How to Publish a Memoir: Part One

Writing about your life can be easy or difficult, depending. For me it was easy. Janet glibly mentioned one day "Why don't you write your memoir and do something?" This after lounging at home for three months doing nothing after retiring from State service after 39 years. So in June 2009 I began.

I finished writing what happened a year and a half later. 364 pages. I found it easy -- no emotion, no display of emotion, only what happened. As Janet and Jesse said later "It's the most boring thing ever written." And it was. But it was everything, from birth to age sixty-two, from soup to nuts, nothing left out. Even my breakfast menus, and how many cups of coffee I drink per day. Boring.

It wasn't until the 19th Winter Poetry and Prose Getaway, in January 2011, hosted by my dear Baha'i brother, Peter Murphy, that I actually found my writer's voice. I haven't stopped writing personal, and emotional, memoir since.That's a discovery every good writer has to find for themselves. I can't help you with that.

But I can help you get started. Even someone who's never written a word about themselves, their likes and dislikes, their ups and downs, failures and joys, can do a magnificent job writing their story. I firmly believe with patience and perseverence, you can do it. And you should. If not for your own sake, for the sake of your children, parents, coworkers, friends or other family. Once you really get started, you'll love it like I do.

First: You need to know English. Basic spelling and grammar. Whatever you learned in school, if you at least went through middle school, is enough.

Second: Whether you use block printing like I do, or can write in cursive, get some paper and pens, and just write something, anything. Don't worry about spelling and grammar at first, or finding the right word. Think of an event in your life - your first paying job, getting married, jail time, high school years, smoking pot, whatever - just write what you remember -- in your own words. You are not an author -- yet.

It's best to do this on a computer. I use Microsoft Word, which I recommend. It's universally accepted as a standard. It has great editing capabilities, showing edit mistakes with a green underline - very helpful. It even shows spelling mistakes, invaluable. And if you're still unsure of spelling, go to Google, enter "define embarrass" and it shows the correct spelling. It can also save your doc as a PDF easily. When done, you can load your Word doc, or a PDF.


Third: Like Stephen King says in On Writing (my favorite book on how to write),  you need an Ideal Reader. At least one person you trust to share your story with and give you feedback. Too raunchy? Emotionless? Boring? Exciting? Unique? Whatever, it will be something meaningful to you, and that's really all that counts. But feedback is critical if you ever want to publish. And publishing your book will only cost from zero to a few hundred dollars, and then you watch the profits roll in - if its compelling. That process starts with Step Eleven.

Fourth: Exercise your writing and reading muscles. Join a local library writing group. I participate in three within a ten mile radius of my home. If you can't find one start one. Approach your local library like I did for my Monday Memoir Classes. Send them an email with your proposal. All they require is that it's free and open to the public. Read your pieces to others -- the feedback is invaluable  -- and free. Did I mention free? So far you've spent nothing.

Note: I made a conscious decision NOT to read any memoirs by other authors until my rewritten memoirs were done. I didn't want to be influenced unduly. Oh, I've read a number of books on writing and grammar, it helped me get my thoughts together. More reading will be coming soon, before I want to publish my edited works. Bottom line though, if you want to write memoir well, read other memoirs, like The Memoir Project or The Glass Castle. Tuesdays with Morrie was also fairly good.

Fifth: Another way to get started sharing, is to sign up for www. Proust.com if you're not ready for face-to-face sharing. If you do nothing else, do this. Its absolutely the best way to get started as a writer of memoir. Its intimate -- just close family and friends -- in other words, you invite others to read your personal stuff. And you delete them (and your stuff) if you don't like them or it. You have 100% control. I would not skip this, and, of course its free.

 Continued in Part Two