched this idea, Smith Magazine, or go to AARP Magazine, which also collects people’s six-word memoirs. Or leave it here in a comment below, and we’ll start our own collection! The concept was inspired by the master of brief writing, Ernest Hemingway who, according to legend, answered a challenged to craft a short story of only six words by writing, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.??? Several books have come out of this project, starting with Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure.

Want some examples? From the Smith Magazine site: “Pregnancy: nine months of unsolicited advice.??? “Patience. Memory storage. Both maxed out.??? “We’ve considered murder but never divorce.??? “Searched for happiness, but found contentment.??? “Memoirs editable. Wish life was, too.??? Now try it yourself, WriteMyMemoirs members, right here! Then when you return to your real memoir, you’ll appreciate the freedom of rambling on as long as you choose!

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.

Reading Memoirs? Speed Reading Classes Couldn’t Hurt!

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Reading Memoirs? Speed Reading Classes Couldn’t Hurt!
If you follow us on Twitter (twitter.com), you’ll see that today we suggest taking a speed reading course to help you zip through all of those memoirs you’re reading as you write your own. A lot of people think speed reading is a bunch of “malarky,??? as we used to say.
Full disclaimer: I used to teach speed reading with the company I recommend, Iris Reading (irisreading.com). I’m not currently associated with the firm, but I learned a lot by going through the training and watching how the course improved people’s reading habits. I now do read faster than I did before I became involved with it. Everyone can speed up a little or temporarily, and if you continue to practice the methods you can permanently cut your reading time significantly.
The key is to silence the little voice in your head as you read. You still see every word, but instead of hearing each word you have to let your brain recognize the words almost as you would recognize a face. Sometimes it’s fun to read slowly and really savor a book—I hope people do that with your autobiography when you complete it! But, typically, we read in order to gather information as quickly as possible. Don’t fall for any company’s claim that you can learn to read 10,000 words per minute. Iris sets realistic goals and holds affordable classes all over the country. Can’t hurt to try!

If you follow us on Twitter (twitter.com), you’ll see that today we suggest taking a speed reading course to help you zip through all of those memoirs you’re reading as you write your own. A lot of people think speed reading is a bunch of “malarky,??? as we used to say.

Full disclaimer: I used to teach speed reading with the company I recommend, Iris Reading (irisreading.com). I’m not currently associated with the firm, but I learned a lot by going through the training and watching how the course improved people’s reading habits. I now do read faster than I did before I became involved with it. Everyone can speed up a little or temporarily, and if you continue to practice the methods you can permanently cut your reading time significantly.

The key is to silence the little voice in your head as you read. You still see every word, but instead of hearing each word you have to let your brain recognize the words almost as you would recognize a face. Sometimes it’s fun to read slowly and really savor a book—I hope people do that with your autobiography when you complete it! But, typically, we read in order to gather information as quickly as possible. Don’t fall for any company’s claim that you can learn to read 10,000 words per minute. Iris sets realistic goals and holds affordable classes all over the country. Can’t hurt to try!

Follow WriteMyMemoirs on Twitter!

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Follow WriteMyMemoirs on Twitter!
Yes, it’s true. A little birdie told us that WriteMyMemoirs has joined the twittersphere and will be tweeting to anyone who’s willing to listen to our 140 characters of wisdom. Like a lot of you, we’re still learning about all of this social media, so please have patience with us!
One goal, of course, is to get our name out there a little more. We’ll be linking to our own website pages and crowing about our services. However, we also will use Twitter to notify our “followers??? about any late-breaking news, contests we may run or observations about pertinent current events. To get into this game, just go to twitter.com, join with your own chosen tweet-worthy name, search for WriteMyMemoirs and press the “follow??? button. We’re also on Facebook, where you can do the same thing—except that you’ll be “friending??? instead of “following.???
For those of you who are internet-conversant enough to be writing your life story online here with us but who prefer not to venture further than that into the technological wilderness, we understand! When we have something significant to tell you, don’t worry—we’ll email our members with the information, blog about it and, if it’s of high importance, add the information to our home page. Please feel free to comment on the blog posts here, but with Facebook and Twitter the conversation can be truly and immediately interactive. You talk to us, and you can be sure that we’ll be tweeting back at

Yes, it’s true. A little birdie told us that WriteMyMemoirs has joined the twittersphere and will be tweeting to anyone who’s willing to listen to our 140 characters of wisdom. Like a lot of you, we’re still learning about all of this social media, so please have patience with us.

One goal, of course, is to get our name out there a little more. We’ll be linking to our own website pages and crowing about our services. However, we also will use Twitter to notify our “followers??? about any late-breaking news, contests we may run or observations about pertinent current events. To get into this game, just go to twitter.com, join with your own chosen tweet-worthy name, search for WriteMyMemoirs and press the “follow??? button. We’re also on Facebook, where you can do the same thing—except that you’ll be “friending??? instead of “following.???

For those of you who are internet-conversant enough to be writing your life story online here with us but who prefer not to venture farther than that into the technological wilderness, we understand! When we have something significant to tell you, don’t worry—we’ll email our members with the information, blog about it and, if it’s of high importance, add the information to our home page. Please feel free to comment on the blog posts here, but with Facebook and Twitter the conversation can be truly and immediately interactive. You talk to us, and you can be sure that we’ll be tweeting back at ya!

Vote For the Worst Celebrity Memoir

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The Huffington Post (huffingtonpost.com) is taking a poll to determine which celebrity has the worst memoir. If you’re not bored enough to participate in that poll or even read it, I will clue you into what the votes indicate thus far.

The poll offers a continuum of choices 1 through 10, with 1 being “not too bad??? and 10 being “Awful!??? At this point the books and ratings are, in order from the least bad to the most awful: Jane Fonda, My Life So Far, 3.8; Kim Catrall’s Satisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm, 5.4; George Hamilton, Don’t Mind If I Do, 5.4; Teri Hatcher, Burnt Toast and Other Philosophies of Life, 5.7; Rosie O’Donnell, Celebrity Detox, 5.7; Suzanne Somers, Knockout: Interviews With Doctors Who Are Curing Cancer, 5.8; Macauley Culkin, Junior, 6.4; Lauren Conrad, L.A. Candy, 6.5; Saddam Hussein, Be Gone Demons!, 6.9; Nicole Richie, The Truth About Diamonds, 6.9; Pamela Anderson, Star Struck: A Novel, 7.1; Naomi Campbell’s Swan, 7.3; Fabio’s Wild, 7.3; Victoria Beckham, Learning to Fly, 7.4; Larry the Cable Guy, Git-R-Done, 7.4; David Hasselhoff’s Making Waves, 7.5; Britney Spears, Heart to Heart, 7.8; Paris Hilton’s Confessions of an Heiress, 8.0; Tila Tequila’s Hooking Up With Tila Tequila, 8.1; Carrie Prejean’s Still Standing, 9.3; Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue, 9.4.

Keep in mind that people who go to that website may lean more to the left than to the right politically. Now go back to writing your own memoir, and someday maybe it will get rated!


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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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