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• Contents at a Glance
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• About this Book
• Conventions Used in this Book
• What Not to Read
• Foolish Assumptions
• How This Book Is Organized
• Icons Used in this Book
• Where to Go from Here
• Part I: The First Steps to Writing a Memoir
• Chapter 1: The Lowdown on Memoir Writing: Just the Basics
• Understanding What Makes a Memoir a Memoir
• Naming the Essential Parts of a Memoir
• Making the Necessary Revisions and Edits to Help Your Memoir Shine
• Focusing on the End Goal: Publishing
• Answering the Question: Why Do You Want to Write a Memoir?
• Chapter 2: Getting Started: What You Need to Know about Writing Your Memoir
• Figuring Out Why Anyone Would Want to Write a Memoir
• Granting Yourself Permission to Write a Memoir
• Focusing on More Than Just Fame and Fortune
• Tapping into the Vaults of Memory
• Contemplating Reading’s Role
• Writing Exercises to Just Get You Started in the Right Direction
• Chapter 3: Understanding What Readers Expect: The Story Behind a Good Story
• Following the Traditional Story
• Seeing Your Story as a Pyramid
• Eyeing the Importance of Plot
• Chapter 4: Researching and Remembering: Gathering Enough Material
• Tapping into Your Past: Unlocking Your Memories
• Putting on Your Researcher’s Cap: Uncovering Vital Info about Yourself
• Using Others as a Mirror to See Yourself
• Sticking to the Truth: Avoid Embellishment
• Writing Exercises to Jumpstart Your Memory
• Chapter 5: Developing Ideas like the Pros
• Summoning Your Muse: How to Get Inspired
• Giving Yourself Some Structure
• Breaking Past Writer’s Block
• Part II: Telling Your Story with Pizzazz
• Chapter 6: Giving Your Story Some Structure
• Going in Chronological Structure
• Taking a Semi- (or Anti-) Chronological Structure
• Going with an Episodic Structure
• Sticking with a Thematic Structure: Focus on Connective Threads
• Recognizing Unconventional Structures
• Developing an Outline that Works for You
• Writing Exercises on Story Structure
• Chapter 7: Establishing the Setting and Scene
• Maximizing the Power of a Scene
• Defining Setting: Where It’s All At
• Creating a Sense of Place
• Working with Atmosphere
• Tackling Exposition: Keeping on Task
• Incorporating Narrative Summary: Knowing When It Makes Sense
• Making History Come Alive Through Using the Present Tense
• Writing Exercises on Creating Effective Scenes and Settings
• Chapter 8: The Character of Characters
• Understanding What Makes a Good Character
• Identifying Character Archetypes
• Making Characters Three-Dimensional
• Making Sure Your Characters Change
• Dealing with Minor Characters
• Writing Exercises on Creating Effective Characters
• Chapter 9: Making the Most of Dialogue
• Managing Memoir Dialogue Differently than Novel Dialogue
• Recognizing What Good Dialogue Should Do for Your Manuscript
• Identifying the Four Types of Dialogue
• Managing the Mechanics
• Drafting Speech that Sounds Real versus Real Speech
• Writing Less Is More
• Considering Accents and Dialect
• Being Aware Where Dialogue Goes Awry
• Writing Exercises to Help Your Dialogue
• Chapter 10: Realizing the Power of Voice
• Grasping Voice: Your Manuscript’s Soul
• Being a Minimalist versus Maximalist
• Using Tone
• Creating Irony
• Generating Humor
• Using (Yes, I Said “Using”) Clichés
• Writing Exercises to Help You Find Your Voice
• Chapter 11: Handling Point of View
• Understanding Your Basic Options
• Recognizing When “I” Isn’t “Me”
• Using Multiple Points of View in a Single Story
• Creating Narrative Distance
• Writing Exercises to Help Find the Right Point of View
• Chapter 12: Bold Beginnings and Fantastic Finishes
• Going with the Three-Act Structure
• Beginning with the First Scene: Setting Up Act 1
• Moving to the Middle Scenes: Making Act 2 Work
• Ending with the Final Scene: Closing Act 3
• Writing Exercises to Help with Beginnings and Endings
• Part III: Revising, Editing, and Pushing Your Story to the Next Level
• Chapter 13: Adjusting the Big Picture: Fine-Tuning Structure and Story
• Sizing Up Your Story: Maintaining Proportion
• Revving Up the Story’s Engine: Bring On Conflicts Big and Small
• Adjusting the Pace
• Using Transitions Effectively
• Writing Exercises on the “Big Picture”
• Chapter 14: Ensuring the Theme and Meaning Are What You Want
• Focusing on Theme between the Lines
• Creating Key Images
• Using Timing for Comedic or Tragic Effects
• Recognizing Why Your Memoir’s Title Matters
• Writing Exercises on Generating Theme and Meaning
• Chapter 15: Making Revisions
• Comparing Revision and Editing: Differentiating between the Two
• Being Committed and Brutal to Your Text
• Developing Your Revision Process (and Sticking to It)
• Making Revisions: A Nine-Item Checklist
• Incorporating Three More Advanced Revision Tactics
• Keeping Your Eye on the Prize: Wowing Others with Your Story
• Writing Exercises on Revision
• Chapter 16: Streamlining Your Story with Sentence-Level Edits
• Having a Firm Grasp on Grammar
• Appeasing Your High School English Teacher: Avoid Wordiness
• Resisting the Urge to Overexplain
• Showing versus Telling
• Avoiding Amateur Constructions
• Steering Clear of Common Grammar Issues
• Maximizing the Active Voice
• Bringing in a Professional Editor
• Writing Exercises on Effective Self-Editing
• Chapter 17: Saying the Unsayable: Knowing What to Include or Exclude
• Tackling Painful Memories
• Touching on the Taboo: Family Secrets with the Living
• Dealing with the Dead: Unclear or Missing Information
• Looking at the Ethics of a Memoir
• Laying Out Your Legal Issues
• Writing Exercises on Saying the Unsayable
• Part IV: Sharing Your Story: A Publishing Primer
• Chapter 18: Locating and Landing a Literary Agent
• Seeing What a Good Literary Agent Can Do for You
• Finding an Agent Who Meets Your Needs
• Hooking the Right Agent
• Making Sense of an Agent Agreement
• Chapter 19: Making Sense of Traditional Publishing and the Submission Process
• Researching Publishers
• Working with a Publisher: The Pros
• Going with a Publisher: The Cons
• Crafting a Winning Query Letter
• Grasping the Power of a Proposal: Think like a Publisher
• Staying Away from Serious Submission Don’ts
• Using Subsidy/Vanity Publishers
• Chapter 20: Going It Alone: Self-Publishing and E-Publishing
• The Lowdown on Self-Publishing and E-Publishing
• Deciding Whether to Self-Publish: The Pros and Cons
• Facing the Reality of E-Publishers
• Researching Printers
• Pricing Your Book: Two Philosophies
• Letting Amazon Distribute Your Book: You Need to Do More
• Noting Common Self-Publishing Issues
• Chapter 21: Promoting Your Finished Product (and Yourself)
• Grasping the Difference between Marketing and Publicity
• Recognizing Free Ways that You Can Promote Your Book
• Marketing Your Memoir: A Little Monetary Investment Can Pay Off
• Using Others to Market Your Book: Hiring a Freelance Publicist
• Part V: The Part of Tens
• Chapter 22: Ten Myths about Memoirs
• No One Reads Memoirs
• You Have to Be a Celebrity to Write One
• My Family and Friends Remember Things Differently
• People Will Hate Me If I Include Them
• I Can’t Write an Entire Book
• I’m Going to Be Rich and Famous
• My Life Is So (Insert Adjective Here) that It Will Be a Bestseller
• I Don’t Have Any Writing Credentials
• I’ve Been Journaling for Years So Writing My Memoir Will Be a Breeze
• I’ll Get to It . . . Later . . .
• Chapter 23: Ten Reasons Memoirs Are Rejected
• Insufficient Editing
• Data Dumping versus Storytelling
• Lack of Focus
• Improper/Incomplete Submission Procedure
• Skips/Avoids the Juiciest, Most Interesting Parts
• Incredibly . . . Slooooow . . . Pace
• Lack of a True Emotional Experience
• Theme Bludgeons the Readers
• The Story Is Overly (and Unnecessarily) Complicated
• The Writing Is Merely Competent versus Exciting
• Chapter 24: Ten Tips to Writing Your First Book
• Thinking of Yourself as a Writer
• Getting Some Writing Momentum
• Failing to Plan Is Planning to Fail
• Stopping in the Middle of . . .
• Having the Courage to Write Badly
• Knowing That Plenty of Good Blueprints for Writing a Memoir Exist
• Celebrating Small Victories
• Stealing Writing Time
• Killing Your Internet
• Reading and Reading Some More
• Index