Memoir Writing For Dummies

Ryan G. Van Cleave, PhD, is a writing coach, keynote speaker, and award-winning author of 40+ books. He runs the creative writing program at the Ringling College of Art and Design and serves as Editor at Bushel & Peck, a children’s book publisher. Ryan has taught memoir writing at universities, conferences, and workshops.

Introduction 1

About this Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: the First Steps to Writing a Memoir 5

Chapter 1: Diving into Memoir Writing: Just the Basics 7

Understanding the DNA of a Memoir 8

Identifying the Essential Parts of a Memoir 9

Making the Necessary Revisions and Edits to Help Your Memoir Shine 10

Focusing on the End Goal: Publication 11

Answering the Key Question: Why Write a Memoir? 14

Chapter 2: Getting Started: What You Need to Know about Writing Your Memoir 17

Exploring Why People Write Memoirs Anyway 18

Granting Yourself Permission to Write a Memoir 25

Focusing on More Than Just Fame and Fortune 27

Tapping into the Vaults of Memory 28

Contemplating the Role of Reading 30

Finding your audience 32

Understanding subgenre 33

Chapter 3: Understanding What Readers Expect: The Story Behind a Good Story 35

Following the Traditional Story 36

Seeing Your Story as a Pyramid 42

Eyeing the Importance of Plot 48

Chapter 4: Researching and Remembering: Gathering Enough Material 49

Tapping into Your Past: Unlocking Your Memories 50

Putting on Your Researcher’s Cap: Uncovering Vital Info about Yourself 52

Using Others as a Mirror to See Yourself 57

Sticking to the Truth: Avoid Embellishment 60

Chapter 5: Developing Ideas like the Pros 63

Summoning Your Muse: How to Get Inspired 64

Giving Yourself Some Structure 72

Breaking Past Writer’s Block 75

Part 2: Telling Your Story with Pizzazz 79

Chapter 6: Giving Your Story Some Structure 81

Going Chronological 82

Taking a Nonlinear Approach 83

Embracing Episodic Storytelling 84

Sticking with a Thematic Structure: Focus on Connective Threads 87

Recognizing Unconventional Structures 88

Developing an Outline that Works for You 89

Chapter 7: Considering Scenes and Setting 99

Maximizing Scene Power 100

Defining Setting: Where It’s All At 106

Creating a Sense of Place 109

Building Atmosphere 111

Chapter 8: The Character of Characters 119

Understanding What Makes a Good Character 120

Identifying Character Archetypes 127

Making Characters Three-Dimensional 130

Ensuring That Characters Evolve 132

Dealing with Minor Characters 136

Chapter 9: Making the Most of Dialogue 139

Managing Memoir Dialogue Differently than Novel Dialogue 140

Recognizing What Good Dialogue Should Do for Your Manuscript 141

Identifying the Four Types of Dialogue 147

Managing the Mechanics 151

Drafting Speech that Sounds Real versus Real Speech 153

Writing Less Is More 155

Considering Accents and Dialect 158

Recognizing Where Dialogue Goes Awry 161

Chapter 10: Maximizing the Power of Voice 165

Grasping Voice: Your Manuscript’s Soul 166

Being a Minimalist versus Maximalist 168

Shaping Tone 169

Creating Irony 172

Generating Humor 173

Using (Yes, I Said “Using”) Clichés 175

Chapter 11: Handling Point of View 177

Understanding Your Basic Options 177

Recognizing When “I” Isn’t “Me” 186

Using More Than One Point of View 187

Creating Narrative Distance 188

Chapter 12: Bold Beginnings, Magnificent Middles, and Fantastic Finishes 191

Going with the Three-Act Structure 192

Beginning with the First Scene: Setting Up Act 1 194

Moving to the Middle Scenes: Making Act 2 Work 197

Ending with the Final Scene: Closing Act 3 201

Part 3: Revising, Editing, and Pushing Your Story to the Next Level. 207

Chapter 13: Making Revisions 209

Differentiating Between Revision and Editing 210

Embracing Rigor and Honesty in Your Revision Process 212

Developing Your Revision Process (and Sticking to It) 213

Navigating with a Road Map: A Nine-Item Checklist 214

Incorporating Three More Advanced Revision Tactics 216

Chapter 14: Adjusting the Big Picture: Fine-Tuning Structure and Story 219

Sizing Up Your Story: Maintaining Proportion 220

Revving Up the Story’s Engine: Bring on Conflicts Big and Small 221

Adjusting the Pace 222

Using Transitions Effectively 226

Chapter 15: Saying the Unsayable: Knowing What to Include or Exclude 231

Addressing Painful Memories with Care and Purpose 232

Touching on the Taboo: Family Secrets with the Living 234

Dealing with the Dead: Unclear or Missing Information 235

Looking at the Ethics of a Memoir 236

Navigating Legal Considerations 239

Chapter 16: Streamlining Your Story with Sentence-Level Edits 243

Having a Firm Grasp on Grammar 244

Appeasing Your High School English Teacher: Avoid Wordiness 245

Showing versus Telling 249

Avoiding Amateur Constructions 251

Steering Clear of Common Grammar Issues 253

Maximizing the Active Voice 257

Chapter 17: Getting Outside Help: Critique Groups, Editors, Experts, and Sensitivity Readers 259

Trusting the Feedback Process 260

Joining a Critique Group 260

Finding a Golden Reader 264

Bringing in a Professional Editor 265

Seeking Expert Guidance 270

Part 4: Sharing Your Story: a Publishing Primer 275

Chapter 18: Locating and Landing a Literary Agent 277

Seeing What a Good Literary Agent Can Do for You 278

Finding an Agent Who Meets Your Needs 280

Hooking the Right Agent 283

Making Sense of an Agent Agreement 287

Chapter 19: Making Sense of Traditional Publishing and the Submission Process 293

Researching Publishers 294

Working with a Publisher: The Pros 297

Going with a Publisher: The Cons 300

Crafting a Winning Query Letter 305

Grasping the Power of a Proposal: Think like a Publisher 307

Staying Away from Serious Submission Don’ts 308

Using Subsidy/Vanity Publishers 311

Chapter 20: Going It Alone: Self-Publishing, E-Publishing, and Audiobook Publishing 315

Examining Self-Publishing and E-Publishing 316

Deciding Whether to Self-Publish: The Pros and Cons 319

Expanding Your Reach with Audiobooks and Multimedia Formats 322

Facing the Reality of E-Publishers 324

Researching and Working with Printers 329

Pricing Your Book: Two Philosophies 333

Letting Amazon Distribute Your Book: You Need to Do More 334

Chapter 21: Promoting Your Finished Product (and Yourself) 337

Understanding Marketing versus Publicity 338

Finding Cost-Effective Ways to Promote Your Book 339

Marketing Your Memoir: A Little Monetary Investment Can Pay Off 347

Bringing in Professional Help: Hiring a Freelance Publicist 351

Part 5: the Part of Tens 355

Chapter 22: Ten Myths about Memoirs 357

No One Reads Memoirs 358

You Have to Be a Celebrity to Write One 358

My Family and Friends Remember Things Differently 360

People Will Hate Me If I Include Them 360

I Can’t Write an Entire Book 361

I’m Going to Be Rich and Famous 361

My Life Is So (Insert Adjective Here) that It Will Be a Bestseller 362

I Don’t Have Any Writing Credentials 362

I’ve Been Journaling for Years So Writing My Memoir Will Be a Breeze 363

I’ll Get to It Later 363

Chapter 23: Ten Reasons Memoirs Are Rejected 365

Insufficient Editing 366

Data Dumping versus Storytelling 366

Lack of Focus 367

Improper/Incomplete Submission Procedure 368

Skips/Avoids the Juiciest, Most Interesting Parts 368

Incredibly Slooooow Pace 369

Lack of a True Emotional Experience 369

Theme Bludgeons the Readers 370

The Story Is Overly (and Unnecessarily) Complicated 370

The Writing Is Merely Competent versus Exciting 371

Index 373