Writing a Memoir, Writing a Biography | Write Your Memoir
Because you don't have to be a writer to write a memoir.
Check out Di's blog memoir: He is a statistic. He is also a man. She writes about her grandfather, one of the 850 WWII vets who die every day: "He was special in the sense that every kind and wonderful person is special. And he deserves to be remembered." In my blog about Frank McCourt, I said that his memoir, Angela's Ashes, taught us that we are all ordinary. But our memoirs can be extraordinary. Do you have an ordinary grandfather? Have you written something extraordinary about him?
Bestselling business book author Seth Godin announced in yesterday's Wall Street Journal that in the future, he will bypass his commercial publisher, Portfolio (Pearson PLC's Penguin Group USA, headed by Adrian Zackheim). The author of Purple Cow and other business bestsellers also discussed this decision in a recent blog, which he says is read by 438,000 people. Godin says he knows who his audience is and has a direct customer relationship with that audience through the Internet.
So what?
Here's the quote in the Wall Street Journal piece that got to me: "Publishers provide a huge resource to authors who don't know who reads their books." And he continues, "What the Internet has done for me, and a lot of others, is enable me to know my readers."
Do you know your readers? Who are they? Who is your audience? You'll find it easier to write your memoir if you know who your readers are, who you are writing for.
Here are some questions to answer before you begin writing your memoir:
Then when it comes to publishing your memoir, you can have a direct customer relationship with your audience on the Internet.
Go for it!
I heard memoirist Pearl Sofaer speak recently. Pearl was born and grew up in Bombay, India, of a Baghdadi Jewish family. She currently resides in the San Francisco Bay, California, area. Pearl is author of the memoir/cookbook, Baghdad to Bombay: In the Kitchens of My Cousins (Paper Jam Publishing, 2008; $18). The book includes traditional Jewish recipes from Iraq and India. Pearl interviewed her extended family to collect the recipes in the book, which include: Iraqi Borscht, Fish Curry, Baghdadi Jewish Chicken Soup, and Luzina, to name a few. Pearl told stories about what the traditional Baghdadi Jewish community was like in the first half of the 20th century, and what it was like to grow up in Bombay. At the end of her presentation, Pearl sang traditional songs using Middle Eastern Jewish (Mizrahi) melodies, which sounded so exotic to our western ears. Her CD is Gems of Mizrahi Liturgy.
Are musical memoirs next? Downloadable mp3 memoirs? M-memoirs?
At the Self-Publishing Book Expo I attended recently in New York, I met three women whose memoirs successfully tackle these potentially overpowering topics:
Past experiences such as these may seem too big to write about comfortably. But perspective changes everything. Check out these three memoirs and how each woman’s viewpoint has shaped her storytelling.
I'm Martha Jewett and my passion is helping others capture their life stories. The purpose of this website is to share tips, ideas and resources on writing and even publishing your own memoir. Please share your own tips and experiences here and feel free to contact me any time.
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