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<p><b>Introduction 1</b></p> <p>About this Book 1</p> <p>Foolish Assumptions 3</p> <p>Icons Used in This Book 3</p> <p>Beyond the Book 4</p> <p>Where to Go from Here 4</p> <p><b>Part 1: the First Steps to Writing a Memoir 5</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 1: Diving into Memoir Writing: Just the Basics 7</b></p> <p>Understanding the DNA of a Memoir 8</p> <p>Identifying the Essential Parts of a Memoir 9</p> <p>Making the Necessary Revisions and Edits to Help Your Memoir Shine 10</p> <p>Focusing on the End Goal: Publication 11</p> <p>Answering the Key Question: Why Write a Memoir? 14</p> <p><b>Chapter 2: Getting Started: What You Need to Know about Writing Your Memoir 17</b></p> <p>Exploring Why People Write Memoirs Anyway 18</p> <p>Granting Yourself Permission to Write a Memoir 25</p> <p>Focusing on More Than Just Fame and Fortune 27</p> <p>Tapping into the Vaults of Memory 28</p> <p>Contemplating the Role of Reading 30</p> <p>Finding your audience 32</p> <p>Understanding subgenre 33</p> <p><b>Chapter 3: Understanding What Readers Expect: The Story Behind a Good Story 35</b></p> <p>Following the Traditional Story 36</p> <p>Seeing Your Story as a Pyramid 42</p> <p>Eyeing the Importance of Plot 48</p> <p><b>Chapter 4: Researching and Remembering: Gathering Enough Material 49</b></p> <p>Tapping into Your Past: Unlocking Your Memories 50</p> <p>Putting on Your Researcher’s Cap: Uncovering Vital Info about Yourself 52</p> <p>Using Others as a Mirror to See Yourself 57</p> <p>Sticking to the Truth: Avoid Embellishment 60</p> <p><b>Chapter 5: Developing Ideas like the Pros 63</b></p> <p>Summoning Your Muse: How to Get Inspired 64</p> <p>Giving Yourself Some Structure 72</p> <p>Breaking Past Writer’s Block 75</p> <p><b>Part 2: Telling Your Story with Pizzazz 79</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 6: Giving Your Story Some Structure 81</b></p> <p>Going Chronological 82</p> <p>Taking a Nonlinear Approach 83</p> <p>Embracing Episodic Storytelling 84</p> <p>Sticking with a Thematic Structure: Focus on Connective Threads 87</p> <p>Recognizing Unconventional Structures 88</p> <p>Developing an Outline that Works for You 89</p> <p><b>Chapter 7: Considering Scenes and Setting 99</b></p> <p>Maximizing Scene Power 100</p> <p>Defining Setting: Where It’s All At 106</p> <p>Creating a Sense of Place 109</p> <p>Building Atmosphere 111</p> <p><b>Chapter 8: The Character of Characters 119</b></p> <p>Understanding What Makes a Good Character 120</p> <p>Identifying Character Archetypes 127</p> <p>Making Characters Three-Dimensional 130</p> <p>Ensuring That Characters Evolve 132</p> <p>Dealing with Minor Characters 136</p> <p><b>Chapter 9: Making the Most of Dialogue 139</b></p> <p>Managing Memoir Dialogue Differently than Novel Dialogue 140</p> <p>Recognizing What Good Dialogue Should Do for Your Manuscript 141</p> <p>Identifying the Four Types of Dialogue 147</p> <p>Managing the Mechanics 151</p> <p>Drafting Speech that Sounds Real versus Real Speech 153</p> <p>Writing Less Is More 155</p> <p>Considering Accents and Dialect 158</p> <p>Recognizing Where Dialogue Goes Awry 161</p> <p><b>Chapter 10: Maximizing the Power of Voice 165</b></p> <p>Grasping Voice: Your Manuscript’s Soul 166</p> <p>Being a Minimalist versus Maximalist 168</p> <p>Shaping Tone 169</p> <p>Creating Irony 172</p> <p>Generating Humor 173</p> <p>Using (Yes, I Said “Using”) Clichés 175</p> <p><b>Chapter 11: Handling Point of View 177</b></p> <p>Understanding Your Basic Options 177</p> <p>Recognizing When “I” Isn’t “Me” 186</p> <p>Using More Than One Point of View 187</p> <p>Creating Narrative Distance 188</p> <p><b>Chapter 12: Bold Beginnings, Magnificent Middles, and Fantastic Finishes 191</b></p> <p>Going with the Three-Act Structure 192</p> <p>Beginning with the First Scene: Setting Up Act 1 194</p> <p>Moving to the Middle Scenes: Making Act 2 Work 197</p> <p>Ending with the Final Scene: Closing Act 3 201</p> <p><b>Part 3: Revising, Editing, and Pushing Your Story to the Next Level. 207</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 13: Making Revisions 209</b></p> <p>Differentiating Between Revision and Editing 210</p> <p>Embracing Rigor and Honesty in Your Revision Process 212</p> <p>Developing Your Revision Process (and Sticking to It) 213</p> <p>Navigating with a Road Map: A Nine-Item Checklist 214</p> <p>Incorporating Three More Advanced Revision Tactics 216</p> <p><b>Chapter 14: Adjusting the Big Picture: Fine-Tuning Structure and Story 219</b></p> <p>Sizing Up Your Story: Maintaining Proportion 220</p> <p>Revving Up the Story’s Engine: Bring on Conflicts Big and Small 221</p> <p>Adjusting the Pace 222</p> <p>Using Transitions Effectively 226</p> <p><b>Chapter 15: Saying the Unsayable: Knowing What to Include or Exclude 231</b></p> <p>Addressing Painful Memories with Care and Purpose 232</p> <p>Touching on the Taboo: Family Secrets with the Living 234</p> <p>Dealing with the Dead: Unclear or Missing Information 235</p> <p>Looking at the Ethics of a Memoir 236</p> <p>Navigating Legal Considerations 239</p> <p><b>Chapter 16: Streamlining Your Story with Sentence-Level Edits 243</b></p> <p>Having a Firm Grasp on Grammar 244</p> <p>Appeasing Your High School English Teacher: Avoid Wordiness 245</p> <p>Showing versus Telling 249</p> <p>Avoiding Amateur Constructions 251</p> <p>Steering Clear of Common Grammar Issues 253</p> <p>Maximizing the Active Voice 257</p> <p><b>Chapter 17: Getting Outside Help: Critique Groups, Editors, Experts, and Sensitivity Readers 259</b></p> <p>Trusting the Feedback Process 260</p> <p>Joining a Critique Group 260</p> <p>Finding a Golden Reader 264</p> <p>Bringing in a Professional Editor 265</p> <p>Seeking Expert Guidance 270</p> <p><b>Part 4: Sharing Your Story: a Publishing Primer 275</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 18: Locating and Landing a Literary Agent 277</b></p> <p>Seeing What a Good Literary Agent Can Do for You 278</p> <p>Finding an Agent Who Meets Your Needs 280</p> <p>Hooking the Right Agent 283</p> <p>Making Sense of an Agent Agreement 287</p> <p><b>Chapter 19: Making Sense of Traditional Publishing and the Submission Process 293</b></p> <p>Researching Publishers 294</p> <p>Working with a Publisher: The Pros 297</p> <p>Going with a Publisher: The Cons 300</p> <p>Crafting a Winning Query Letter 305</p> <p>Grasping the Power of a Proposal: Think like a Publisher 307</p> <p>Staying Away from Serious Submission Don’ts 308</p> <p>Using Subsidy/Vanity Publishers 311</p> <p><b>Chapter 20: Going It Alone: Self-Publishing, E-Publishing, and Audiobook Publishing 315</b></p> <p>Examining Self-Publishing and E-Publishing 316</p> <p>Deciding Whether to Self-Publish: The Pros and Cons 319</p> <p>Expanding Your Reach with Audiobooks and Multimedia Formats 322</p> <p>Facing the Reality of E-Publishers 324</p> <p>Researching and Working with Printers 329</p> <p>Pricing Your Book: Two Philosophies 333</p> <p>Letting Amazon Distribute Your Book: You Need to Do More 334</p> <p><b>Chapter 21: Promoting Your Finished Product (and Yourself) 337</b></p> <p>Understanding Marketing versus Publicity 338</p> <p>Finding Cost-Effective Ways to Promote Your Book 339</p> <p>Marketing Your Memoir: A Little Monetary Investment Can Pay Off 347</p> <p>Bringing in Professional Help: Hiring a Freelance Publicist 351</p> <p><b>Part 5: the Part of Tens 355</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 22: Ten Myths about Memoirs 357</b></p> <p>No One Reads Memoirs 358</p> <p>You Have to Be a Celebrity to Write One 358</p> <p>My Family and Friends Remember Things Differently 360</p> <p>People Will Hate Me If I Include Them 360</p> <p>I Can’t Write an Entire Book 361</p> <p>I’m Going to Be Rich and Famous 361</p> <p>My Life Is So (Insert Adjective Here) that It Will Be a Bestseller 362</p> <p>I Don’t Have Any Writing Credentials 362</p> <p>I’ve Been Journaling for Years So Writing My Memoir Will Be a Breeze 363</p> <p>I’ll Get to It Later 363</p> <p><b>Chapter 23: Ten Reasons Memoirs Are Rejected 365</b></p> <p>Insufficient Editing 366</p> <p>Data Dumping versus Storytelling 366</p> <p>Lack of Focus 367</p> <p>Improper/Incomplete Submission Procedure 368</p> <p>Skips/Avoids the Juiciest, Most Interesting Parts 368</p> <p>Incredibly Slooooow Pace 369</p> <p>Lack of a True Emotional Experience 369</p> <p>Theme Bludgeons the Readers 370</p> <p>The Story Is Overly (and Unnecessarily) Complicated 370</p> <p>The Writing Is Merely Competent versus Exciting 371</p> <p>Index 373</p>

<p><b>Ryan G. Van Cleave, PhD,</b> is a writing coach, keynote speaker, and award-winning author of 40+ books. He runs the creative writing program at the Ringling College of Art and Design and serves as Editor at Bushel & Peck, a children’s book publisher. Ryan has taught memoir writing at universities, conferences, and workshops.

<p><b>Write a truly compelling memoir</b> <p>Real-life stories don’t always have a clear beginning, middle, and end—but good memoirs do. <i>Memoir Writing For Dummies </i>will show you how to turn your experiences into gripping narratives with plots, characters, and dialogue that will keep your readers engaged. After you’ve learned how to structure your story, you’ll discover the secrets to polishing your work and getting your memoir out into the world. Whether your walk down memory lane is 5 years or 50, this friendly Dummies guide will lead you through the steps you’ll need to take to tell your story. <p><b>Inside… <ul><li>Getting your memories in order</li> <li>Structuring your life story</li> <li>Developing a unique voice</li> <li>Revising and streamlining</li> <li>Knowing what to include</li> <li>Considering your publication options</li> <li>Using AI and digital media to enhance reader experience</li> <li>Promoting your memoir</b></li></ul>

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