when I’m driving (now that’s a scary thought). I think while I’m gardening, riding my horse, and I think about my work even when I should be thinking about other things. Writing overwhelms my life. My stories and my characters consume me. It’s impossible for me to stop.

This may or may not happen to you, and you may find that the memoir is far easier to write than you imagined once you get started.

Some writers talk about sweating blood. You should not have to go to this extreme. If your memoir is difficult to write, perhaps you need to try another event to chronicle, or you need to set the projec

"The best gift you have to offer when you write personal history is the gift of yourself. Don’t forget that it’s there and that it has great power. Give yourself permission to write about yourself, and have a good time doing it." (William Zinsser, On Writing Well)

Congratulations on wanting to pen your memoirs…or at least some part of them. This should be a rewarding and fulfilling activity and not the chore that you might be imagining it to be. Think of it as a work of love. This is a wonderful gift for your family, and one they will cherish always.

Many people assume they have to sit down and “let it all hang out,” and for most this seems a daunting and potentially embarrassing thing to do. This isn’t a good idea either. You want to leave your loved ones with the truth, but maybe not necessarily the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Remember: “Memoir is the art of inventing the truth.” (Zinsser)

With memoir you can just tell a segment or even a “moment” of your life’s story.

Do you really think you want to do an autobiography? An autobiography spans an entire life, from the very start. Not many of us have lives that warrant this much telling. A recent example of an autobiography is General Chuck Yeager’s YEAGER. He includes his childhood, but still spends the majority of his book talking about his time as a jet pilot. Let’s face it, only a few have childhoods that are out of the mainstream enough to warrant inclusion in a book.

People like Ben Franklin, Johnny Cash, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King had lives that perhaps warrant an all out autobiography, but most of us out here? Probably not.

Memoir, on the other hand, is probably more what you are wanting to do. Memoir has focus.

“Memoir isn’t the summary of a life; it’s a window into a life, very much like a photograph in its selective composition.” (Zinsser)

You’ll find that the most difficult thing about this project is that first sentence. Most people have a good idea of what they want to write about, but beginnings can be hard. Making yourself sit down, pick up a pen, or turn on the computer, is the big hurdle for most people. Once started, the memoir takes on a life of its own, and your story will spill out.

You’ll also find that you’ll spend an inordinate amount of time just thinking about your project. I know I do when I’m involved in a project. Sometimes I think for weeks before I write. I’m thinking when I’m driving (now that’s a scary thought). I think while I’m gardening, riding my horse, and I think about my work even when I should be thinking about other things. Writing overwhelms my life. My stories and my characters consume me. It’s impossible for me to stop.

This may or may not happen to you, and you may find that the memoir is far easier to write than you imagined once you get started.

Some writers talk about sweating blood. You should not have to go to this extreme. If your memoir is difficult to write, perhaps you need to try another event to chronicle, or you need to set the projec

t it all hang out,” and for most this seems a daunting and potentially embarrassing thing to do. This isn’t a good idea either. You want to leave your loved ones with the truth, but maybe not necessarily the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Remember: “Memoir is the art of inventing the truth.” (Zinsser)

With memoir you can just tell a segment or even a “moment” of your life’s story.

Do you really think you want to do an autobiography? An autobiography spans an entire life, from the very start. Not many of us have lives that warrant this much telling. A recent example of an autobiography is General Chuck Yeager’s YEAGER. He includes his childhood, but still spends the majority of his book talking about his time as a jet pilot. Let’s face it, only a few have childhoods that are out of the mainstream enough to warrant inclusion in a book.

People like Ben Franklin, Johnny Cash, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King had lives that perhaps warrant an all out autobiography, but most of us out here? Probably not.

Memoir, on the other hand, is probably more what you are wanting to do. Memoir has focus.

“Memoir isn’t the summary of a life; it’s a window into a life, very much like a photograph in its selective composition.” (Zinsser)

You’ll find that the most difficult thing about this project is that first sentence. Most people have a good idea of what they want to write about, but beginnings can be hard. Making yourself sit down, pick up a pen, or turn on the computer, is the big hurdle for most people. Once started, the memoir takes on a life of its own, and your story will spill out.

You’ll also find that you’ll spend an inordinate amount of time just thinking about your project. I know I do when I’m involved in a project. Sometimes I think for weeks before I write. I’m thinking when I’m driving (now that’s a scary thought). I think while I’m gardening, riding my horse, and I think about my work even when I should be thinking about other things. Writing overwhelms my life. My stories and my characters consume me. It’s impossible for me to stop.

This may or may not happen to you, and you may find that the memoir is far easier to write than you imagined once you get started.

Some writers talk about sweating blood. You should not have to go to this extreme. If your memoir is difficult to write, perhaps you need to try another event to chronicle, or you need to set the projec

eneral Chuck Yeager’s YEAGER. He includes his childhood, but still spends the majority of his book talking about his time as a jet pilot. Let’s face it, only a few have childhoods that are out of the mainstream enough to warrant inclusion in a book.

People like Ben Franklin, Johnny Cash, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King had lives that perhaps warrant an all out autobiography, but most of us out here? Probably not.

Memoir, on the other hand, is probably more what you are wanting to do. Memoir has focus.

“Memoir isn’t the summary of a life; it’s a window into a life, very much like a photograph in its selective composition.” (Zinsser)

You’ll find that the most difficult thing about this project is that first sentence. Most people have a good idea of what they want to write about, but beginnings can be hard. Making yourself sit down, pick up a pen, or turn on the computer, is the big hurdle for most people. Once started, the memoir takes on a life of its own, and your story will spill out.

You’ll also find that you’ll spend an inordinate amount of time just thinking about your project. I know I do when I’m involved in a project. Sometimes I think for weeks before I write. I’m thinking when I’m driving (now that’s a scary thought). I think while I’m gardening, riding my horse, and I think about my work even when I should be thinking about other things. Writing overwhelms my life. My stories and my characters consume me. It’s impossible for me to stop.

This may or may not happen to you, and you may find that the memoir is far easier to write than you imagined once you get started.

Some writers talk about sweating blood. You should not have to go to this extreme. If your memoir is difficult to write, perhaps you need to try another event to chronicle, or you need to set the projec

graph in its selective composition.” (Zinsser)

You’ll find that the most difficult thing about this project is that first sentence. Most people have a good idea of what they want to write about, but beginnings can be hard. Making yourself sit down, pick up a pen, or turn on the computer, is the big hurdle for most people. Once started, the memoir takes on a life of its own, and your story will spill out.

You’ll also find that you’ll spend an inordinate amount of time just thinking about your project. I know I do when I’m involved in a project. Sometimes I think for weeks before I write. I’m thinking when I’m driving (now that’s a scary thought). I think while I’m gardening, riding my horse, and I think about my work even when I should be thinking about other things. Writing overwhelms my life. My stories and my characters consume me. It’s impossible for me to stop.

This may or may not happen to you, and you may find that the memoir is far easier to write than you imagined once you get started.

Some writers talk about sweating blood. You should not have to go to this extreme. If your memoir is difficult to write, perhaps you need to try another event to chronicle, or you need to set the projec

when I’m driving (now that’s a scary thought). I think while I’m gardening, riding my horse, and I think about my work even when I should be thinking about other things. Writing overwhelms my life. My stories and my characters consume me. It’s impossible for me to stop.

This may or may not happen to you, and you may find that the memoir is far easier to write than you imagined once you get started.

Some writers talk about sweating blood. You should not have to go to this extreme. If your memoir is difficult to write, perhaps you need to try another event to chronicle, or you need to set the project aside for a bit for some thinking time.

As you write you’ll laugh. You’ll cry. As you recall this segment of your life and you really begin to dig, you will relive it with the same passion and feelings you had the first time around.

“If we had to say what writing is, we would have to define it essentially as an act of courage.” (Cynthia Ozick)

I believe we need to add that writing is also an act of love.

Writing your memoir will help bring clarity and closure to the particular event that you are writing about. It seems that sometimes we don’t really know what we think about things until we see what we write.