Writer and musician
Kia ora, I write this a week on from ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day here in Aotearoa New Zealand. I spent that morning on the brink of tears. First there were the ‘Tākaka Mounted Rifles’, a group of people on horseback, in military uniform. They also brought a riderless horse, in honour of …
That's me - Charlotte Squire - on a mission to get more Kiwi elders writing their life stories, memoirs and family histories. Kia ora! I'm really excited to tell those of you who live in the top of the South Island that I'm running two in-person year long courses, one in Nelson (starting end of …
Continue reading "Write Your Memoir in One Year courses – Nelson and Golden Bay, New Zealand"
Kia Ora! Warm welcome to those who have just joined this blog! Perhaps you came via Tākaka or Motueka library talks I recently enjoyed giving, or you found me here online via Aunty Google. It’s good to beam into your world, from mine, here in Golden Bay on a blue skied morning. This week I’m …
Continue reading "Mike the ’10 pound pom’s bonfire story – from his memoir"
xr:d:DAF-ISJZNZM:28,j:4123470358952184840,t:24041501 Kia ora dear writer! Just a quick note before I head ‘over the [Tākaka] hill’ to take my sons on a school holidays 'city trip'. Do you struggle to make consistent progress on your story? If you do, believe me, you’re not alone! If you’ve been thinking of joining my course Write Your Memoir, …
Continue reading "Struggle to write consistently? Join my memoir course!"
Kia ora dear writer, How are you? How is your story coming along this week? This week I have another snippet of a memoir from people in our memoir community. This one’s from a student on my course Write Your Memoir. Her name is Rach Hunt and I feel a tug in my heart, a …
Continue reading "Read Rach’s poignant story + imperfection"
Kia ora! Last week I asked you if you had any parts of your memoirs that you’d like to share, and you really did! We’ll start with a snippet of Cathy Monnington’s book The Days that Used to Be (working title), about her feisty grandmother: 'Suddenly Granny leapt from her chair, grabbed the fire poker …
Charlotte Squire Kia ora, How’s life today? In my world, the peaches have mostly fallen off our trees, the cabbages have been harvested and I’m wearing merino wool in the mornings. This week I want to remind you: if you like to write, you’re a writer. And I have this new idea - would you …
It’s interesting the way each of us experience significant life events differently We put them through our filters, defined by our personalities, upbringings, attitudes and attach different meanings to them. The way I respond to my (fictional) Aunt Joan dying might be totally different to the way my brother responds. To me she was a …
Autumn arrived here in Tākaka over the last few days. There are cool mornings to accompany the fresh apples, peaches, zucchinis and even (heaven) grapes growing at our house. Today I want to tell you about five cool images, some possibly unexpected, that you can include in your memoir, life story or history. This is …
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Kia ora 👋🏼 Back in my journalism days I often found that the first paragraph of a news article was the hardest to write, because I knew it was the most important. In those first few sentences I needed to clarify the key angle of my story, in a way that inspired people to keep …
Continue reading "How to lure them to read a chapter of your memoir"
Kia ora dear writer, I spoke to a younger student of my memoir course this week who reminded me that we can live a lot of life before we even reach 20. This person doesn’t want to write a family history, but wants to share significant experiences and moments, from birth onwards. And of course …
Continue reading "What happened before you were 20 memoir writer?"
Today I would like to honour a lady named Jill. I met her when I was giving a free online memoir talk at an Auckland library. She shared honestly with the group that she had lost her beloved husband Phil to Alzheimers. She wanted to write a book about it. She felt he had been …
Continue reading "1st book emerges from my online memoir – Jill’s story"
I’m celebrating my Aunty Joyce this week, who has just died She left Devon to come to New Zealand in the sixties to join her feisty big sister Jean in Christchurch. She was only young when she caught one of the first flights to New Zealand, and I’d love to hear the in depth story …
Everytime I meet someone who is busy writing their memoir, life story or family history I feel so happy. Regardless of whether they’re on my memoir writing course or not, it feels like good historic house-work is being done. When I learn that people are recording those details, I know members of their families will …
Continue reading "Questions they’ll wish they asked you – for your memoir"
Kia ora, Do me a favour today and look back over your work on your memoir or story so far, and take a moment to appreciate the work you’ve put into it. If you’ve managed to get more organised - well done 👏🏼 If you’ve managed to do some research - good work 👍🏼 If …
Continue reading "Celebrate how far you’ve come dear writer! 👏🏼"
Every single book I’ve worked on, or supported someone to write, has been different. No one writes their life story or family history in the same way, because each of our lives are so different. And I like it this way. Some people start at the end of their life stories and work back. Some …
Continue reading "If there was just one thing you were careful of as you write your memoir"
Charlotte Squire 