Is it time to write your memoir, life story or history?
I'm Kiwi writer, publisher and newspaper owner Charlotte Squire and I'd love to help
Kia ora from rainy Golden Bay ๐ง๏ธ This week Iโm focused on book design and I wanted to remind you: itโs 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. …
Continue reading "Start thinking about your book cover now ๐"
Today I want to encourage you to celebrate how far youโve come in writing your memoir, family history or life story. This includes those of you who havenโt 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 Tฤkaka. Howโs your memoir feeling today? Honestly, email me back with three words to describe how itโs feeling, Iโd love to know! Iโm 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 ๐"
Kia Ora, hello there lovely, Iโm loving the cosines of winter. Weโve had a few days of rain and itโs been a great time to write, sitting as close as I can get to our impressively real looking fake fire, ha ha! Iโm 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 youโre new here, welcome! Iโm Charlotte, I live in Tฤkaka, Golden Bay, top of the South Island of New Zealand, with my family, and Iโve been a writer for decades - journalism, blogging, social media, reports, marketing, books - you name it, Iโve written it! And youโre here to learn how to …
Continue reading "Let’s get back to the basics memoir writer"
Kia Ora, if youโve just joined me, warm welcome from a Tฤkaka writer. This week I want to invite you to take stock of how far youโve come with your memoir. Sometimes celebration is called for. I know some of you are making great headway, youโre persevering, despite some hard days, and youโre writing amazing …
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Kia ora from my cosy kitchen, Iโve got curry and rice on the stove and the fake fire ablaze. Howโs that story of yours coming along? Iโm just about to finish a book for a client and weโre working on the cover. Weโve gone back and forth about it quite a few times, and I …
Well hello there dear memoir writer ๐ 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 โnormalโ could be someone elseโs ‘fascinating.โ"
Kia ora, Warm welcome to you if youโre new here, and good to see you if youโve been on this journey with me for a while. Iโve said it before, and Iโll say it again, itโs ok for the first draft of your story to be messy and imperfect. In fact, itโs kind of hard …
Kia ora, hello from a beautiful mild winterโs day here in Tฤkaka, New Zealand ๐๐ผ My mother and I have just walked a five year old, a nine year old and one prancy dog home from school. And speaking of steps, this week I was reminded of the value of them. Iโm starting an exciting …
Hello lovely ๐ This is Charlotte tuning in from Tฤkaka, Nee Zealand. How are you on this fine day? Howโs that story of yours? Today I want to share one thing with you that I talk about in module four of my online course Write Your Memoir - itโs about photo captions. Most people I …
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Hello lovely ๐๐ผ This is a very short post for those of you in who live in or near Nelson, New Zealand, to say that my course โWrite Your Memoir in One Year - Nelsonโ is due to start this Saturday, in Nelson City. If youโve been thinking of joining, nowโs the time. The important …
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Hello lovely human ๐๐ผ This week I had the delightful experience of welcoming a new student to my memoir course, who turned out to be the daughter of one of the first people I ever wrote a memoir for. I remember writing about her childhood. She said her motherโs book had been a โGodsendโ, mentioning …
Continue reading "Deirdre’s wood chopping & two generations of memoirs"
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 โTฤkaka Mounted Riflesโ, 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"
