Dawn Field has written this post that I thought might be helpful to you memoir writers out there. I wrote a memoir myself (Living in the House of Drugs), but it wasn’t my memoir so I had a few other things to consider.

As with any book I write, I did some research by reading and skimming many other book of the same genre. This gave me an idea of what was out there, what type of story telling I liked and how I might make the memoir I was writing a bit different. Dawn gives you a few other things to consider. I especially agree with her that most good memoirs have a message they convey (think Eat Pray Love or Wild) but they all don’t. Some are just good stories (like Angela’s Ashes).

The other thing to remember when writing a memoir, the more you write it using the structure of a fictional story, the easier and more enjoyable it will be to read. This is something to keep in mind when you’re trying to decide on tense, use of quotes (or not), use of dialogue, story structure…

(Note: this post is taken from the BookBaby blog. This does not mean I am endorsing BookBaby. Though I haven’t heard anything particularly bad about them, always read the fine print related to upfront or down the road fees when going with any service – mine or anyone elses 🙂

Dawn: “Memoirs are their own class of writing, but they have to adhere to the principles of storytelling. Here are 4 things to consider when you write your memoir.”

Source: Four Things To Decide Before You Write Your Memoir | BookBaby Blog

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