Roberta PHD Temes - How to Write a Memoir in 30 Days

A READERS DIGEST BOOK

Copyright 2013 Roberta Temes

All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction, in any manner, is prohibited.

Readers Digest is a registered trademark of The Readers Digest Association, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Temes, Roberta.

How to write a memoir in 30 days : step-by-step instructions for creating and publishing your personal story / Roberta Temes, PhD.

pages cm.

Summary: A quick, fun and easy guide to writing a personal memoir in just one month. How to Write Your Memoir in 30 Days provides the framework for writers enthusiastic about telling their story, but wondering how to begin. Step-by-step techniques, culled from writers workshops taught by the author, are presented in a welcoming, non-intimidating style. The prospect of writing a book is not daunting when compartmentalized into thirty discrete assignments-- Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-1-62145-145-7 (pbk.) -- ISBN 978-1-62145-152-5 (epub)

1. Autobiography--Authorship. 2. Report writing--Self-instruction. I. Title. II. Title: How to write a memoir in thirty days. III. Title: Step-by-step instructions for creating and publishing your personal story.

PN147.T34 2014

808.06692--dc23

2013046368

ISBN 978-1-62145-145-7

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This book is dedicated to every woman and every man who is brave enough to write the truth.

And to Judy Boros Temes, the first in my family to do so.

I am grateful to Janet Rosen, my enthusiastic, hard-working literary agent at the Sheree Bykofsky Agency, Inc. and to Andrea Au Levitt, Senior Editor at Readers Digest, whose competence is evident throughout this book. Sincerest thanks to both of you.

The book thats been rattling around in your head is ready to reveal itself.

Follow the daily directions within these pages and by next month you will have a memoir ready to submit for publishing.

Just write what you are asked to write for each days assignment and your memoir will appear. You might decide to do this entirely on your computer, or you might print it out and keep your pages in a folder or you might handwrite it all in a notebook. If you prefer not to write, then speak into a recorder (perhaps your phone can record?) and when you complete the 30 assignments you will have an audio book. If you then wish to turn it into a written book, all you need to do is find a transcriptionist who will type out your recorded words.

Congratulations for undertaking this project. Your memoir will let the world know just who you are and what youve been through all these years. Whether youre writing so that colleagues will know your professional story, or so that relatives will know the truth about your family story, your memoir is important. They may not yet realize it, but your children and their children and grandchildren may one day want to know about youyour opinions, your ideas. The general public may appreciate your story, too. An interesting story is worth telling. It is wise to leave a written or oral legacy. Learning about your lifeyour milestones as well as your strugglesis instructive and useful, and it can be entertaining, too. All your readers can learn from youthey can learn about hopes and about happiness, and perhaps unhappiness, too. How did you do it? How did you get this far? You can be an inspiration, or a warning, depending upon your life story.

Tell them. Teach them. What were the major conflicts of your life? How did you resolve those conflicts? Do you still resolve conflicts that way? Were the conflicts with other people? Were the conflicts within yourself? The writing assignments you do will clarify all these situations.

As you delve into your past, you will notice certain themes and patterns that continue to show up in your life. Recalling some old, formerly forgotten memories will help you make sense out of your life and increase your understanding of yourself. You will give a voice to your desires, disappointments, and accomplishments, too.

Releasing repressed emotions helps you mature emotionally; often when you write about past events, buried emotions come into your mind. Writing your memoir has some neurological value, too. It stimulates your memory and thus increases your cognitive functioning. Studies have shown that when people write about personal thoughts for as few as ten minutes each day, they have an easier time falling asleep and staying asleep throughout the night. Writing about negative life events frees your mind from secretly storing those memories and you will notice that youll have more available energy. When your writing allows you to reexperience positive life events, you boost your happiness level. When you let your true self be known, you invite others to appreciate you.

Memoirs fall into different categories. Perhaps you already know in which category your memoir belongs. It might be:

A relationship memoir: Relationship memoirs show the reader how your relationship with one particular person changes over time and how you change because of that relationship. Often the relationship is a parent, a sibling, or a teacher.

An animal memoir: Animals, especially household pets, play important roles, teach lessons, give love, and often provide deep and meaningful relationships.

An illness memoir: Narratives about disease and illness may end in courage and triumph, or may end in tragedy. Readers stay with you throughout your ordeal. You may be the patient or you may be the caregiver.

A religious memoir: Whether your faith is lost or your faith is found, your experiences resonate with readers who have had similar struggles and perplexing questions.

A business memoir: A memoir about your world of work can be inspiring, specifically when you recount your failures as well as successes.

A travel memoir: Your trip is both a travelogue of fascination and an inner journey showing the readers how the trip changed you.

A romantic memoir: Romance in all its forms attracts readers who hope you make good choices and worry about you when you dont. In this category are memoirs about marriage, divorce, far-flung lovers, and second-time-around couples.

A tell-all memoir: Secrets are revealed and a part of your past that most people never suspected is described, dissected, and discussed.

A disaster memoir: Your experience survivinga burglary, a kidnapping, an earthquake, or any other disasters would be included in thiscategory.

A coming-of-age memoir: The child or adolescent learns how to navigate through the adult world, with all its complicated rules and regulations.

A call-to-action memoir: Readers are encouraged to become part of a social action group that will try to change a particular policy.

Your memoir may overlap several of the memoir categories or it may defy all attempts at classification and maintain a unique status. Categorizing your memoir can help you focus your writing on the themes you most want to cover. And, if you want to sell your memoir to a publisher, it gives you an easy way to describe your work. If you want to be impressive, you can refer to your writing as a literary memoir or as a personal nonfiction narrative.

After you complete each daily assignment simply save it. Later on, youll be instructed in techniques that will merge all your daily writings into one memoir. If you wish to include material from a blog or personal journal, that, too, will be merged.