How To Write Memoirs That Others Will Want To Read
Do not try to sit down and write the story of your life at once. It is often beneficial to break it down into isolated incidents that are most vivid in your memory. Write individual pieces about one specific event or all the incidents related to that event. You can align them chronologically later.
If it is easier for you to talk than write, buy a small recorder. Speak into it just as if you were talking to a trusted friend or family member. Then, when it is time to transcribe the tapes, you can either write your memoirs just as you told them or use them as a reminder.
Remember to edit yourself as you go, not for proper spelling and punctuation but for content. Certain incidents could be embarrassing or hurtful to other family members. For example, if your son is a professional football player, relating an anecdote about his favorite doll as a baby could embarrass him. Your happily married daughter might prefer her husband not learn about an overwhelming infatuation she had in high school. If in doubt, talk to family members about specific incidents they would rather keep private.
Your story should be told from your perspective. If someone wants to know exactly what President Roosevelt said during his World War II radio chats, they can locate that information easily. What they cannot find anywhere else is how you and your family reacted to them. Perhaps they were considered a special event and celebrated with cocoa and popcorn while listening. Or you might choose to write about the impact on your family when a relative deployed to Vietnam. You could also write how you felt about the first landing on the moon or the Challenger and Columbia disasters. You do not need to know all the details about the event, since it is your impression that matters.
Even everyday events can be of interest to readers of your memoirs. Did you buy a paper dress when they were popular, and how did it work out? What was it like to use a microwave for the first time? How did it feel to hold your newborn for the first time? What was your first car like, or your first apartment?
Perhaps the best advice anyone can offer on how to write memoirs is to remember that your point of view is the most important. Readers are curious about the impact events had on your life. Details analyzing why events happened can be found in any number of books. However, only you can provide the information about what the incidents meant to you.
