Every ordinary life story is extraordinary!

Every ordinary life story is extraordinary!

July 4 Fireworks Can Reignite Your Memoir Writing Process

Summertime brings a change of routine. If you have children or help to take care of grandchildren, you may find yourself spending extra hours with the kids. Whether you’re still working or not, you probably are scheduling some travel. Your priorities may shift to afford you more time to enjoy the warm outdoors. In the midst of all that, sitting down to write your memoir may fade into the background. Once you lose momentum, it can be difficult to get started again.

Then comes along Independence Day. It’s not one of those Monday holidays that began replacing special dates a few decades ago; it’s always on July 4, no matter when in the week that falls. And that’s not the only way it’s the same celebration as it’s always been for people living in the United States. Just as they did when we were growing up, communities sponsor all sorts of activities, from picnics and 5K runs to fairs and music, typically capping off the day with a fireworks display immediately after dark. Attending these events now, we’re reminded of the many Independence Days that preceded this July 4. We were children along a riverfront, teens at a beach or young parents with our own kids lying on our backs on a blanket in a park, staring straight up at the bursting, colorful shapes lighting up the sky.

Take all of those memories and follow them wherever they may lead you. Perhaps the next day you went back to a fun camp, a tough summer school course or the first job you ever had. You could have been celebrating from afar as you served in the military abroad or toured some exotic city on another continent. Or maybe the memory is bittersweet—the last July 4 fireworks that you enjoyed with a now deceased parent or friend.

Memoir authors often ask us how to trigger memories and how to choose the stories from their life to include in the memoir. Using something like July 4 as a starting point, you may be able to daydream and reminisce your way back to a selection of life episodes that will guide you through a few or more chapters. Happy 4th from Write My Memoirs!

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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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