I sit here on the patio gazing across the yard at the little stream, the birds hopping and playing and the squirrels chasing each other. While I still have to wear my jacket to be warm enough, I think spring is finally on her way. At this time last week, we had a Winter Storm [...]
You can tell a story, right? We all do it at some point. Whether it’s a joke, a recent incident or a memory, we all tell stories. At parties, at work, school and at home around the family dinner table, we tell stories to each other. Memoir writing is telling a story about yourself or [...]
A memoir is a slice of your life — a day, a weekend, a year, 10 years — a portion that has a theme. That makes you the main character, the protagonist. However, the theme of your story — the reason you are writing it — is not you.You are simply the manifestation or vehicle [...]
I’m a sap. Let’s just get that out there right now. I like happy endings. The memoir genre, being only a slice of your life, has a good chance for ending happily. I guess I have always been drawn to the — obstacle enters — deal with obstacle — overcome or live with obstacle realization [...]
I read an awesome article that was in included in my paper.li Memoir Writing paper and just had to pass it along. I found myself at Meghan Ward’s blog titled Writerland. The article is 5 Things I’ve Learned About Memoir Writing. (I know that’s a lot of links, but I want to give credit where [...]
I read a lot — fiction, non-fiction, journalism, blogs, etc… My husband asked me how I decide if a book (blog or article) is truly good. I told him it was probably different for every person but how I know I’ve read a truly good book (article or blog) is the mind movies they bring [...]
Have you ever told somebody that you feel a certain way about something only to have them say something like, “You shouldn’t feel that way”, or “That’s not right” or even “I didn’t see it that way”? Here’s the problem with those comments: Everyone is entitled to feel the way they feel. It’s about perception, [...]
Note: A memoir essay is just a story from your life that isn’t book length. There’s no rules about how many pages — 1, 2, 10, 100 — just not enough to make a book. Below is a memoir essay; a short one so you get the idea. I hope you enjoy it! It’s the [...]
What a Memoir Is A memoir is capturing and focusing on one portion of your life. It spans a certain time period like childhood, teen years, career, retirement, raising your children, etc… It can be about a relationship with your best friend, a parent or grandparent or about one week in your life that things [...]
Somehow I missed this post: Talker’s Block back in September of last year. I found it today. I like to read Seth Godin’s blog. His true to life advice, successes, laced with his dry humor always make me think (and laugh). Rather than try to paraphrase, reading it straight from his blog will ensure the message [...]
I found an interesting memoir resource today. It is from the Purdue University OWL site (Online Writing Lab). It’s actually a course description but explains some important factors about memoir. It explains the difference between personal essay and memoir writing and generating ideas for personal memoirs. Short read but very interesting! Purdue University OWL – The [...]
Yes — Valentine’s Day. What if you gave a piece of yourself to your Valentine this year? Get your feet wet or practice up your story-telling skills by writing to your Valentine this year. Giving special people in your life a short story of a special memory is an excellent way to give of yourself [...]
It’s a new year! With it, we all have goals or resolutions we make and try to reach or stick with. As an aspiring memoirist, we need to prioritize our memoir writing. Think about it — during the 2009 – 2010 television season, almost half (9) of the top twenty shows on TV were reality [...]
Two years ago this past December, I had the worst day of my life. I wrote about it in a short essay titled Something Was Wrong — A Daughter’s Story. It lives with me everyday. Two nights ago, I had a bit of deja vu. It was New Year’s Eve afternoon and we were moving [...]
Happy Holidays everyone! Yes, I’m still here though it’s been a while. I apologize for the break but with moving and the holidays approaching things have been chaos. I just wanted to leave you with a suggestion for your memoir writing during the holiday celebrations. Memoir prompts can come from everywhere during this season. Keep [...]
I have run into a road block… err.. writers block. So, I stopped writing and began reading. I needed to get inspired again –remember why I thought my story was good enough to write in the first place. I re-read a couple of my favorite Memoir How To books. They helped a bit but I [...]
I recently had a question from an online acquaintance and I thought I would address it here as well. She wanted to know how to write memoir — how to find a story worth writing about. First, let me say that any story you have is worth writing about. If it is important to you [...]
Today, I was gearing up to clean house. This is quite a chore right now since we are also in the midst of packing and moving. But, since I had uncovered some dust and debris while wrapping and packing treasures to take to the new house, I figured now was as good a time as [...]
I’ve talked before about collapsing minor characters in your memoir. I’ve also talked about not dwelling on details that don’t move the story along. Sometimes leaving out certain things will say more that including something you think is very important. How do you do this? Is there a good exercise for this? I’m glad you asked… [...]
I walked to the steaming coffee pot this morning, after a pit stop in the bathroom, filled my Mickey Mouse mug to the brim with the aromatic brew and headed to the front porch. Still a bit chilly but I was hoping the cool, crisp air would lift the fog that had settled on my [...]
In the first part of this 2 part series (Memoir OR Ficton based in Real Life), fiction writers (and others) question the memoir genre. How do memoir writers answer these questions? Memoir Writers I did some more research on the internet to see how memoir writers and teachers handle the inevitable question of truth vs. [...]
The prompt for this short memoir writing was – “A Serreal Moment in your Life.” The glorious light — amber, crimson, and gold with hints of azure — had a life unto itself. Beautiful even as it consumed its victim. Shimmering and swaying at the mercy of the wind, the dance continued. It would [...]
I have been flitting around the net recently and through different search phrases, have happened upon a bit of a feud. It seems there are many articles and blogs floating around out there by both ticked-off fiction writers and hard core memoir writers. Fiction Writers – Fact or Fiction? If I read one, I read [...]
Am I Qualified to Write Memoir? During my research into writing memoir, I have run across this question quite a few times. The answer is a resound YES! You don’t have to have a career as a writer, have an MFA to write memoir or be qualified in any other manner. The subject is your [...]
“This post is about me – I know, I know, why would anybody want to know about me and my life? I’m not a celebrity, tops in my field or famous in any way, shape, form or fashion (at least outside of my mind). I don’t have a rags to riches story nor have I overcome [...]
Hi there! Welcome to my Writing Life Story blog. Putting your experiences and stories down on paper is one of my passions.
If you are interested in writing life story too, join me on the journey of discovery, learning and the how-to's of memoir writing. Check back often and comments are always welcome.
Mandee
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I have written all my life — some poetry, some personal essay, some memoir stories (longer than essay). I enjoy reading non-fiction as well as fiction. Life is about learning
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