How To Write A Memoir Now! - By: Helen Hecker

If you're thinking about writing a memoir you may be wondering where to start or how to write a memoir. You may be a skilled writer or never have written anything in your life but either way or no matter what skill level you have you can start writing your memoirs immediately using these tips. Whether you want to publish your memoirs in a book or not these tips will get you started.

First of all know the difference between a memoir and an autobiography. An autobiography would be a story of your life and you would only write one autobiography. A memoir however is about just one story from your life so you can write many memoirs. I just wanted to clear that up since many people confuse a memoir with an autobiography. Also some people refer to memoirs as a memoir biography but that is incorrect also, since a biography is written by someone else about your life.

You may already have something in mind or you may not be able to pinpoint exactly what memoir you want to write first, assuming you may want to write more than one.

First of all sit in a quiet place and write down five of the most significant events in your life. Then go over the events in your life and you can usually pick out one that is the most significant. If you're having trouble getting started you can list categories similar to a diagram or mind mapping. Categories would include conflicts, beliefs, lessons learned, mistakes, people who have influenced you, difficult choices, a medical problem resolved or health experience and there are many other areas to consider.

Start your memoir out with instant action and mystery. Starting out chronologically may be boring and expected so avoid writing that way first. All good books start out with a tease and instant action to pull you in. Don't start out chronologically. This instant action will hook your reader hopefully. Then you can go back to the chronological start and work in your story.

Creating a memorable memoir may require you to look at your world in a different way. Use your senses of feel, smell, taste, and sight. You can get your writing down and go back and try to use picturesque words and think about each sentence-- how you can feel it. Use great detail. If talking about soda pop use the brand name like Coke instead for example. Do this wherever you go and find yourself waiting. Look around and be in the present moment.

Be aware of the present moment, think and/or say -- be here now! Tune out everything else. What can you smell, what can you hear, what textures are around you, colors, patterns, the walls, ceilings, ground or floor. What can you see around you? - really focus, and concentrate on the moment. I know this can be hard to do with our brains constantly running amok. But just say stop and be here now! Get in the practice of doing this and you'll find a whole new world. You may find that time actually slows down as it does for me when I live in the moment.

Have you heard of the writing muscle? We all have a writing muscle. Our writing muscle needs exercise and the more you write the better you'll get. You can start out writing your memoir or do some practice pieces first. You can set goals for 100, 300, 500 or 1000 words a day.

Set a time each day when you're going to work on writing your memoir. For many people this is first thing or early in the morning when the brain isn't tired. When you start writing don't worry about it being perfect - spelling, grammar etc. Just focus on the story and get it down as fast as possible.

Memoirs are the easiest kind of writing to do. You already know the story and know all the characters in it including you - so just get started writing - whether you want to write a long or a short memoir. Now you know how to write a memoir, so sit down and get started whether you plan to submit it as an article or publish your memoir in a book - a memoir book if you will. There are many ways you can do it. So get started today! Be here now!

About the Author

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