Do you have a particular experience that you want to share with the world? Are you feeling the urge to share a part of your life to express, inspire, and motivate? Then, writing them in the form of a memoir might be the answer. This particular literary genre allows everyone to narrate their personal tales through their own perspectives. It is often written with honesty and genuineness with a selective timeline. The defining trait of this form of writing is that it allows the writer to personally explore a certain facet of his life, awakening their ideas and emotions that will soon conquer the narrative.
There are hundreds of memoirs that were already published and are impacting readers’ lives as of today. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, The Nine Lives of Curious Edith by Edith Vosefski, A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, One Caregiver’s Journey by Eleanor Gaccetta, and The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion are some of the best ones under the said genre.
So, if you are determined to write your memoir, then here are the points that you must consider during your writing journey.
Take a stroll down memory lane
Memoirs, similar to biographies, have memories as their foundations. Without the experience, the narrative can be considered fictional because it didn’t happen in real life, specifically in the author’s life. Hence, it is always essential to take a trip down memory lane so you can fully remember the event and reawake the emotions. Make sure to feel the nostalgia while doing this step so you can come up with better realizations and reflections that you can inflict in your work. On conditions that your memory fails you, please interview or ask people who were with you during that part of your life.
Create a mind map
Making a mind map is one of the best ways to create a strong and appealing story. It is a useful diagram that helps you in many ways, such as enhancing memory, learning new ideas, breaking down complicated concepts, improving creativity, and more. Thus, it is a helpful tool that can support you in toning and narrowing your ideas. This strategy can also allow you to develop a better organization when it comes to the order of the story and what part of your work you want to inject a particular experience and reflection.
Write from the heart
One of the many reasons why many are drawn to memoirs is because of human connection. Your honest narrative will pierce the hearts of your readers, making them more captivated and invested in knowing and finishing your story. So, write earnestly and passionately. Make sure that you can express your burden, unload the extra baggage, showcase your victories, face your fears, show your love, and heal from trauma. All these factors will be evident from your story and will be the bond that will bind you to your readers. Also, when you write from the heart, your words and emotions will flow freely, which can impact your work,
Draw intense emotions
Although your main purpose is to inspire and express, you should not forget the other aspects that make a memoir enticing and meaningful. Every story must have the ability to draw intense emotions from its readers because it enhances the book-reader connection. That said, you have to pay attention to your tone and word choice and how the characters are crafted and developed. But, you shouldn’t try so hard just to draw those emotions from your targets because it could compromise the quality of your work. You have to let everything fall into place and creativity piece them together so you can make an impactful whole.
Keep the rawness in your work
The purity and rawness of the emotions and experience should be retained in order to strengthen the impact of your story. It doesn’t mean that you have to write the verbatim conversations or advice that you’ve heard. What you should put in mind is to make your personal account clear and genuine. If you need to tap on the child or teenager you once were, please take your time. Ensure that there will be no fictional or imaginative blocks that will be infused into your work. Keep it honest and sincere.
Alex Writes 