Craft of Memoir

If you want to get more insight into the craft of memoir, we invite you to become a member of Memoir Nation. At the free membership level, Path #1, you’ll get access to our free booklet, “Crafting Your Memoir.”

We’ve identified the five stages of memoir as we see them, and below you’ll find a list of some of the best articles we could source on craft and structure of memoir, and truth, vulnerability, and ethics.

Memoir Prep

The journey to writing a memoir typically starts with enthusiasm and energy for what’s possible. This momentum and excitement might start accidentally, with a story that tumbles out of you when you sit down to record a story from your life. Maybe you’re an avid memoir reader and you’ve started to wonder, Why not me? Preparation comes in the form of dreaming it might be possible to write your memoir, and then starting to write. Usually in this stage we realize we need a little help or support, which can lead to the search for community, for resources, for classes.

You are in the Memoir Prep stage if you’re in the early writing phase and feeling the energy and looking for ways to dig in deeper. At Memoir Nation, we welcome you if you’re in the Memoir Prep stage and invite you to explore everything we have to offer. Harness that inspiration, and keep writing!

Muddy Middle

The Muddy Middle is a challenging part of the journey that can start pretty early on. Once that initial spark of inspiration starts to dim, once it’s obvious how long it’s going to take to write the story you really want to write, once you realize how grueling it is to resurface old memories and to relive past experiences . . . things can start to slow down.

If you’ve pushed pause on your memoir or if you’re struggling to find your inspiration, Memoir Nation can be part of your accountability structure, and we want to support you here and now, especially when it feels like a slog. The Muddy Middle is normal. Everyone experiences it. Some writers can be in the Muddy Middle for years. That doesn’t mean you can’t be generative and having fun and making connections along the way. We’re here for that—and we welcome you, and we’ll help you stay connected and inspired to your goals.

Finishing Touches

Once you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, things get a little more real. This may be the phase of the journey where you know it’s going to happen, even though you know there’s a lot more work to be done. You might have a finished draft, but you know it’s not yet publish-ready and you’re not sure where to go from here.

For those of you in this phase, you’ve come a long way, yet there’s still a ways to go. You may choose to take classes with experts, or get a manuscript assessment, or find an editor or a beta reader. Maybe you’re looking for a place to workshop your writing. Memoir Nation will be offering all of this and more within our first year as we begin to grow this community and provide you with all the resources and support you need. If you’re looking for something specific, email us and let us know. And congratulations for getting this far along. It’s no small feat!

Revision

The revision phase of memoir writing can last sometimes as long as the writing. Here you’re integrating what you’re learning from classes or readers or editors. You may be cutting words and killing your darlings. Perhaps your book will benefit from a full pass just to home in on your characterizations, or your reflections, or your sentence-level prose. Perhaps you’re looking at your metaphors and analogies, making your work more sophisticated or literary. There’s a lot of deepening to be done in revision, and most published memoirists will tell you they revised many times. It’s not a one-and-done kind of process.

Memoir Nation will eventually be a place to connect you to editors and readers, in addition to our classes. We’re building this part of the nation out, so in the early days we may be partnering you with an editor, or starting memoir groups, or providing revision classes. This is an area we know requires a lot of support, and too often memoirists find themselves flailing and wondering, What next? Memoir Nation will help you figure that out.

Publishing

The ultimate and final stage of any memoirist’s journey is publishing. We aim to have full publishing services as we grow and evolve. For now, we have resources and the expertise to direct memoirists on their publishing options. During the first year of Memoir Nation, we invite you to join us for our class, “Publish Your Memoir.” We’ll help you navigate what we know is a fraught and oftentimes-confusing journey to get your book from finished draft to book in hand. And when you do get your work published, we’ll be here to celebrate your achievement.

Our vision for Memoir Nation is to be a collective that supports you to make connections so that when you’re ready to publish, you have the readiness and the community you need to weather the highs and lows of your post-publication journey.

Craft of Memoir

Further Reading on Memoir Writing

Further Reading on Craft and Structure

Further Reading on Truth, Vulnerability, and Ethics