You have piqued my interest! Memoir writing always seemed like a daunting task! I do plan to write my own life story and I am seeking a ‘step by step’ method! How can you help? Is this a course? Where can I find out more!
I'm so glad the post 'piqued your interest.' Truth is , it does seem like a daunting task. However can you write your life? You can't. But you can write scenes of it. When I speak with those I'm either ghostwriting a memoir for, or in my role as a eulogy speechwriter, most often they tell me scenes they remember, often 'firsts' and 'lasts.' Start there. So get a journal or open a new folder on your computer. Clean page. Here's a couple of questions - try to remember your first day at school, or university, or first job. Or when was the first time you saw the love of your life? Use Kiplin's 6 friends - their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who. Bring in the senses, smells, sights, feelings. Just start by listing everything. Don't write it as a story just yet. Reflect in your mind on that one scene. Try to picture everything you can. Write it out. How did it feel? What fears did you have? They were not probably realised, anyway! :) Then capture this scene in a simple 3 - part story. A beginning, a middle, and an end. Don't overthink it. Or over edit it. Put it aside and slowly add more and more stories. A theme or a time of your life will start to emerge, and then you can shape the stories into a memoir. For example, one of my memoirs, Gathering Rosebuds in Kerala, only spans the four weeks I was in India for my 60th birthday. But along with those memories, as I wrote about those happy days, themes and stories from my past fitted in perfectly. I wish there was a course I could send to you! I will work on that. But I do have a free book you can download. There was a link in the post - https://theartofmemorialising.substack.com/p/were-back-the-art-of-memorialising Over the coming weeks, I will post some more information and help. Thanks for the comment and interest. It will be wonderful to share the journey with you Carole. Thanks, Pete.
You have piqued my interest! Memoir writing always seemed like a daunting task! I do plan to write my own life story and I am seeking a ‘step by step’ method! How can you help? Is this a course? Where can I find out more!
I'm so glad the post 'piqued your interest.' Truth is , it does seem like a daunting task. However can you write your life? You can't. But you can write scenes of it. When I speak with those I'm either ghostwriting a memoir for, or in my role as a eulogy speechwriter, most often they tell me scenes they remember, often 'firsts' and 'lasts.' Start there. So get a journal or open a new folder on your computer. Clean page. Here's a couple of questions - try to remember your first day at school, or university, or first job. Or when was the first time you saw the love of your life? Use Kiplin's 6 friends - their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who. Bring in the senses, smells, sights, feelings. Just start by listing everything. Don't write it as a story just yet. Reflect in your mind on that one scene. Try to picture everything you can. Write it out. How did it feel? What fears did you have? They were not probably realised, anyway! :) Then capture this scene in a simple 3 - part story. A beginning, a middle, and an end. Don't overthink it. Or over edit it. Put it aside and slowly add more and more stories. A theme or a time of your life will start to emerge, and then you can shape the stories into a memoir. For example, one of my memoirs, Gathering Rosebuds in Kerala, only spans the four weeks I was in India for my 60th birthday. But along with those memories, as I wrote about those happy days, themes and stories from my past fitted in perfectly. I wish there was a course I could send to you! I will work on that. But I do have a free book you can download. There was a link in the post - https://theartofmemorialising.substack.com/p/were-back-the-art-of-memorialising Over the coming weeks, I will post some more information and help. Thanks for the comment and interest. It will be wonderful to share the journey with you Carole. Thanks, Pete.