This post is number one in my series on writing.

A memoir is a collection of memories and factual events made into a story. It is usually written in the first person: My pain was excruciating when... I laughed ‘till my sides hurt when my sister… My mouth watered when I saw… I smelled the fragrance of… A memoir can be written in the past tense or the present tense, depending on the mood you want to create.

This post is number two in my series on writing.

Writing a memoir is an opportunity to explore how you came to be the person you are. Perhaps you grew up on a rural farm in the 1960’s with doting parents and siblings who loved you. Or maybe you dated the love of your life for five years and he/she dumped you for someone else. Your middle school years were painful and awkward in your wheelchair.

This post is number three is my series on writing.

Similar to a novel, a memoir uses plot, dialogue, character, action, and setting to tell a story. In a memoir, however, you are the narrator, the protagonist, and you tell the truth, as best as you can remember, in your story. In a novel the story is called a plot-line, while in memoir, the story is the narrative arc. In a novel the plot line usually advances with inciting incidents...

This post is number four in my series on writing.

I took classes from authors who self-published, from agents for major publishers, and did research both on line, and read memoirs and books about writing memoir. The answers to my musings are in my website’s previous “Writing” features. At the beginning of the pre-writing phase of my memoir I wrote two lists that each covered many pages, a list of all the fun things I remembered….

This post is number five in my series on writing.

After reading my entry, “How I Write,” you might assume that I easily bound out of bed in the morning, drink my coffee, brush my teeth, and with ideas and outlines buzzing, sit comfortably at the computer, and write brilliant prose at the speed of five single-spaced pages per hour. No, that doesn’t happen. At this point, if you haven’t already read my “Writing” titled, “ How I Write,” please read it…

This post is number six in my series on writing.

You are the main character, the narrator, and the protagonist in your memoir. You have the advantage of knowing the story, the other characters, the time frame, and what happened before your story began. You know if you had a woohoo moment, a moment when the reader claps and shouts because you have found a resolution to your dilemma or problem.