START HERE Before You Write Your Memoirs
Everyone asks, “Where do I start?” in writing their memoirs.
Writing your memoir–I promise you–is not as complicated as you fear.
One easy place to start your memoir would be simply to begin describing a childhood photo of yourself, whether you have a memory of that time or not. You can begin to write your memoirs by simply describe the photo
from both the omniscient (the God view) and personal first-person point of view.
In this photo (obviously from a European country with the steering wheel on the right), there is a pampered baby, by the standards of that day. Infant safety was unheard of, since owning a car was only just becoming more widespread in the 1950s, after World War II. In writing your memoir, you will want to avoid the common pitfall of trying to summarize regional or world history. Others have done that, and very well! Stick to what you know in writing your memoir.
Many folks are plagued by an overwhelming sense of fear that, in writing their memoirs, they will reveal their faults, that in order to write about their past they must first launch into a world of apologies. Become one of the apologetics.
If that is true of you, then set aside time to deal with that part of yourself, both in writing and otherwise. Writing your memoirs can seem intimidating and you might even want to talk to a counselor or a spiritual advisor, especially if you’ve avoided that avenue. In order to write about yourself, you might find it helpful to first do a lot of forgiving. Letting yourself off the hook. Letting your parents off the hook. Journaling is not memoir-writing. Journaling is what you do to release emotions and get clear. It’s too raw, too emotional, usually, for others to want to read it. A memoir, in my opinion, should be more metered, thought-out.
An exercise we will discuss later in this blog is the act of writing a letter as a part of your memoir-writing freedom. Tune in next time….