Memoirs are a way of touching the emotional heart and being shared with others. If the memoir is not written down, deep details can be quickly forgotten. A memoir can validate your experiences and give meaning to your life; after all, your memories are a precious journey that others can learn from and enjoy. Memoirs can be gifts for your children, parents, friends, country, and the world. Only you can tell the story that is given to you, and the lives of others will be enriched by it.
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Method 1 of 3: Reviewing Your Approach
Step 1. Start constricting
A good memoir is not a life story, but a window into times in your life when you had pure feelings, real experiences. Try creating a memoir that focuses narrowly on one time period or aspect of your life, which ultimately carries a larger message. If written well, the topic or the period you live in will become universal and all readers will be able to relate it to their lives. Start thinking about what you can write about.
- What can't you deny?
- What or who did you leave behind?
- What have you done that you can't understand anymore?
- What actions do you regret that you never did?
- What physical characteristics are you proud to impart?
- When did you least expect to feel compassion?
- What do you have too much?
- When did you know you were in trouble?
Step 2. Take out old photos, diaries, and nostalgic items
The stuff will remind you of experiences you could write about. Whenever possible, visit and relive the event in your head.
Just because you can't remember something right away doesn't mean you can't write about it. Memoirs are really about self-exploration and there's more to it than just you. You are also where you go, your loved ones, and who you belong to
Step 3. Allow your emotions to flow
This is the moment when your mind must act as a second player to your heart. And if the emotion is scary, irrational, painful, or downright terrifying, the better. Bringing those emotions to the surface will help you dive into the moment and write with passion, purpose, and clarity.
- If a thought circuit approaches a nerve, don't stop it. If you stop, the writing will be flat and eventually you will just write down the subject as it is. Take your mind to a place it may not want to go. Hidden in the back of that first thought is probably something worth knowing, worth writing about.
- Listen to music that can metaphorically take you back to a certain time or actually change your mood. Anything that stirs your emotions and makes your mind reabsorb in the moment can present the past vividly.
Step 4. Try therapy
Therapy isn't just sessions of an hour or two a week to keep you mindful organized, but therapy also allows your writing to be organized and creative and not about therapy itself. A memoir is not for finding a solution, but for sharing with others, to expose a little bit about yourself.
It's perfectly normal to feel like you're going crazy. Digging into old emotions is sure to bring them back to life and make them feel real. Thus, all you have to do is spill those emotions out in writing and allow yourself to be absorbed in the release. You may find that the story is writing itself and that conclusions you've never seen before are looming right in front of you
Method 2 of 3: Creating Your Masterpiece
Step 1. Be honest
Very few people are born as children of extraordinary doctors and spend their growing years in Africa curing blind tigers. If your life seems boring on paper, consider it "more challenge." You are no more boring than 100 other people you meet on the street; You're just not looking in the right place. Even if it looks scary, don't lie. Readers deserve better. And frankly, you too.
- When we reminisce about something, we often remember how we felt when we recalled the memory rather than how we felt when the memory actually happened. Makes sense? So don't always trust your memories – ask someone else who remembers the event better. You want a view that is as unbiased as possible – after all, you have the power of the pen; don't abuse it.
- It is always satisfying to read a writer who sharply and deftly attacks the hypocrisy and delusions of the world around him, but we trust the author more fully when he is also attacking himself, when he is not setting himself up to a different standard, or shielding himself from scrutiny. Be honest about the prominence of events, but also look at yourself honestly.
- If readers feel that the author is lying even to himself, or using the essay as propaganda material, conveying his own personal mythology in a way that is too clumsy or transparent, they will react against it. As long as the memoir feels honest, you can move on.
Step 2. Have A and Z
That is, have a straightforward beginning and end, no hassle, no mess, before you start writing. If your twin brother stole your beloved Judy Jetson thermos on March 14, 1989 and you finally saw her son in September 2010, that's it. That's your story. Now you just have to fill the space in between.
Remember: The stories are all yours. Whatever happens can be as crazy or as mundane as you want it to be: if you write it in an engaging way, readers will care (in a good way) whatever you choose
Step 3. Validate the facts
After all, memoirs are written based on truth. Dates, hours, names, people, events, even the smallest details matter. The last thing you want is for something to come up that proves you're faking the truth. You may need to change the names of people or places to avoid confusion, but explain up front when you do this.
Validate what can be validated and imagine only what can be imagined. This is where you can change who you are. The conditions under which you recall the memory will affect the memory to the point that when you recall it again, it will be adjusted. So take the gray area that is your brain and move on from there. Your mind is beyond time
Method 3 of 3: Polishing Your Work
Step 1. Review your work again
Does the work tell what you dare to tell? Is there anything left? Are there any questions that arise and go unanswered? Are your words clear? Do those words move you?
- Good memoirs are entertaining. It doesn't have to be funny, but it should contain something. What do readers get from the memoir? Why should they put their own worries aside and start caring about yours?
- In addition to checking for content errors, check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. The computer will not catch all errors. If you have close friends or family members who are good at this, ask them for help.
Step 2. Make a strikethrough
Not everything you write will be good. After you take a break, start over again, dissect and get rid of. Remove unnecessary and repetitive ones.
Not every instance of your existence is worth noting. If an event is not part of a flow transition to another event, it does not have to be included in the page. Include only those that put you at the end point without veering off course
Step 3. Allow a small group of people to read your work
Once you've made as many revisions as you can, pass your memoirs to a few trusted friends for feedback. Maybe you can see a pattern in their comments, and that's a good indication of what areas need further revision. Don't be shy and seek out a professional editor if needed.
- If these people are (or aren't) in your memoir, watch out. Don't hurt anyone's feelings by putting them in the negative light (or not putting them there at all) and then forcing them to read it. You will only get a negative reaction.
- Constructive criticism is very important for your writing. Sometimes you can't see what other people are going to point out, and that can help improve your work.
Tips
- A good memoir is rich in color – metaphors, similes, descriptions, dialogue, and feelings will bring your memoir to life.
- A memoir differs from an autobiography in that it takes a "portrait" of certain events in a person's life. Memoirs tend to be read like novels. Memoirs are usually written in colorful language rather than autobiographies and only relevant information is included – not everything about a person's life has to be shared.
- Be kind to yourself. Writing a memoir is a very personal and torturous journey.
- A memoir must have a beginning, middle, and end. In it there must be problems, conflicts, and resolutions.
