Writer and musician
Kia ora lovely one, Every now and then I like to remind you to keep writing. It seems easy enough in theory, yet so many people don’t ever finish their precious stories. Why not? Fear that your book isn’t good enough is a top reason for people to stop. Also, overwhelm and confusion about how …
Kia Ora dear one, How is your story coming along this week? As you write, it’s important to occasionally step back from your story to ask yourself if it would make sense to people who don’t know you. This can be hard to do! So I use the 100 years trick. In 100 years, there’s …
Continue reading "Imagine them reading your story in 100 years"
Kia Ora! How’s it going, memoir writer? I’m working on book number 24 at the moment, and I was thinking: do you know what I’d do if I was at the very beginning and thinking of writing my own memoir, life story or family history? I’d simply be gathering stuff. I’d be finding my old …
Kia Ora! A memoir writer once told me she was writing her story because she wanted her children to learn who she was, before they arrived. She wanted them to know that she had travelled the world and lived a big life pre-children. She also wanted them to know about the way she was raised, …
Kia ora! How are you? We had our monthly memoir writers ‘connection session’ last Saturday and one writer said she was making progress, though writing it ‘out of order’, because that worked for her. And she reminded me of the power of doing it that way. She’s going to finish that story of hers, because …
Kia ora from humid, mid-summer Tākaka, I’ve just come in from watching my 17 year old trying to teach my 10 year old how to front flip on the tramp. Ahh sweet motherhood. Let’s flip to writing your memoir now - do you ever wonder how to keep people engaged with your story? I have …
Kia ora, Wishing you a fabulous start to 2025! Here we are at the first chapter of the year again 😉 So now’s a good time to ask you: Can you spare 30 minutes a few days a week to write your memoir? Think about it, the average person can write nearly 400 words in …
Kia ora from rainy Golden Bay 🌧️ This week I’m focused on book design and I wanted to remind you: it’s never too early to thinking about your book cover. I have four suggestions for you: Start gathering examples of book covers you love now, because at some point your story will need a cover. …
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Today I want to encourage you to celebrate how far you’ve come in writing your memoir, family history or life story. This includes those of you who haven’t started writing yet, who are still researching and organising your information (a big job in itself!). I was reminded of this after talking to a beloved participant …
Kia ora lovely, how are you? I had the pleasure of hanging out with a student of my online course Write Your Memoir earlier this week and she had come to a complete stop in her writing process. Although she was quite capable of writing her story - she was clearly an experienced writer, and …
I write to you from my other living room - The Dangerous Kitchen cafe, in downtown Tākaka. How’s your memoir feeling today? Honestly, email me back with three words to describe how it’s feeling, I’d love to know! I’m in the design stage of two books right now. This is where we take the text …
Continue reading "Preparing for the design stage of your book 📙"
Kia Ora, hello there lovely, I’m loving the cosines of winter. We’ve had a few days of rain and it’s been a great time to write, sitting as close as I can get to our impressively real looking fake fire, ha ha! I’m most productive as a writer in the mornings. How about you? If …
Continue reading "When you write, and 100 words of your story"
Kia ora, If you’re new here, welcome! I’m Charlotte, I live in Tākaka, Golden Bay, top of the South Island of New Zealand, with my family, and I’ve been a writer for decades - journalism, blogging, social media, reports, marketing, books - you name it, I’ve written it! And you’re here to learn how to …
Continue reading "Let’s get back to the basics memoir writer"
Kia Ora, if you’ve just joined me, warm welcome from a Tākaka writer. This week I want to invite you to take stock of how far you’ve come with your memoir. Sometimes celebration is called for. I know some of you are making great headway, you’re persevering, despite some hard days, and you’re writing amazing …
Continue reading "Celebrate how far you’ve come memoir writer"
Kia ora from my cosy kitchen, I’ve got curry and rice on the stove and the fake fire ablaze. How’s that story of yours coming along? I’m just about to finish a book for a client and we’re working on the cover. We’ve gone back and forth about it quite a few times, and I …
Well hello there dear memoir writer 👋 How are you and how is that story of yours? Yesterday I met with a student on my memoir course, for an online chat to make sure she had everything she needed. She shared a few pages of her story with me and once again I was transported …
Continue reading "Your ‘normal’ could be someone else’s ‘fascinating.’"
Charlotte Squire 