memoir writing Archives - Women Writers, Women's Books

Writing Became The New Love Of My Life

Jo Ann Simon — Wed, 17 Oct 2018 17:37:25 +0000

Life has a way of bringing you to places you would never have expected or planned for. It could be a new home, in a different state or country, a new friend, experience or a new career. I had two careers when I started writing, and didn’t even dream at that time that I would […]

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Sculpting a Memoir

Destiny Allison — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 07:01:44 +0000

Memoir writers have huge egos. We actually believe that something we did is important to others. We are the like aging relatives reminiscing at Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone else at the table is anxious to talk about Billy’s wedding or Sally’s divorce, but old Aunt Mabel won’t shut up about life before the war. Her voice […]

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A Memoir Narrator Transformed

Lynette Benton — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 07:43:21 +0000

Speaking of her most recent memoir, Joyce Carol Oates said in an interview, “[T]he elements of fiction…evoke rather than summarize, [which is] the desired goal in…memoir.” These days, memoirs mimic novels in plotting a narrative arc, and incorporating dialog, drama, a climax, and the protagonist’s transformation. The seeming requirement that novelistic techniques figure prominently in […]

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Beta-Readers and Editors: Diversity is Strength

Diane Fraser — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 07:40:08 +0000

Two years ago when I started writing about my niece Deihlia four months after her passing, I wasn’t thinking about audience, promotion, or markets. At the time, I was far out to sea, carried there by waves of overwhelming grief. At first, I was writing it just for myself, so that I could capture details […]

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You Too Can Write Your Memoir

Linda Strader — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 04:32:03 +0000

Four years ago if someone had told me I’d write a book, I would’ve told them they had mistaken me for someone else. For a real writer. Everything I’d written up to that point either had to do with college papers, my thesis, reports for work, or online articles on gardening in the desert. But […]

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On Memoirs: Writing About Abuse and Difficult Topics

Judith Haire — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:19:44 +0000

I’d always loved writing. I’d kept journals, written poetry and short stories and had ideas for books. I’d never thought about writing my own story but there came a point where I wanted to share it to try to release myself from the past and its haunting memories. I should explain that I grew up […]

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Memoir: Agony and Relief

Lav Chintapalli — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:17:21 +0000

Narrating stories is as old as history itself. In writing about my childhood growing up in India, it’s mostly pain that I highlight: writing allows us to search the depths of our being – to excavate, sort, pile, discard, and heal. Writing a personal narrative comes with mixed emotions, an eclectic blend of agony and relief […]

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