Gone are the days when memoirs were written for a sense of accomplishment only. With the enormous success of quite a few memoirs in recent years, this genre has become popular among authors and visionaries. Interestingly, memoir writing doesn’t take lots of research and brainstorming so it should be easier to write, right?
Wrong.
Memoir writing is considered an easy feat by most aspiring autobiographers, but it is the most difficult of all writing tasks. Why is this so, you may ask? A memoir is a personal account of a specific event or situation and has some attached emotions as well as biases. Consequently, memoir writers often find themselves getting overly attached to the details and may not present the picture truthfully.
Drafts
In such cases, they will have to write several drafts to catch themselves from painting the image in their preferred colors. At other times, these biographers may simply get so attached to an experience that they never get satisfied with the quality of its portrayal. They may want to keep improving it until it’s perfect. You may argue that perfectionism is a killer in every book writing or creativity task. However, memoir writing attracts a more intense quest for perfectionism because of emotional attachments to the events.
So, how can you ensure your memoir sees the light of the day? One simple way is to embrace imperfection. But that’s easier said than done, is it? Here are a few tips that will let your inner perfectionist take some rest so you can write the first and subsequent drafts with less struggle.
What Is a Memoir?
A memoir is a factual account of one’s experience. Usually, the experience one shares through his memoir contains a theme and relates to a single phase of one’s life. In this way, memoirs are different from biographies in that biographies are complete accounts of one’s life. On the other hand, memoirs are supposed to focus on one crucial and defining event.
You can communicate your feelings about the events through words, but you are unable to alter the interactions, facts, or lessons learned. Remember that a memoir is a non-fiction work. Therefore you shouldn’t fabricate any plot point or cliché just to make readers think of something.
How to Write a Memoir?
As a published author, you will want to see your memoir through completion in the same timeline that you dedicate to your book projects. If it’s taking longer, you need to change the way to approach your memoir project to take it more seriously. Hiring a memoir ghostwriter is one way to ensure that you will meet your writing deadlines effectively. However, you will have to let go of your precious autonomy on the tone and style of your book when you hire a ghostwriter.
You can avoid the bane of writing a memoir by using the following process.
Write the Premise First
The premise defines the whole theme of a memoir in one sentence. You can write it in a story form giving away what events, thoughts, and challenges gave birth to the sudden turn of events that you will detail in your memoir. Follow this brief description with how the next events related to these thoughts or events.
You are allowed to give a detailed preview of the story that is about to unfold in your premise. However, this detail should be enough to be completely told within one single sentence. Defining this premise will allow you to see the events that will mark the beginning and ending events in your memoir.
Know the Story
Unless it’s your first time writing a book, you wouldn’t want to go out of line to make it unique by ditching tried and tested storytelling formats. And if you are a first-time writer, be advised to be overly unique. Learn about storytelling styles and make your story a bit predictable. Sure, you wouldn’t want to copy the tropes and clichés of other memoirs, because your life is your life. Still, you will want to present the story in the most acceptable formats.
Learn about the story structures and see what structure fits with the event you are about to narrate. Whatever is the structure, you will want your memoir to start from a more relaxed and laid back period in your life and slowly build tension to reach climax and describe falling action with decreasing tension and increasing calmness.
Plan Thoroughly
You may think that you have specified the event on which you will write but think again. The event should be significant enough to change your life or your perspective towards life. Once clear, document the event with its start and end time.
Here, give some thought to how you will present the story. You don’t have to strictly follow the chronological order of events. Instead, jot down the event that is captivating enough and talks about the theme of the whole memoir to start the story.
Enlist Your Readers
The biggest reason that prompts writers to author a memoir is that they want to tell their story to others. Audience and readers are the inspiring factor behind every memoir. Some portion of the lack of motivation and discipline that comes with memoir writing can be avoided by materializing the readers who have inspired the writing process.
You can ask your friends or family to be your reader while you write your biography. If that’s not a good idea for you or if your immediate social circle doesn’t share the interest, you can find online readership on social media, though that will require some digging. Regularly update these readers about the progress so you feel accountable to remain on track.
Set a Deadline
Writing a book is a long-term commitment, and with any other commitment, you are likely to lose interest in it after a few weeks. So, don’t leave the goal lingering around for the long term. Instead, aim for a short, but achievable, deadline for the first draft. Go for a three-month deadline. Most writers have experienced that they can complete their first draft in ninety days. so, it should be enough for a memoir as well.
If this deadline appears too competitive, add a month or two. But don’t extend it excessively. It’s reasonable for an author to get their book from idea to completion in a year.
Once you have decided on the deadline, convert it into words you must write each month and week to achieve the goal. Plan rewards for achieving your weekly and monthly goals.
Embrace Imperfection
If you have successfully written a few books and published them till now, you must know that first drafts aren’t your best drafts. The purpose of writing these drafts is to get your thoughts on the paper. So, you shouldn’t worry about it being reader-ready. Don’t worry about what your readers will think about the writing quality if you share snippets of this work with your followers. Simply, remind them that it’s the first draft and they will not judge.
Take Away
Memoir writing is different from writing other types of books. It demands you to lend an unbiased and non-judgmental viewpoint to events that are deeply personal to you. That said, writing a memoir is not the easiest writing feat. You are likely to experience a flare-up of your symptoms of perfectionism. Or you may feel the pressure to excessively dramatize the narration to appease your readers.
This blog post discusses the process that will make your writing process easier. The key to the successful completion of your first draft lies in embracing imperfection. One way to do this is by accepting the idea that your writing will suck.
Secondly, you can try stepping out of your comfort zone and sharing your work with your beta readers. Make sure that you surround yourself with those readers who are invested in your work because you shared the snippet that resonated with them. This way, sharing will help you overcome your excessive judgment over your work without attracting harsh, unsolicited criticism.
