HINTS ON STARTING TO WRITE YOUR MEMOIR

If you keep a journal you are ahead of the game.  People keep journals for many reasons.  Some are simple, recording daily activities, others may be to release  stress and/or as therapy.  The only time I have kept one is on a trip. I found it helpful when putting together scrapbooks and albums.  Even if you don't journal everyday you will find that just writing a few times a week  will serve as a good memory jogger when beginning to think of memoir topics.  Last year I had a student in one of my memoir classes who had kept a journal for thirty years!  I asked him if they were problems to store.  He chuckled and said that he would always find a  place for them.

Everyone has lots of memories stored but how do you get them out and onto paper?  The following ideas have worked for many writers:

1. Bring out the old photographs.  You may have to ask older family members who they are and something about their lives..
2. Brainstorm---let your thoughts flow to the paper without punctuation or thinking about grammar or spelling.
3. Collect family stories.
4. Visit the neighborhood where you grew up or if that is not possible--sketch it, putting in as many details as possible.
5. Open an old trunk or box that contains objects from days gone by such as a baseball mitt or old letters.

I'll see you back next time with suggestions on how to find a theme in your memoir.

Comments are welcome.