Words to avoid in writing a memoir

Health Faith You might start with memories that show how bad things once were for you. Then you would show pivotal experiences in your life, important people in your transformation, what you learned, and how you applied certain principles to see this vast change. Naturally, the better the stories, the better the memoir. However, great stories are not the point — and frankly, neither is the memoirist you.

Not only do I devour memoirs, I also have written my own, and I coach memoir writers on turning their memories into manuscripts. Narrow your focus Your memoir should be written as if the entire book is a snapshot of one theme of your life.

How to Write a Memoir: 6 Creative Ways to Tell a Powerful Story

Or consider it a pie, where your life represents the whole pie, and you are writing a book about a teeny-tiny sliver. Your memoir is not an autobiography. The difference is that an autobiography spans your entire life, and a memoir focuses on one particular moment or series of moments around a theme.

You want your readers to walk away knowing you, and that one experience, on a much deeper level. Angela is his mother, and much of the storyline focuses on her and how Frank saw her, as well as the role she played in trying to hold the entire family together.

Include more than just your story I know I just instructed you to narrow down your focus, but we need to think bigger in our writing pursuits. For example, if Hillary Clinton wrote a memoir about raising a child in the White House, she would be pulling in tidbits about how she handled the media, who she let visit her daughter during sleepovers and how she navigated the politics of parenting during her time in the White House.

Likewise, if Madonna was writing a memoir about reinventing herself after 20 years away from the public spotlight, she most likely would include what it felt like to return to the music scene and how she continued to travel and perform while raising her children.

How does this apply to you? Imagine you are writing a memoir about your three-week trek through the Himalayan Mountains. While the focus is on your trip, as well as what you learned about yourself along the way, it would be wise to include other details as well.

You could describe the geography and history of the area, share interesting snippets about the people and donkeys you interacted with, and discuss your exploration of life-and-death questions as you progressed along your arduous journey.

Tell the truth One of the best ways to write a powerful memoir is to be honest and genuine. When I wrote my memoir, Breaking the Silence: I wrote my book with brutal honesty, and it has paid off with my readers — and is bringing national attention to what is happening behind closed school doors.

One more note on honesty: Memoirs explore the concept of truth as seen through your eyes.

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Your story, the unique one that you hold and cherish, is enough. There is no need to fabricate or embellish. Put your readers in your shoes Powerful writers show, not tell. And for a memoir writer, this is essential to your success, because you must invite your reader into your perspective so she can draw her own conclusions.

Instead, paint a picture for your audience so they come to this conclusion on their own. You might write something like this: Employ elements of fiction to bring your story to life I like to think of the people in memoirs as characters.

A great memoir pulls you into their lives: Many of the best memoir writers focus on a few key characteristics of their charactersallowing the reader to get to know each one in depth.

Introduce intriguing setting details and develop a captivating plot from your story. Show your readers the locations you describe and evoke emotions within them.

They need to experience your story, almost as if is was their own. Knock off their pants, shirt, shoes and underwear too!Words to Avoid in Academic Writing There are some words students use in academic writing that could be said to be overused or unnecessary.

Whether you are writing a paper for a class, or you are submitting a business proposal as an entrepreneur, there are particular words you should avoid in order to maintain a professional writing appearance.

Create a unique memoir scenario and avoid predictability in the text before conclusion Since everybody has diverse life happenings, tell your story in style and let the reader identify with you. Significantly, find the right slant to describe your story and the body paragraphs will definitely flow.

19 Questions to Help You Write a Memoir by Freelance Writing. What is Memoir Writing? Memoir writing, also called legacy writing, is probably the most important writing 10 Words to Avoid When Writing. by Freelance Writing. Writing is a combination of art and craft. The art comes from lots of reading, talking, thinking, .

Memoir authors usually don’t write about rainbows and sunshine, they write about the salacious. Abuse, sex, addiction, and family drama—it’s the Sturm und Drang that people want to read about.

Abuse, sex, addiction, and family drama—it’s the Sturm und Drang that people want to read about. Don't hesitate to write your memoir because you think you haven't lived enough yet.

Instead, start documenting your life right now. There are stories everywhere. Write a journal, keep a blog, take notes about the life around you. I'm only 26 years old. “These words spoil your writing.” A good metaphor can enhance your writing, but using too many makes writing tedious, so try to think of a different way to express your ideas.

9. Just “Some people are just persnickety about writing. It’s just the way they write.” Reason: The word “just” doesn’t add any real value to these sentences.