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memoirs

Why We’re Drawn To Biography, Part IV

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Why We’re Drawn To Biography, Part IV
So far in this blog series we’ve been focusing on famous authors. But they’re not the only ones who write popular memoirs. Just this past Sunday, the New York Times Book Review section featured an essay on the “self-help” memoir. Because there are now so many of these books, they have formed a “new subgenre,” maintains the essay’s author, Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, who says that the modern self-help memoir is a “a kind of long-form personal narrative fused with life coaching.” The author of such a memoir, typically not a famous person, has achieved a positive change and writes a book coaching readers in how to do the same. “The selling point is not that their challenges are exceptional, but that they are common,” Tuhus-Dubrow writes. “Like us, the authors are just trying to find true love or raise good kids or enjoy life more.”
Some of you who are crafting your stories on WriteMyMemoirs fall into this group. You write your memoir not only to document the facts of your life, but also to share with friends, and perhaps the world, how you managed to achieve a level of happiness or peace of mind.
“The journey from wretchedness to redemption is one of the most common narrative arcs in memoir,” write Tuhus-Dubrow. “But rather than redemption, the self-help memoir culminates in improvement….The self-help memoirist goes from suboptimal to systematically upgraded.” By writing out the steps of progress, the autobiographer gives readers a method to duplicate the achievement.

So far in this blog series we’ve been focusing on famous authors. But they’re not the only ones who write popular memoirs. Just this past Sunday, the New York Times Book Review section featured an essay, “I Change, You Change,” on the “self-help” memoir. Because there are now so many of these books, they have formed a “new subgenre,” maintains the essay’s author, Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, who says that the modern self-help memoir is a “a kind of long-form personal narrative fused with life coaching.” The author of such a memoir, typically not a famous person, has achieved a positive change and writes a book coaching readers in how to do the same. “The selling point is not that their challenges are exceptional, but that they are common,” Tuhus-Dubrow writes. “Like us, the authors are just trying to find true love or raise good kids or enjoy life more.”

Some of you who are crafting your stories on WriteMyMemoirs fall into this group. You write your memoir not only to document the facts of your life, but also to share with friends, and perhaps the world, how you managed to achieve a level of happiness or peace of mind.

“The journey from wretchedness to redemption is one of the most common narrative arcs in memoir,” write Tuhus-Dubrow. “But rather than redemption, the self-help memoir culminates in improvement….The self-help memoirist goes from suboptimal to systematically upgraded.” By writing out the steps of progress, the autobiographer gives readers a method to duplicate the achievement.

Why We’re Drawn To Biography, Part III

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Why We’re Drawn To Biography, Part III
In this blog arc, we’re exploring why nonfiction best-seller lists nearly always include, and are sometimes dominated by, biographies and autobiographies, and also why most of them focus on famous people. What’s there left to learn about a very famous person whose life unfolds daily in newspapers and magazines? Take Abraham Lincoln for example. In the past 150 years, hasn’t everything about him, and particularly his assassination, already been written? Yet today we still seem to be quite taken with our 16th president, as evidenced by Bill O’Reilley’s best-seller Killing Lincoln and the two 2012 movies Lincoln and Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (okay, perhaps that one is fiction). Other names on the best-seller list—Winston Churchill, Joseph Kennedy, Bruce Springsteen—what are we still hoping to learn about them we don’t already know?
Secrets! We’d like to know the “real” story behind some action or development, or we’re hoping to hear a confession about how someone felt about someone else, or we want to know a little tidbit never before revealed. Certainly someone writing a memoir will share with us some deep, dark secret; exposing a love affair is a popular choice.
Sometimes it’s just about the point of view. No matter how much has been written about a fascinating person, when a different author tackles the familiar material there’s bound to be a nugget of something new in the biography. And when the book is a memoir, we can be sure we’ve never before heard the story from that point of view.

In this blog arc, we’re exploring why nonfiction best-seller lists nearly always include, and are sometimes dominated by, biographies and autobiographies, and also why most of them focus on famous people. What’s left to learn about a very famous person whose life unfolds daily in newspapers and magazines? Take Abraham Lincoln for example. In the past 150 years, hasn’t everything about him, and particularly his assassination, already been written? Yet today we still seem to be quite taken with our 16th president, as evidenced by Bill O’Reilley’s best-seller Killing Lincoln and the two 2012 movies Lincoln and Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (okay, perhaps that one is fiction). Other names on the best-seller list—Winston Churchill, Joseph Kennedy, Bruce Springsteen—what are we still hoping to learn about them we don’t already know?

Secrets! We’d like to know the “real” story behind some action or development, or we’re hoping to hear a confession about how someone felt about someone else, or we want to know a little tidbit never before revealed. Certainly someone writing a memoir will share with us some deep, dark secret; exposing a love affair is a popular choice.

Sometimes it’s just about the point of view. No matter how much has been written about a fascinating person, when a different author tackles the familiar material there’s bound to be a nugget of something new in the biography. And when the book is a memoir, we can be sure we’ve never before heard the story from that point of view.

Why We’re Drawn To Biography, Part II

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Why We’re Drawn To Biography, Part II
As we discovered last week, every nonfiction best-seller list is peppered by, and sometimes dominated by, well-crafted biographies and autobiographies. The lion’s share of these life stories focus on the famous and infamous. From heads of state and war generals to rock stars and athletes, famous people fascinate us. On the dark side, we also want to know all about political assassins, dictators and Mafiosos.
Ordinary human nature is intriguing enough, but when the person rises to become a household name, we enjoy tracing the entire life. How did the person become famous? Was it a level of genius or talent—or evil—that seemed to be there from birth and would stand out no matter what? Was it the upbringing? Circumstances and luck?
We’re curious for a lot of reasons. Some people read these stories looking for a sort of playbook: what route should I take to become a U.S. president, or how can I raise my child to be the next Major League home run hitter? If the subject hails from royalty or generational wealth, the story lets us peek into a world to which we have no other access; we can live vicariously for the length of the book. We’re interested, too, in what goes on in the mind of a criminal, perhaps to make sure that we or our children are not headed in that direction.
There’s one more reason we love reading about famous people. Check back next time for that one!

As we discovered last week, every nonfiction best-seller list is peppered by, and sometimes dominated by, well-crafted biographies and autobiographies. The lion’s share of this genre focuses on the famous and infamous. From heads of state and war generals to rock stars and athletes, famous people fascinate us. On the dark side, we also want to know all about political assassins, dictators and Mafiosos.

Ordinary human nature is intriguing enough, but when the person rises to become a household name, we enjoy tracing the entire life. How did the person become famous? Was it a level of genius or talent—or evil—that seemed to be there from birth and would stand out no matter what? Was it the upbringing? Circumstances and luck?

We’re curious for a lot of reasons. Some people read these stories looking for a sort of playbook: what route should I take to become a U.S. president, or how can I raise my child to be the next Major League home run hitter? If the subject hails from royalty or generational wealth, a memoir or biography lets us peek into a world to which we have no other access; we can live vicariously for the length of the book. We’re interested, too, in what goes on in the mind of a criminal, perhaps to make sure that we or our children are not headed in that direction.

There’s one more reason we love reading about famous people. Check back next time for that one!

How Will You Feel a Year From Now?

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Old Thoughts for a New Year
Let’s start the year off with some platitudes. Here’s one, since today is not only the first day of 2013, but also: Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Hey, it’s true, right? What are you going to do with the rest of your life? Whatever it is, you might as well start today.
Here’s another one, reportedly said by inspirational author Karen Lamb: A year from now you will wish you had started today. As one year turns to another, we tend to tally up what we accomplished during the past year and which goals we never did achieve. We also set new goals for the coming year, or we refocus on goals we haven’t completed.
If you have ever wanted to write your memoir, we here at WriteMyMemoirs are your biggest cheerleaders. It doesn’t matter whether this is a brand new goal for you or one you’ve tried to set in the past. It doesn’t matter whether you have written entire chapters or not yet one word. You can start this very day. Write one paragraph about who you are or what happened on a particular day in your life. Just put down something. Then write a little more tomorrow, or maybe just look over what you wrote today and sharpen it a little. If it’s perfect, even better! Reading it over will motivate you to add another paragraph. Keep that going and you’ll feel pretty great one year from now when you see your memoir all finished. But if you brush it aside, you know what will happen: A year from now you will wish you had started today.

Let’s start the year off with some platitudes. Here’s one, since today is not only the first day of 2013, but also: Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Hey, it’s true, right? What are you going to do with the rest of your life? Whatever it is, you might as well start today.

Here’s another one, reportedly said by inspirational author Karen Lamb: A year from now you will wish you had started today. As one year turns to another, we tend to tally up what we accomplished during the past year and which goals we never did achieve. We also set new goals for the coming year, or we refocus on goals we haven’t completed.

If you have ever wanted to write your memoir, we here at WriteMyMemoirs are your biggest cheerleaders. It doesn’t matter whether this is a brand new goal for you or one you’ve tried to set in the past. It doesn’t matter whether you have written entire chapters or not yet one word. You can start this very day. Write one paragraph about who you are or what happened on a particular day in your life. Just put down something. Then write a little more tomorrow, or maybe just look over what you wrote today and sharpen it a little. If it’s perfect, even better! Reading it over will motivate you to add another paragraph. Keep that going and you’ll feel pretty great one year from now when you see your memoir all finished. But if you brush it aside, you know what will happen: A year from now you will wish you had started today.

Boxing Day? How about “Memoirs Day”?

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Boxing Day? How about “Memoirs Day”?
If you ask us here at WriteMyMemoirs, we’d say that the day after Christmas is a perfect laid-back day to work on your memoir—or to start one if you haven’t yet. But for many of you in the English-speaking world, December 26 is always Boxing Day, so we thought we’d explain what that is for anyone who may not know.
The origin of Boxing Day is debatable. Some sources claim that food was boxed up to give to the poor, others have it as a day to box up bonuses for the working staff and still others trace it to the retail industry as the day inventory was taken and older items boxed away.
According to eHow.com, today the most common Boxing Day traditions are:
Attend a sporting event. In England, many pro sports matches take place today, and this is probably the most popular choice for a Boxing Day activity.
Tip your service people—the postman, newspaper delivery person, etc.—or bring a gift basket to a clerk in a store you frequent.
Be compassionate: donate canned goods, clothing or your time to organizations that help the needy.
Shop! Take advantage of the after-Christmas sales.
Get together with friends. You all must have leftover food you’d like to get rid of anyway, so share it!
It might not be included on any list of Boxing Day traditions, but writing your memoir is a great way to spend the day, too! Write a chapter on the holidays while they’re fresh in your mind.
http://www.ehow.com/how_11775_celebrate-boxing-day.html

If you ask us here at WriteMyMemoirs, we’d say that the day after Christmas is a perfect laid-back day to work on your memoir—or to start one if you haven’t yet. But for many of you in the English-speaking world, December 26 is always Boxing Day, so we thought we’d explain what that is for anyone who may not know.

The origin of Boxing Day is debatable. Some sources claim that food was boxed up to give to the poor, others have it as a day to box up bonuses for the working staff and still others trace it to the retail industry as the day inventory was taken and older items boxed away.

According to eHow.com, the most common modern Boxing Day traditions are:

  1. Attend a sporting event. In England, many pro sports matches take place today, and this is probably the most popular choice for a Boxing Day activity.
  2. Tip your service people—the postman, newspaper delivery person, etc.—or bring a gift basket to a clerk in a store you frequent.
  3. Be compassionate: donate canned goods, clothing or your time to organizations that help the needy.
  4. Shop! Take advantage of the after-Christmas sales.
  5. Get together with friends. You all must have leftover food you’d like to get rid of anyway, so share it!

It may not be included on any list of Boxing Day traditions, but writing your memoir is a great way to spend the day, too! Write a chapter on the holidays while they’re fresh in your mind.

Best Memoirs of 2012

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The votes are in! GoodReads.com asks people to vote for the books they’ve enjoyed most during the current year. In the memoirs/autobiography category, the memoir that landed on top—Wild by Cheryl Strayed—received 8,200+ votes, nearly double the number of votes as the runner-up. The memoir is summarized by GoodReads as “powerful, blazingly honest and inspiring…a 1,100 mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again.”
Also receiving roughly 3,000 votes or more were:
Paris In Love, which author and professor Eloise James wrote to chronicle her relocation to, and subsequent love affair with, the City of Lights.
The End of Your Life Book Club, a recollection of the books and conversations author Will Schwalbe and his dying mother shared in the last two years of his mother’s life.
No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden, probably the most well-known memoir on the list. Written by Mark Owen and Kevin Maurer, it gives readers a view of Bin Laden’s demise through the eyes of a Navy Seal who was there.
Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir, written with Lisa McCubbin by Clint Hill, a Secret Service agent assigned to protect Jackie Kennedy throughout the JFK presidency.
Mortality, the memoir bestselling author Christopher Hitchens tackled upon learning that he would have limited time due to esophageal cancer.
Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son, a sort of sequel to author Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions, about how Lamott handled becoming a grandmother unexpectedly when her son was 19.

The votes are in! GoodReads.com asks people to vote for the books they’ve enjoyed most during the current year. In the memoirs/autobiography category, the memoir that landed on top—Wild by Cheryl Strayed—received 8,200+ votes, nearly double the number of votes as the runner-up. Wild is summarized by GoodReads as “powerful, blazingly honest and inspiring…a 1,100 mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again.”

Also receiving roughly 3,000 votes or more were:

  • Paris In Love, which author and professor Eloise James wrote to chronicle her relocation to, and subsequent love affair with, the City of Lights.
  • The End of Your Life Book Club, a recollection of the books and conversations author Will Schwalbe and his dying mother shared in the last two years of his mother’s life.
  • No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden, probably the most well-known memoir on the list. Written by Mark Owen and Kevin Maurer, it gives readers a view of Bin Laden’s demise through the eyes of a Navy Seal who was there.
  • Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir, written with Lisa McCubbin by Clint Hill, a Secret Service agent assigned to protect Jackie Kennedy throughout the JFK presidency.
  • Mortality, the memoir bestselling author Christopher Hitchens tackled upon learning that he would have limited time due to esophageal cancer.
  • Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son, a sort of sequel to author Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions, about how Lamott handled becoming a grandmother unexpectedly when her son was 19.

Memoir as Mea Culpa

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Memoir as Mea Culpa
Lance Armstrong’s recent announcement that he will give up his medals rather than formally fight the doping allegations has me wondering whether we’ll see a Lance Armstrong memoir in the future. And if we do, will it be an attempt to exonerate himself by telling his side of the story? Or will it be a “mea culpa” apology and admission of lying?
We see both types of memoirs rolling off the presses. Certainly people use a memoir to try to gain sympathy and deny rumors. There are reports that former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky is currently writing a memoir from prison, presumably to claim he was falsely convicted of child molestation. However, Olympic runner Marion Jones admits doping and apologizes profusely in her memoir, On the Right Track. And in Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ’Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big, Jose Canseco finds a middle ground, detailing the use of steroids in major league baseball but offering more of an explanation than a true apology.
Most people who write an autobiography attempt to present themselves in a positive light. But some, like Jones, put all of the unflattering truth out there in a way to take accountability so they can start fresh. Perhaps your story falls into one of these categories. Whether you want to “get it off your chest” and accept blame for your worst actions, or you intend to defiantly deny accusations of wrongdoing, a memoir is a good place to start. Then people hear it “from the horse’s mouth.”
http://www.amazon.com/Right-Track-Downfall-Forgiveness-Strength/dp/B006W41A7U/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346160767&sr=1-1&keywords=marion+jones+on+the+right+track
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Lance Armstrong’s recent announcement that he will give up his medals rather than formally fight the doping allegations has me wondering whether we’ll see a Lance Armstrong memoir in the future. And if we do, will it be an attempt to exonerate himself by telling his side of the story? Or will it be a “mea culpa” apology and admission of lying?

We see both types of memoirs rolling off the presses. Certainly people use a memoir to try to gain sympathy and deny rumors. There are reports that former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky is currently writing a memoir from prison, presumably to claim he was falsely convicted of child molestation. However, Olympic runner Marion Jones admits doping and apologizes profusely in her memoir, On the Right Track: From Olympic Downfall to Finding Forgiveness and the Strength to Overcome and Succeed. And in Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ’Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big, Jose Canseco finds a middle ground, detailing the use of steroids in major league baseball but offering more of an explanation than a true apology.

Most people who write an autobiography attempt to present themselves in a positive light. But some, like Jones, put all of the unflattering truth out there in a way to take accountability so they can start fresh. Perhaps your story falls into one of these categories. Whether you want to “get it off your chest” and accept blame for your worst actions, or you intend to defiantly deny accusations of wrongdoing, a memoir is a good place to start. Then people hear it “from the horse’s mouth.”

Top Memoirs for Summer 2012

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Top Memoirs for Summer 2012
I love this—“When you finish a memoir there’s a sense of satisfaction no novel can give: you’ve been let in on a truth about another person, living or alive.” That observation comes from Forbes blogger Meghan Casserly, who has declared this to be the Summer of the Memoir. Combining Meghan’s Top 10 memoirs for women released this year with the five favorite 2012 celebrity autobiographies listed by The Telegraph blogger Mark Sanderson, here are 15 memoirs worth a read during the remaining summer days:
Mimi Alford, Once Upon A Secret: My Affair With President John F Kennedy and its Aftermath, recalling a youthful, not altogether voluntary, affair.
Harry Belafonte, My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race and Defiance, for more than just “Banana Boat” fans.
Monique Colver, An Uncommon Friendship, tracing the effects her husband’s mental illness had on their marriage.
Maggie Fergusson, Michael Morpurgo: War Child to War Horse, which sounds like a biography rather than an autobiography but that’s only because she sees herself as a combination of six “selfs.”
Gabrielle Hamilton, Blood, Bones & Butter, a sort of food memoir from the owner of Prune, a restaurant in NYC.
Diane Keaton, Then Again, a self-analysis with the help of her mother’s journal.
Carole King, A Natural Woman, from the “Tapestry” folk-rock queen.
Madeleine Albright, Prague Winter, focusing on the former secretary of state’s early years.
Louise Krug, Louise Amended, chronicling the struggle to recover from a brain hemorrhage.
Ann Lamott, Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son, on ushering her son into fatherhood when he was just 19.
Terry Leahy, Management in 10 Words, part memoir and part business advice from the former CEO of Tesco.
Jane Lynch, Happy Accidents, a humor-driven account of the actress’s road to stardom.
Anna Quindlen, Lots of Candles & Plenty of Cake, the latest navel gaze from the prolific NYTimes columnist.
Billy Bob Thornton, The Billy Bob Tapes, as told to Kinky Friedman.
Mitch Winehouse, Amy, My Daughter, about the late British rocker.

We love this—“When you finish a memoir there’s a sense of satisfaction no novel can give: you’ve been let in on a truth about another person.” That observation comes from Forbes blogger Meghan Casserly, who has declared this to be the Summer of the Memoir. Combining Meghan’s Top 10 memoirs for women released this year with 10 of our own WriteMyMemoir picks, here are 20 new(ish) memoirs worth a turn of the page during the remaining summer days:

  • Mimi Alford, Once Upon A Secret: My Affair With President John F Kennedy and its Aftermath, recalling a youthful, not altogether voluntary, affair.
  • Harry Belafonte, My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race and Defiance, for more than just “Banana Boat” fans.
  • Gail Caldwell, Let’s Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship, a year or two old but an uplifting tale of devotion.
  • Monique Colver, An Uncommon Friendship, tracing the effects her husband’s mental illness had on their marriage.
  • Andre Dubus III, Townie, offering insight into the two polar societies in which the author grew up.
  • William Foege, House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox, explaining the author’s role in wiping out the dreaded disease.
  • Gabrielle Hamilton, Blood, Bones & Butter, a sort of food memoir from the owner of Prune, a restaurant in NYC.
  • Diane Keaton, Then Again, self-analysis with the help of her mother’s journal.
  • Carole King, A Natural Woman, from the “Tapestry” folk-rock queen.
  • Madeleine Albright, Prague Winter, focusing on the former secretary of state’s early years.
  • Louise Krug, Louise Amended, chronicling the struggle to recover from a brain hemorrhage.
  • Ann Lamott, Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son, on ushering her son into fatherhood when he was just 19.
  • Jane Lynch, Happy Accidents, a humor-driven account of the actress’s road to stardom.
  • Garry Marshall, My Happy Days in Hollywood, the TV and film director’s account of his long career.
  • Caitlin Moran, How To Be A Woman, the British media personality’s look at her life through a modern-day feminist lens.
  • Sal Polisi and Steve Dougherty, The Sinatra Club: My Life Inside the New York Mafia, released just today, told by the mobster-turned-state’s-witness against John Gotti.
  • Anna Quindlen, Lots of Candles & Plenty of Cake, the latest navel gaze from the prolific NYTimes columnist.
  • Billy Bob Thornton, The Billy Bob Tapes, as told to Kinky Friedman.
  • Paul Wortman, Think Jung! How I Found Meaning in My Life, a self-published memoir by a guy whose letters frequently appear in the NYTimes.
  • Mitch Winehouse, Amy, My Daughter, about the late British rocker.

Get Your Customized Memoir Publishing Here!

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Get Your Customized Memoir Publishing Here!
Memoirs are like snowflakes! The longer we’re in the memoirs business, the more we see that no two memoirs are exactly alike. Every author approaches an autobiography a little differently. Variations include the organization, number of photographs and length of chapters. Still, when we publish memoirs, we see many similarities as well, such as:
1. The writing is generally very good. People who want to see their work in an actual book tend to have someone who’s skilled at language read it over first for grammatical errors. This is a great idea!
2. Early life, marriage/family, work, military service and retirement tend to be typical chapters, which is why we suggest those categories in our online structure.
3. Most people include at least a few photographs. Visuals help the author to remember details, and they help the reader to picture the people and action described.
4. The memoirs convey a sense of satisfaction. Our memoir writers tend to be pleased with their lives. In many ways their lives are ordinary, but the authors feel happy to have lived them.
Then there’s the more detailed work involved in publishing, such as the font, the placement of photographs and the cover layout. Sometimes the author has a clear vision, while other times we help our authors with those types of decisions. At WriteMyMemoirs, we enjoy working with authors to get their life stories into print. Although our standard soft-cover book suits most tastes, we can create any book you want.

Memoirs are like snowflakes! The longer we’re in the memoirs business, the more we see that no two memoirs are exactly alike. Every author approaches an autobiography a little differently. Variations include the organization, number of photographs and length of chapters. Still, when we publish memoirs, we see many similarities as well, such as:

  1. The writing is generally very good. People who want to see their work in an actual book tend to have someone who’s skilled at language read it over first for grammatical errors. This is a great idea!
  2. Early life, marriage/family, work, military service and retirement tend to be typical chapters, which is why we suggest those categories in our online structure.
  3. Most people include at least a few photographs. Visuals help the author to remember details, and they help the reader to picture the people and action described.
  4. The memoirs convey a sense of satisfaction. Our memoir writers tend to be pleased with their lives. In many ways their lives are ordinary, but the authors feel happy to have lived them.

Then there’s the more detailed work involved in publishing, such as the font, the placement of photographs and the cover layout. Sometimes the author has a clear vision, while other times we help our authors with those types of decisions. At WriteMyMemoirs, we enjoy working with authors to get their life stories into print. Although our standard soft-cover book suits most tastes, we can create any book you want.

Memoir Writers: Go Through Your Stuff!

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Memoir Writers: Go Through Your Stuff!
A recent newspaper story about former Chicago Cultural Affairs Commissioner Lois Weisberg ends with the information that the octegenarian is working on her memoirs. She was quoted in the Chicago Tribune article as saying that to “aspire to write a book at my age is really kind of insane.”
Here at WriteMyMemoirs we certainly would not consider the endeavor “insane.” At 85, Weisberg is still active and able. Until last year she was working full-time, and now she finally can reflect upon her long career and her family life with four children. As part of former Mayor Daley’s inner circle, she very likely has a lot of juicy tidbits to share. But, just like your memoir, Weisberg’s story won’t write itself. She told the reporter that she attacks it every morning for a few hours, writing in longhand on a legal pad.
“Go through your old boxes,” Weisberg advises people in the process of writing a memoir but having trouble coming up with chapters and topics. “You might find something interesting.” I would add this: go through your email. Even if you didn’t keep old letters, the electronic version of mail may provide more of a record than you think—at least for the past five or ten years. Don’t forget to ask friends and family members whether they’ve saved letters and emails, too. You may not have correspondence from the Daleys, but surely you exchanged notes with people who’ve made an impact on your life.

A recent newspaper story about former Chicago Cultural Affairs Commissioner Lois Weisberg ends with the information that the octegenarian is working on her memoirs. She was quoted in the Chicago Tribune article as saying that to “aspire to write a book at my age is really kind of insane.”

Here at WriteMyMemoirs we certainly would not consider the endeavor “insane.” At 85, Weisberg is still active and able. Until last year she was working full-time, and now she finally can reflect upon her long career and her family life with four children. As part of former Mayor Daley’s inner circle, she very likely has a lot of juicy tidbits to share. But, just like your memoir, Weisberg’s story won’t write itself. She told the reporter that she attacks it every morning for a few hours, writing in longhand on a legal pad.

“Go through your old boxes,” Weisberg advises people in the process of writing a memoir but having trouble coming up with chapters and topics. “You might find something interesting.” You may have saved ticket stubs, cheap souvenirs from trips and, of course, letters. Also, go through your email. It may provide more of a record than you think—at least for the past five or ten years. Don’t forget to ask friends and family members whether they’ve saved letters and emails, too. You may not have correspondence from the Daleys, but surely you exchanged notes with people who’ve made an impact on your life.

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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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