Every ordinary life story is extraordinary!

Every ordinary life story is extraordinary!

Hey, Charlie Sheen, Write a Memoir!

You may not have a relative like Charlie Sheen, but writing your memoir makes sure that your side of any story is heard.
To Charlie Sheen: Write a Memoir!
Say what you want about him, but clearly Mr. Charlie Sheen has an audience. I was shocked when his upcoming one-man show, “My Violent Torpedo of Truth,??? sold out here in Chicago within 15 minutes. Like many of us, Charlie wants to tell his own story from his point of view—and make a little money from it. What Charlie should do is write a memoir.
You own your story in the same way. Perhaps one day your children will write their memoirs and feature you fairly prominently. Maybe your former spouse, business associate, employee or friend will pen an autobiography with a chapter devoted to his or her relationship with you. Then suddenly you become Martin Sheen (Charlie’s dad) or Chuck Lorre (Charlie’s boss)—your reputation is in the hands of someone seeking to expose a “torpedo of truth??? about you. When you have your own memoir out there, that’s all the ammunition you need to have your side of the story heard as well.
I certainly hope you do not have the level of conflict and drama in your life that Charlie Sheen has in his. But if you ask five people to describe any situation, you’re likely to get five different perspectives and, often, a pile of contradictory “facts.??? So while many people look at this Sheen Show as a train wreck or a circus, I consider it a lesson: make sure that your voice is heard. Put your life story in writing.

Say what you want about him, but clearly Mr. Charlie Sheen has an audience. I was shocked when his upcoming one-man show, “My Violent Torpedo of Truth,??? sold out here in Chicago within 15 minutes. Like many of us, Charlie wants to tell his own story from his point of view—and make a little money from it. What Charlie should do is write a memoir.

You own your story in the same way. Perhaps one day your children will write their memoirs and feature you fairly prominently. Maybe your former spouse, business associate, employee or friend will pen an autobiography with a chapter devoted to his or her relationship with you. Then suddenly you become Martin Sheen (Charlie’s dad) or Chuck Lorre (Charlie’s boss)—your reputation is in the hands of someone seeking to expose a “torpedo of truth??? about you. When you have your own memoir out there, that’s all the ammunition you need to make sure that your side of the story receives equal play.

I certainly hope you do not have the level of conflict and drama in your life that Charlie Sheen has in his. But if you ask five people to describe any situation, you’re likely to get five different perspectives and, often, a pile of contradictory “facts.??? So while many people look at this Sheen Show as a train wreck or a circus, I consider it a lesson: make sure that your voice is heard. Put your life story in writing.

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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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