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 [...]
The Tender Land: A Family Love Story by Kathleen Finneran Just a quick post today… I was researching dialog writing in memoir when I ran across this article: “Lying in the Land of Memoir: Straddling the Line Between Fact and Fiction” by Kathleen Finneran on the Writer’s Store website. It was amazing! It should be [...]
It happens. It’s so easy to get lost in the world of learning about memoir. All the wonderful books that teach you about writing. There are books that address every aspect of writing and specific genres. Books about dialog, plot, scene building, organizing your memories, finding your theme, getting your book published, finding an agent, [...]
I just finished re-reading Plot & Structure, by James Scott Bell. Besides being an awesome writers resource, he goes deeper. He shares some of his own problems and solutions to writing a novel. Now, granted, this book is geared toward fiction writers but much of it can be adapted to work in the memoir genre. [...]
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 kind laugh a bit when I read the analytic reports for the site. It’s funny which articles pull in readers. One particular place I seem to be failing is in regard to kids and memoir. Why? Because I am a student, not a teacher. However, since people are ending up here while looking for [...]
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, [...]
May 5th, Cinco De Mayo, my father-in-law would have celebrated his 74th birthday. Unfortunately, he passed away 14 years ago at the tender age of 60, so young. My husband and I are back in the area where my father-in-law is laid to rest after a 15 year absence. We got flowers and went to [...]
One of my favorite fiction writers is James Patterson. I recently discovered his books and have been reading one after another. The good news is reading fiction books can help with understanding fiction writing techniques that can then be adapted for memoir writing. Fiction Techniques It was a cool morning so I donned my comfortable [...]
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 [...]
Memoir writing and fiction writing are similar in form. Obviously, the difference being a story about something that actually happened versus something completely made up. For publishing, there are a lot of similarities as well. Staying out of the rejection pile is hard work. Heeding advice from publishers and agents should be at the top [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
In my last post, Memoir Writing | Telling the Truth in Your Memoir, I talked about never outright lying or making things up, but how memory is subjective. If you are true to yourself and your memory, you will be fine. This week, I want to talk about how much truth you need to have [...]
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 [...]
How can you write a true life story or memoir and know it is the truth? Okay, a couple of facts here… Memoir writing is based on writing from memory Memory is subjective. So what does this mean to me and my memoir? First of all, as log as you write the story the way [...]
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 [...]
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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