Kia ora dear memoir writer,
My team and I have just finished making another newspaper for our Golden Bay. It feels like a Friday! Here’s the thriving little newspaper I recently bought, in case you’re interested.
Just as it is when I’m writing articles, when you’re entering into the world of memoir writing (whether you’re writing about your entire life, or just one ‘chapter’ of your existence) structure can be really helpful.
What do I mean by structure?
I mean, it’s good to start with a plan. You can change it if you want to, but at least you know where to start. All this really means is you can roughly plan what you want to write: when your story happened, where it happened, who was involved and occasionally, why you made the choices you made.
One student on my memoir course is only writing about her teenage years. She has letters from that time, which she’s found really helpful. Writing about this specific time gives her a nice, contained structure, and means her writing project isn’t too overwhelming. And nine months after starting, she’s nearing the end of her first draft.
Another memoir student is writing her life story and using themes to break it up, such as ‘teeth’! She has some fascinating teeth stories! And the theme ties in many stories from not only her own life, but her family’s.
You can get creative about the structure for your story too. What will yours be? Feel free to reply to this email and tell me.
Do me a favour? Keep working on your story and watch what happens.
Charlotte x
100 questions: ‘What were you naturally good at when you were young?’ Answer by Cathy Monnington
I was and still am a good and avid reader. By the age of seven I was reading aloud fluently and with expression to my class. My mother said, “If toilet paper was printed Catherine would read it”. I loved writing and still do. I wrote and illustrated my first “book” at ten. I enjoyed and did well in English, Art and History at school. I have always had a passion for horses and dogs. I began riding at six, became a good and competent rider and enjoyed caring for my horses. My life isn’t full without a dog in it; I currently have three who lounge in my office/dump/studio whilst I write, daw and paint.
PS – This was one of the questions from ‘100 questions about your life’ – a new service I’m about to launch where you can receive 100 questions from me, via email, for 100 days. These questions are an exercise from my larger course Write Your Memoir and some memoir students have based their entire stories around them. Join the waitlist today, this will only cost $97.
Is it time to write your memoir, life story or history? 