How to Write Memoirs
- 1). Reflect on life. The process of living life often makes it difficult to really study the things that have happened in the moment. Meditation is a good way to slow things down and really look back on life’s experiences. This is important in deciding an overriding theme for a memoir.
- 2). Make an outline. Any memoir will need a foundation to start. The basic framework in the form of an outline will guide the story and keep the memoir on track. Often memoirs may go off on a long tangent because the writer didn’t choreograph the course of the story from the very beginning. The outline may be based on time. It could start with childhood, go into teenage years and end with adult life. It could also be based on important events that would make a memoir compelling. An example would be the day the doctor diagnosed the disease, the road back with rehab and living in remission. The outline is the spine of the story.
- 3). Hire a ghostwriter. People who have never written before may feel more comfortable dealing with a seasoned writer to tell the story. Ghostwriters sit down with the story’s protagonist and conduct an interview to find out provocative things in a person’s life. The ghostwriter can be involved as little or as much in the actual writing of the story as desired. It is up to the memoir writer as to exactly how this process ends up. The relationship between the writer and the ghostwriter should be a very comfortable one. Writers should interview several ghostwriters before deciding on one.
- 4). Keep a journal. Journals allow the writer to keep an accurate accounting of events, but it is also the catalyst for more thought. During the journal writing process, writers get more insight on themselves and why they think what they think and do what they do. It is crucial for anyone who desires to write a memoir to keep a journal of normal, daily activities.
- 5). Write every day. Set a schedule. While it is more exciting to write when especially inspired (and should be often something one does), it's important to write every day as well.
Source...