Author: shannonmuir

Part of deciding to do anything involving memoir is being able to do some self-reflection.

Self-reflection involves being nonjudgmental about your own thoughts and feelings. This requires needing to be able to examine them to figure out how best to present them. Since the audience is someone other than yourself, what would you want someone to take away from learning about your life? What are the core things that make up what you value, what you have experienced, and what you learned from those experiences?

Last time I did a blog post on memoir, I talked about outlining what you intend to talk about as something to consider. I acknowledge that might not work for everyone. However, a positive thing about outlining is that is gives a person something to do while undergoing that process of self-reflection.

The key is ultimately figuring out what works for each person. Ultimately, though, it is about setting up a map and compass to get a person though the story of their life in order to tell it to someone else.

When you have lived many years, it may seem like a lot of what you have been through may not be important to tell. Prioritize telling what is important to you and the things that you are most passionate about. Not only will this help you get parts written early that matter to you, it may help you set the tone for organizing your thoughts.

I know last month we talked about outlining everything first, to make sure that nothing is forgotten. However, I think jotting a few memories down as they come to you does not hurt. For one, it makes sure you capture the thoughts at the time, though you may wind up reworking some of them into the narrative of a larger project. It can also help you figure out the tone of a larger memoir document as well. You may discover you write your memories more lighthearted, or perhaps a more serious tone serves best. Writing some initial thoughts down can serve as a helpful playground to build a more structured memoir.